Dylan, Bob (1941– )

US singer and songwriter. His lyrics provided catchphrases for a generation and influenced innumerable songwriters. He began in the folk-music tradition. His early songs, as on his albums The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) and The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964), were associated with the US civil-rights movement and anti-war protest. From 1965 he worked in his own unique rock style, as on the albums Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966). His prolific folk-rock output continued into the 21st century.

Dylan began by performing folk music in Minneapolis, Minnesota, taking his stage name from Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. He was strongly influenced by the folk singer Woody Guthrie, and moved to New York City in 1960 in order to meet him. Dylan's early songs range from the simple, preachy ‘Blowin' in the Wind’ (1962) to brooding complaints about social injustice like ‘The Ballad of Hollis Brown’ (1963). When he first used an electric rock band in 1965, he was criticized by purists, but the albums that immediately followed are often cited as his best work, with songs of spite (‘Like a Rolling Stone’) and surrealistic imagery (‘Visions of Johanna’) delivered in his characteristically nasal voice. The film Don't Look Back (1967) documented his 1965 British tour. Of Dylan's 1970s albums, Blood on the Tracks (1975) and Desire (1976) were the strongest.

Slow Train Coming (1979) was his first album as a born-again Christian, a phase that lasted several years and alienated all but the die-hard fans. Oh, Mercy (1989) was seen as a partial return to his old form, but Under the Red Sky (1990) did not bear this out. However, The Bootleg Years (1991), a collection of 58 previously unreleased items from past years, reasserted his reputation. In 1992 he released Good As I Been to You, which consisted of traditional tunes and was his first completely solo acoustic album since Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964). His later studio albums included Time Out of Mind (1997), Love and Theft (2001), and Modern Times (2006). His song ‘Things Have Changed’ won the 2001 Academy Award for Best Original Song, for the film Wonder Boys (2000).