MIAMI, United States. — On May 24, 1941, one of the most prolific and influential singer-songwriters of popular music of the 20th century was born in Minnesota. Listed as Robert Allen Zimmerman, Bob Dylan grew up in a small Jewish community and spent much of his teenage years listening to radio stations that broadcast primarily blues, country and rock’n’roll.
While in high school he formed several bands and wrote in his graduation yearbook that his ultimate ambition was to play with Little Richard. After finishing high school, in 1959, he went to Minneapolis to enroll in the university. By then, he had become very interested in music. folk American, which would have greater weight in his compositions, to the point of becoming the distinctive mark of his art.
Dylan got involved in the folk scene of the city and began playing in a coffee shop near the university campus. A year later he dropped out of college and moved to New York, where he met his idol, guitarist Woody Guthrie.
In 1961, after several months playing clubs, he gained recognition after The New York Times posted a review about one of his concerts. He was signed by an important producer who opened the doors to Columbia Records, where he recorded his debut album, titled Bob Dylan, which included traditional songs from the folkhe blues and the countryas well as their own songs.
Despite the misunderstandings he suffered at the beginning of his career, Dylan made his way as a musician and also as an important defender of civil rights. your disk Highway 61 Revisited is considered among the most influential of the 20th century, while the first single from the phonogram, Like a Rolling Stonewas chosen as the best song of all time, according to the magazine rolling stones.
Throughout his career, Dylan has been recognized and honored for his compositions, performances, and recordings. He has won several Grammy Awards, Golden Globes and the Oscar. His name was included in several Halls of Fame, including that of the Rock And Roll.
In 2004 he reached second place on the list of the hundred best artists of all time, prepared by rolling stonesjust behind The Beatles. In 2007 she won the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts and a year later the honorary Pulitzer Prize for her profound impact on popular music and American culture.
In 2016 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.