Bob Dylan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bob Dylan
Dylan in 2019
Born	Robert Allen Zimmerman (1941-05-24) May 24, 1941 (age 84) Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Other names	Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham (Hebrew name) Elston Gunnn Blind Boy Grunt Bob Landy Robert Milkwood Thomas Tedham Porterhouse Lucky Wilbury Boo Wilbury Jack Frost Sergei Petrov Zimmy
Occupation	Singer-songwriter painter writer
Years active	1957–present
Spouse(s)	Sara Lownds ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1977)​ Carolyn Dennis ​ ​ (m. 1986; div. 1992)​
Children	6, including Jesse and Jakob
Awards	2016 Nobel Prize in Literature (for others, see list)
Musical career
Genres	Folk blues rock gospel country traditional pop
Instruments	Vocals guitar harmonica keyboards
Labels	Columbia Asylum
Signature

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is a famous American singer and songwriter. Many people think he is one of the greatest songwriters ever. Dylan has been a very important person in popular culture for over 60 years.

Some of his most well-known songs are from the 1960s. Songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became important songs for the civil rights movement. They also supported people who were against the Vietnam War.

Bob Dylan has sold more than 145 million records. This makes him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has won many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His life has been shown in movies and documentaries.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

The Zimmerman family home in Hibbing, Minnesota

Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941. He was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota, near Lake Superior. His grandparents came to the United States from places like Ukraine and Lithuania. They came to America to escape difficult times for Jewish people.

When he was young, Dylan listened to the radio a lot. He heard blues and country music from Louisiana. As a teenager, he started listening to rock and roll.

Dylan formed several bands when he was in Hibbing High School. In one band, the Golden Chords, he played songs by Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Their music was so loud at a school talent show that the principal turned off their microphone!

In September 1959, Dylan moved to Minneapolis. He went to the University of Minnesota. There, he started playing at a coffeehouse called the Ten O'Clock Scholar. He became part of the Dinkytown folk music scene. He started to prefer folk music over rock and roll. He felt folk songs had deeper feelings like sadness and hope.

During this time, he started calling himself "Bob Dylan." He said he chose the name after seeing poems by Dylan Thomas. He felt free to choose his own name.

Bob Dylan's Music Career

In May 1960, Dylan left college after his first year. From February 1961, he played music in clubs in Greenwich Village in New York City. His first album, Bob Dylan, came out on March 19, 1962. It had mostly traditional folk, blues, and gospel songs. Only two songs on it were written by him.

Joan Baez and Dylan at the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom", August 28, 1963

By the time his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, was released in May 1963, he was becoming known. Many songs on this album were called protest songs. Dylan's third album, The Times They Are a-Changin'], made him famous across the country.

The documentary Dont Look Back (1967) shows Dylan on his 1965 tour of England.

Bringing It All Back Home, released in 1965, was important. It was the first time Dylan recorded with electric instruments. In July 1965, his song "Like a Rolling Stone" became very popular. It reached number two on the US music charts. Rolling Stone magazine later called it the number one song on their "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. This song was also on his next album, Highway 61 Revisited.

In July 1966, Dylan had a motorcycle accident. He stopped touring for a while after this. During this time, he recorded many songs. These songs were later released as the album The Basement Tapes in 1975. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dylan explored country music. In the late 1970s, he became a Christian. He released several albums with Gospel music.

Since his album Time Out of Mind, Dylan has released five more popular albums. The most recent is Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020). He also recorded three albums of classic American songs, especially those sung by Frank Sinatra. Dylan has been touring almost constantly since the late 1980s. This tour is known as the Never Ending Tour.

On September 20, 2024, Dylan released The 1974 Live Recordings. This was a big set of 27 CDs. It had 417 live songs from his 1974 tour with The Band that had never been released before.

In February 2025, Dylan announced more tour dates in the U.S. for his Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour. It will start in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 25 and end in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on April 22.

Dylan in 1966

Bob Dylan's Visual Art

Since 1994, Dylan has published nine books of his paintings and drawings. His artwork has been shown in major art galleries.

In November 2016, the Halcyon Gallery showed a collection of his art. It included drawings, watercolors, and acrylic paintings. The show was called The Beaten Path. It showed American landscapes and city scenes. These were inspired by Dylan's travels across the USA.

In October 2018, the Halcyon Gallery had another show called Mondo Scripto. This exhibition featured Dylan's handwritten song lyrics. Each song was shown with a drawing that he created.

Retrospectrum was the largest show of Dylan's visual art. It had over 250 works. It opened at the Modern Art Museum in Shanghai in 2019. A new version of Retrospectrum opened in Miami in November 2021. It included a new series of paintings called "Deep Focus," which were inspired by film images.

In 2024, an abstract painting by Dylan from the 1960s sold for about $200,000. He had originally given the painting to a relative in exchange for an astrology chart.

Music Albums by Bob Dylan

Books Written by Bob Dylan

Dylan has written several books. These include Tarantula, which is a book of prose poetry. He also wrote Chronicles: Volume One, which is the first part of his life story. He has published books with the lyrics of his songs. He also has eight books showing his art.

His third full-length book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, came out in November 2022. It has 66 essays about songs by other artists. Many other books have also been written about Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan's Family Life

Dylan married Sara Lownds on November 22, 1965. She had worked as a model. They had four children together: Jesse Byron, Anna Lea, Samuel Isaac Abram, and Jakob Luke. Dylan also adopted Sara's daughter, Maria. Bob and Sara Dylan divorced in 1977.

Their son Jakob became famous as the lead singer of the band the Wallflowers. Jesse is a film director and business executive.

Dylan also has a daughter named Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan. She was born on January 31, 1986. Her mother is Carolyn Dennis, who was a backup singer for Dylan. They were married in 1986 and divorced in 1992.

Where Bob Dylan Lives

When he is not on tour, Bob Dylan mainly lives in Point Dume. This is a beautiful area on the coast of Malibu, California. He also owns other properties around the world.

Awards and Honors

President Obama presents Dylan with a Medal of Freedom, May 2012.

Bob Dylan has won many awards during his career. He has won ten Grammy Awards, one Academy Award, and one Golden Globe Award. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In May 2000, Dylan received the Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI. In June 2007, he received the Princess of Asturias Award for Arts. Dylan was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2012. This is a very high honor in the United States.

In February 2015, Dylan accepted the MusiCares Person of the Year award. This was for his good work and artistic contributions to society. In November 2013, he received the Légion d'Honneur from France.

Nobel Prize in Literature

For 20 years, many experts wanted Bob Dylan to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He finally received the award in 2016. This made Dylan the first musician to ever win the Literature Prize.

Bob Dylan's Legacy

Bob Dylan is seen as one of the most important people of the 20th century. This is true for both music and culture. He was included in the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century list.

President Barack Obama said in 2012 that Dylan is "not a bigger giant in the history of American music." By 2008, it was thought that Dylan had sold about 120 million albums worldwide.

Dylan has greatly influenced many types of music. Many musicians have said that Dylan was important to them. These include Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie.

Archives and Honors

Bob Dylan Drive street sign in Hibbing, Minnesota.

Dylan's archive holds many of his important items. It includes notebooks, song drafts, and recordings. This archive was bought in 2016 by the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

To keep the archive, The Bob Dylan Center opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 10, 2022.

In 2005, a street in Hibbing, Minnesota, was named Bob Dylan Drive. This was the street where Dylan lived from age 6 to 18. In 2006, a cultural path called Bob Dylan Way opened in Duluth, Minnesota. This path links important cultural and historical places in the city.

In 2015, a large mural of Dylan was painted in downtown Minneapolis. It was created by the Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra.

Images for kids

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  Bobby Dylan, as the college yearbook lists him: St. Lawrence University, upstate New York, November 1963

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  Bob Dylan and the Band started their 1974 tour in Chicago on January 3.

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  Bob Dylan with Allen Ginsberg on the Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975. Photo: Elsa Dorfman.

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  Dylan performing in the De Kuip Stadium, Rotterdam, June 23, 1978

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  Dylan in Toronto, April 18, 1980

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  Dylan in Barcelona, Spain, 1984

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  Dylan performs during the 1996 Lida Festival in Stockholm

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  Dylan, the Spectrum, 2007

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  Bob Dylan performs at Air Canada Centre, Toronto, November 7, 2006

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  Dylan and the Obamas at the White House, after a performance celebrating music from the civil rights movement (February 9, 2010)

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  Dylan performing at Finsbury Park, London, June 18, 2011

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  President Obama presents Dylan with a Medal of Freedom, May 2012.

See also

In Spanish: Bob Dylan para niños