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Bob Dylan is one of our cultureās most influential and groundbreaking artists. In the decades since he first burst into the publicās consciousness via New York Cityās Greenwich Village folk music scene in the early 1960s, Bob Dylan has sold more than 125 million records around the world and amassed a singular body of work that includes some of the greatest and most popular songs the world has ever known.
Born in Duluth, Minnesota, on May 24, 1941, most of Dylanās childhood was spent in the iron-mining town of Hibbing. Dylan taught himself piano and guitar and played in several bands, attending the University of Minnesota for one year in 1959. He moved to New York in 1961 ā heavily influenced by Woody Guthrie and other American folk artists ā and began to play at various clubs in the burgeoning folk music scene of Greenwich Village. Signed to Columbia Records by renowned A&R executive John Hammond in 1961, he released his self-titled debut album in 1962.Ā
Many of Dylanās early songs were made famous by other artists, such as Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary, whose versions of his classic compositions āBlowinā In The Windā and āThe Times They Are A Changināā helped bring the young artist to a larger audience.Ā
From his earliest performances in Greenwich Village coffee houses, folk festivals and rallies in the early 1960s to his stadium rock concerts of the 1970s and subsequent annual international tours, Dylan established an enduring reputation as one of the worldās great live performers.Ā
He has released more than 50 albums and has written more than 600 songs, some of the most famous being the aforementioned āBlowinā in the Wind,ā āLike A Rolling Stone,ā āAll Along The Watchtower,ā āKnockinā On Heavenās Doorā and āMake You Feel My Love.ā His songs have been covered more than 6,000 times by artists as diverse as Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, Guns Nā Roses, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, the Staple Singers, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Marley, Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Adele and U2.Ā
Dylanās contributions to worldwide culture have been recognized and honored numerous times. He received an honorary doctorate of music from Princeton University, New Jersey, in 1970 and another from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, in 2004. President Clinton presented him with a Kennedy Center Honor at the White House in 1997, recognizing the excellence of his contribution to American culture.
In October 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature by the Swedish Academy āfor having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.ā In 2012, he was awarded Americaās highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Barack Obama. In addition to winning 11 Grammy Awards, Dylan has achieved six entries in the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings of āqualitative or historical significanceā at least 25-years-old.
Reserve your tickets to visit the Bob Dylan Center today.
Bob Dylan CenterĀ®
116 E Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK 74103
Wednesday – Sunday: 10AM – 6PM
918.392.3353 | info@bobdylancenter.com