Bob Dylan

One of the most influential songwriters and poets of the modern era, Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota. He grew up in a Jewish middle-class family in the small city of Hibbing and played in local rock bands as a teenager. He moved to New York City in 1961 and performed in folk clubs and cafés. A protégé of folk singer Woody Guthrie, Dylan soon turned to songs of protest and rebellion. Later, he recorded rock and roll, love songs, blues, and country and gospel music. His 1963 recordings “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” became anthems of the civil rights and antiwar movements of that era. In 2016, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first musician to win the award.