Bob Dylan
(1941 – )
Inducted in 1991
Robert Allen Zimmerman was born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota to Abraham and Beatty Zimmerman. Bob was still a youngster when the family moved to Hibbing. After graduating from Hibbing High School, he began studies at The University of Minnesota in 1959. Zimmerman admired the poet Dylan Thomas, and formally changed his name to Bob Dylan. In 1960 he moved to New York, and two years later his first album Bob Dylan was released on major-label Columbia Records. Dylan is best known for his anti-establishment music written during the 1960s. Dylan’s song “Blowin’ in the Wind”, made into a 1963 international smash hit by folk trio Peter Paul and Mary, skyrocketed his career and popularity. Bob’s first Gold Record Award was for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” in 1965, followed the same year by The Byrds’ recording of “Mr. Tambourine Man”, which was number one for many weeks. If Dylan had been limited to only writing his 1966 number-two hit record “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”, he would be a legend- but instead he wrote and recorded thousands of songs and released over 100 albums, including many compilations. National Public Television’s four hour-long documentary directed by Martin Scorcese in 2005 entitled No Direction Home: American Masters has been hailed as the greatest documentary ever shown in television history. Dylan’s success spread from folk to rock and then to pop music, and has been an influential leader internationally in all three categories for over 60 years.
