Bob Dylan Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, is a famous rock and roll singer and song writer. He is well known for having reinvented himself and his music several times though out his life. He started his career as a traditional folk singer and songwriter in the early 60’s. Early on in his career, he incorporated rock into his music, which created a new genre of folk rock. He was known for singing about serious moral related issues, especially political ones though out his career. This was a trait common in traditional folk music, but not in rock and roll. Dylan was able to bring many social issues to light, like the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, by combining the serious topics of folk with the popular sound
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He was heavily influenced by early stars like Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. After high school, he joined the University of Minnesota in 1959, staying for three semesters before dropping out. During that time, he played solo at coffee houses under the name Bob Dylan. In 1962, he formally changed his last name from Zimmerman to Dylan. He moved to New York City in 1961 with the goal of meeting his biggest influence and idol, Woody Guthrie, a traditional folk singer. Woody was a left-wing activist, who used his songs to bring to attention political issues but was diagnosed with Huntington’s chorea. Dylan visited Guthrie often and the following April performed in New York's Gerdes Folk City as the opening act for John Lee Hooker. He played a set of Guthrie-styled folk songs with his own lyrics. A New York Times review on Dylan helped him draw the attention of John Hammond, an A&R man with Columbia Records. Dylan signed with Columbia and produced his first album, Bob Dylan, in 1962 (Bob Dylan Biography). After releasing a few more albums, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and The Times Are a-Changin’, Bob Dylan would become a recognized figure in the 60’s protest movement. He entered a two-year long relationship with Joan Beaz, a famous icon of the movement. She would introduce him to thousands of her fans at concerts, who quickly became Dylan’s, while he wrote some of her most well-known songs (Editors, The
He was heavily influenced by early stars like Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. After high school, he joined the University of Minnesota in 1959, staying for three semesters before dropping out. During that time, he played solo at coffee houses under the name Bob Dylan. In 1962, he formally changed his last name from Zimmerman to Dylan. He moved to New York City in 1961 with the goal of meeting his biggest influence and idol, Woody Guthrie, a traditional folk singer. Woody was a left-wing activist, who used his songs to bring to attention political issues but was diagnosed with Huntington’s chorea. Dylan visited Guthrie often and the following April performed in New York's Gerdes Folk City as the opening act for John Lee Hooker. He played a set of Guthrie-styled folk songs with his own lyrics. A New York Times review on Dylan helped him draw the attention of John Hammond, an A&R man with Columbia Records. Dylan signed with Columbia and produced his first album, Bob Dylan, in 1962 (Bob Dylan Biography). After releasing a few more albums, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and The Times Are a-Changin’, Bob Dylan would become a recognized figure in the 60’s protest movement. He entered a two-year long relationship with Joan Beaz, a famous icon of the movement. She would introduce him to thousands of her fans at concerts, who quickly became Dylan’s, while he wrote some of her most well-known songs (Editors, The