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01
Stalker A. J. Weberman, a self-titled Dylanologist, founded the Dylan Liberation Front and protested that Dylan had sold out. Weberman staged protests, rooted through Dylan’s garbage, and accused him of heroin use, before pushing aside Dylan’s wife and breaking into his home, leading to a fight that Dylan won.
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02
1964: Dylan introduced The Beatles to marijuana during their first meeting in New York; both parties later said they laughed all night.
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03
Despite rumors that he dislikes rap, Dylan has praised several rappers as brilliant minds in his book Chronicles. He is a fan of Public Enemy and played Momma Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J on his radio show, rapping along to the first verse.
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04
Dylan has a habit of making impromptu visits to childhood homes of musical colleagues. He told Rolling Stone he visited the childhood homes of Neil Young, John Lennon, and Bruce Springsteen. In Springsteen’s case, neighbors called police when they saw him peering into a window; he was questioned but not arrested.
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05
Dylan once visited Andy Warhol to pick up Edie Sedgwick, whom he was dating. Warhol filmed him, and Dylan responded by taking an original Warhol painting as payment, using it as a dartboard before trading it for a sofa. He later apologized to Warhol for his attitude.
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06
For the recording of Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35, Dylan got the session musicians drunk and stoned, then had each play a different instrument than usual. When someone asked when they would actually record, Dylan said That was it.
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07
At the famous Johnny Cash at San Quentin concert, Johnny Cash introduced a song co-written by Dylan, calling him the greatest writer of our time.
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08
Dylan’s song Like a Rolling Stone was named #1 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 2004. Other songs listed include Blowin’ in the Wind #14, The Times Are A-Changin’ #59, and Tangled Up In Blue #68.
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09
Awarded a 2008 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, he is the first rock or folk musical artist to win this honor.
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10
Hitchhiked from Minnesota to New York after leaving college, legally changing his name from Zimmerman to Dylan at a courthouse along the way.
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11
Had his first steady girlfriend at 14 and was seeing up to five girls at once by college.
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12
His favorite movie is Shoot the Piano Player 1960 by François Truffaut.
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13
Dylan’s father owned a furniture store and once sent him to collect payments from late customers. When Dylan protested that they had no money, his father replied that some made as much as he did but didn’t manage it well.
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14
He has nine grandchildren from his children Maria, Jesse, Samuel, and Jakob, and proudly displays a World’s Greatest Grandpa bumper sticker on his car.
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15
5/27/97: Admitted to hospital for treatment of a potentially life-threatening infection.
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16
Nearly 3,000 artists have covered his songs. Notable covers include All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix and Mr. Tambourine Man by The Byrds.
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17
February 1964: Dylan and three friends drove south from New York to visit poet Carl Sandburg in North Carolina. He left disappointed after ten minutes when Sandburg did not take him seriously as a fellow poet.
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18
Turned down an offer to headline the 1969 Woodstock Festival, even though he lived on a farm in Woodstock for many years. Jimi Hendrix ultimately headlined.
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19
All Along the Watchtower is the song he has performed the most, with nearly 2,000 known performances. It is also the most frequently featured Dylan song on film and TV.
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20
He no longer plays guitar live, instead playing keyboards or harmonica. This is due to his opinion of the band’s sound, not back problems.
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21
Said that when he performs All Along the Watchtower, he thinks of it as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix, whose cover is the best-known version.
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22
Between ages 10 and 18, Dylan ran away from home seven times.
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23
Fan of Elvis Presley.
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24
Attended the University of Minnesota briefly but flunked out by non-participation, refusing to dissect a rabbit in science class and cutting classes to read Kant and frequent coffeehouses.
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25
Rode a 500cc T100S/R Triumph Tiger motorcycle upon which he famously crashed.
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26
Early 1980s: Visited Israel on a supposed private trip; he was photographed at the Wailing Wall, making headlines worldwide.
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27
1959: Played piano for Bobby Vee in a make-up band after the airplane crash death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.
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28
According to a stage manager at Hibbing High School, the piano he played on stage is still used by the school for drama performances.
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29
Appears on the sleeve of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
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30
Father of six children: Maria adopted, Jesse, Anna, Samuel, Jakob, and Desiree. Maria was born in 1961 and became his step-daughter before he adopted her. Desiree was born in 1985 to his second wife, Carolyn Dennis.
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31
Was a member of The Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.
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32
Borrowed lines from the Japanese book Confessions of a Yakuza for lyrics on his album Love and Theft; the author was apparently flattered.
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33
By age ten, Dylan began piano lessons and listened to country, blues, and rock n roll on late-night radio. His father bought him an electric guitar in his teens, and he formed cover bands The Jokers, The Shadow Blasters, and The Golden Chords. In college, he traded the electric for an acoustic after discovering Woody Guthrie.
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34
In his book Chronicles, Dylan indicates that his songwriting inspirations were Woody Guthrie’s hopped-up union meeting sermons, Robert Johnson’s dark night of the soul, and songs by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill for their tough language and outrageous power.
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35
Despite his reputation as a protest singer, Dylan was never very politically active. He supported civil rights and fought individual injustices, such as Rubin Hurricane Carter, but many peers found his political indifference frustrating.
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36
Refused the use of his recording of Moonshiner in the film An American Werewolf in London 1981 due to objections to the script’s moral content during his Christian born-again phase. Ironically, several Dylan songs were later used in the TV show True Blood 2008, with similar content.
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37
His album Modern Times 2006 was voted the 8th Best Album of the Decade by Rolling Stone.
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38
Father of singer/songwriter Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers.
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39
Some of his biggest influences are Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, Leadbelly, Mance Lipscomb, Big Joe Williams, and Woody Guthrie.
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40
When he won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, he joined George Bernard Shaw as the only persons to win a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award.
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41
Voted the second Greatest Rock n Roll Artist of all time by Rolling Stone.
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42
Big fan of the films of John Ford.
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43
At the 40th Annual Grammy Awards 1998 he won a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for Cold Irons Bound, Best Contemporary Folk Album, and Album of the Year for Time Out of Mind.
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44
Historically, he rarely fraternized with studio band members, offering only instructions through the producer. This changed somewhat when he began producing his own albums with his touring band.
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45
Though he avoids discussing religion now, Dylan said in a 1997 Rolling Stone interview that he is no longer a follower of any organized religion.
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46
Dylan has never publicly renounced Christianity; he gradually became less outspoken. The album Infidels 1983 still contained Bible-based material, and he engaged in Christian prayers through the mid-1980s. In 2009, he released a full-length album of Christmas standards, Christmas in the Heart.
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47
In 2012, Dylan claimed to Rolling Stone that he believes in transfiguration after reading Hell’s Angel by Sonny Barger. The book mentions a Hell’s Angel named Bobby Zimmerman who died in 1961, coincidentally the same time Dylan began performing.
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48
1985: Daughter Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan born to gospel-rock vocalist Carol Dennis, a backup singer he secretly married.
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49
His albums Time Out of Mind 1997, Love and Theft 2001, and Modern Times 2006 were voted Album of the Year in the Village Voice’s annual critics’ poll.
