Bob Dylan

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Bob Dylan is an internationally acclaimed recording artist. In a career spanning almost fifty years, Dylan has produced 54 albums.[1] Dylan has won eleven Grammy Awards and has six recordings in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Dylan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, where he also is the owner of five of the five hundred songs that shaped rock and roll. In addition, he has been awarded Kennedy Center Honors and the Pulitzer Prize of Special Citations and Awards.[2]
Bob Dylan, born as Robert Zimmerman, was born in 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. He spent his early childhood in Duluth before moving to north to Hibbing to be closer to family. Dylan was fascinated with music from his early teen years, when he taught himself to play both piano and guitar. He attended Hibbing High School in the late 1950s, and the piano he played during school talent shows is still preserved by the high school today. In one of the darker moments in his youth, Dylan was booed off the stage by his teenage peers.[3]
After graduation from high school in 1959, Bob enrolled at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. It was around this time that he began to perform under the name of Bob Dylan. He believed Zimmerman, his given name, was not marketable enough and chose instead to honor his favorite poet Dylan Thomas. Dylan eventually flunked out of college due to non-participation. By this time he had discovered more of the folk genre of music and decided that he must meet his idol Woody Guthrie. Guthrie was in a New York City hospital, so for much of the next year Dylan performed in and around Greenwhich Village while often visiting Guthrie. In 1961, Dylan signed a recording contract with Columbia Records, and within a year he released his first self-titled album. This album contained two original songs and the rest old folk tunes, but nevertheless launched his career as a singing and songwriting genius
[1] “Albums.” Bob Dylan, 2009. Retrieved 12/20/10. <http://www.bobdylan.com/#/albums>
[2] “List of awards received by Bob Dylan.” Wikipedia, 10/10/10. Retrieved 1/2/11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_received_by_Bob_Dylan
[3] “Bob Dylan.” Internet Movie Database, 2011. Retrieved 12/13/10.
Category:Famous Natives