Bob Dylan (born
Robert Allen Zimmerman
on May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet,
film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly
influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much
of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal
chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A
number of his early songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times
They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the US civil rights and
anti-war
movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music
behind, Dylan proceeded to revolutionize perceptions of the limits of
popular music in 1965 with the six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone".
Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a
changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late
1980s on what has been dubbed the
Never Ending Tour. His
accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central
to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to
be his songwriting.
