Bob Dylan, one of the most influential singers and songwriters of his generation, celebrates his 80th birthday on Monday, May 24.
Dylan has sold more than 125 million records during his nearly 60-year career, and he remains actively performing today. Some of his most iconic songs include The Times They Are a-Changin’, Like a Rolling Stone, and Blowin’ in the Wind.
In 2008, Dylan received a Pulitzer Prize special citation for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power. Furthermore, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 for creating new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.
Moreover, in December, Dylan sold his entire catalog of songs—more than 600—to the Universal Music Publishing Group. The New York Times estimated the deal was worth over $300 million.
“It’s no secret that the art of songwriting is the fundamental key to all great music, nor is it a secret that Bob is one of the very greatest practitioners of that art,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, the CEO of Universal Music Group. “Brilliant and moving, inspiring and beautiful, insightful and provocative, his songs are timeless—whether they were written more than half a century ago or yesterday.”
Dylan performs at The Bitter End folk club in New York City in 1961. His first album, “Bob Dylan,” came out in 1962 and consisted mostly of old folk songs.Dylan plays the guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1963. Dylan was known in his early career for playing the guitar and the harmonica, and for his distinctive vocal phrasing. Rowland Scherman/Getty ImagesDylan holds a camera on the top of a car in Massachusetts in 1964.Dylan records his album “Bringing It All Back Home” in 1965. The album was a mix of acoustic and electric guitar. Dylan’s move to electric was controversial at the time. Some fans wanted him to stick with the acoustic music they were used to hearing from him. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesDylan smokes a cigarette as D.A. Pennebaker films “Don’t Look Back,” a documentary film about Dylan’s tour of England in 1965.Dylan is escorted past fans as he arrives at a London airport in 1965.Dylan performs with country singer Johnny Cash on Cash’s show in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1969.Nearly 200,000 fans wait for Dylan to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969. The stage is on the bottom left.Dylan performs with former Beatle George Harrison at Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDylan speaks at the Mariposa Folk Festival on Toronto’s Olympic Island in 1972. Keith Beaty/Toronto Star/Getty ImagesDylan appears in a scene from the 1973 film “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” Dylan also recorded the soundtrack for the film.Dylan, center, performs with Van Morrison, left, and Robbie Robertson of The Band at a concert in San Francisco in 1976.Dylan performs in London in 1978. Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesDylan attends a bar mitzvah for one of his sons at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 1983.Dylan and Tom Petty pose for a portrait circa 1986. They toured together that year.Dylan and Bruce Springsteen perform “Forever Young” at a concert for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.Dylan talks with James Brown, “The Godfather of Soul,” in 1990. Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty ImagesPope John Paul II greets Dylan, who performed at a concert in the Pope’s honor in Bologna, Italy, in 1997.Dylan and other Kennedy Center honorees stand for the National Anthem with President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton in 1997.Dylan performs “Love Sick” alongside performance artist Michael Portney at the 1998 Grammy Awards. Portnoy had been hired as part of the background dancers for the performance, but his shirtless interruption was not planned and he was carted off stage. Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty ImagesDylan has won 10 Grammy Awards in his career and sold more than 125 million records.Dylan is seen at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he received an honorary degree in 2004.Dylan performs at the Bluesfest music festival in 2011. Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty ImagesDylan receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2012. ‘I remember, you know, in college, listening to Bob Dylan and my world opening up, ’cause he captured something about this country that was so vital,’ Obama said. Leigh Vogel/WireImage/Getty ImagesSara Danius announces that Dylan had won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. Jonas Ekstromer/AFP/Getty ImagesPatti Smith performs on behalf of Dylan during the Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony in 2016. Dylan wasn’t able to attend because of pre-existing commitments. He received his award at a private ceremony five months later. The Asahi Shimbun/Getty ImagesDylan performs with Neil Young at London’s Hyde Park in 2019. Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images for ABA
