Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

NEWS ABOUT: Bob Dylan

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Switch to grid view »

20 Iconic Songs That Are Actually Covers

Cyndi Lauper didn't come up with the idea that girls just want to have fun

(Newser) - Next time you find yourself belting along to Cyndi Lauper singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" or Joan Jett singing "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," know this: Cyndi and Joan didn't originate those songs, they just made them famous. Huffington Post rounds up 20 hit... More »

Hitmaking Producer Phil Ramone Dead at 72

Streisand, Sinatra, Billy Joel among artists who worked with him

(Newser) - You may not know his name, but Phil Ramone—one of the most successful music producers of his era—died in a New York hospital this morning at age 72, Billboard reports. He had been admitted late last month with an aortic aneurysm. His incredible career included 14 Grammy awards,... More »

Dylan First Rocker Voted Into Elite Arts Group

American Academy of Arts and Letters honors him

(AP) - Bob Dylan has become the first rock star voted into the elite, century-old American Academy of Arts and Letters, where artists range from Philip Roth to Jasper Johns and categories include music, literature, and visual arts. Officials couldn't decide whether he belonged for his words or for his music,... More »

Bob Dylan: Slavery's Legacy 'Holds Back' America

Singer says first black president not enough to change hearts

(AP) - Bob Dylan says the stigma of slavery ruined America and he doubts the country can get rid of the shame because it was "founded on the backs of slaves." The veteran musician tells Rolling Stone that in America "people (are) at each other's throats just because... More »

Popular Protest Songs Might Be Gone Forever

Today's music is apolitical, and don't expect that to change: Stephen Walt

(Newser) - Heard any good American protest songs lately? Yeah, probably not, and Stephen M. Walt laments the demise of the artform in Foreign Policy . It's not like there's a shortage of things to write about, given the context of two wars, the lousy economy, and a seeming national contempt... More »

New Yorker Writer Admits to Fabrication and Quits

Jonah Lehrer: I made up Bob Dylan quotes

(Newser) - A New Yorker staff writer has quit the magazine and confessed to attributing phony quotes to Bob Dylan, reports the New York Times' Media Decoder blog . Jonah Lehrer says he initially panicked when cornered by a reporter about the quotes in Lehrer's book, Imagine: How Creativity Works. "I... More »

47 Years Later, Dylan's Iconic Electric Guitar May Have Surfaced

Daughter of his pilot claims she has it, but singer's lawyer says no

(Newser) - When Bob Dylan plugged in an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, folk music fans—who were used to Dylan's acoustic protest songs—were outraged. The Fender Stratocaster may very well be, the AP notes, "the most historic single instrument" in rock and roll. It... More »

Bob Dylan Gets Medal of Freedom

Madeleine Albright, John Glenn also among honorees

(Newser) - President Obama bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Bob Dylan, Madeleine Albright, and a host of other luminaries today at the White House. The Los Angeles Times notes that 1962 seemed to be a pivotal year for this year's honorees: It's when Dylan's first album came... More »

Bob Dylan to Get Presidential Medal of Freedom

Pat Summitt, Toni Morrison also among this year's honorees

(Newser) - Bob Dylan will get the nation's highest civilian honor later this spring, reports Bloomberg . Dylan, 70, will be one of 13 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He's already got scores of Grammys, an Oscar, and a Pulitzer, and the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog can'... More »

Favorite to Win Nobel for Literature Is ... Bob Dylan?

So say the betting gurus at Ladbrokes

(Newser) - A lot of people are apparently pushing for Bob Dylan to win the Nobel for literature tomorrow. As far-fetched as it sounds, the British-based betting company Ladbrokes says the odds of Dylan winning have plunged from 100:1 to 5:1 in the last 24 hours, reports the Guardian . "... More »

NYC's Storied Chelsea Hotel Closes Doors

Guests barred in landmark that once housed legends like Dylan and Hendrix

(Newser) - It looks as though rock and roll could lose one of its most storied landmarks. The Chelsea Hotel in New York City will be closed to guests for an indefinite period of time, reports the New York Times . A developer is set to spend $80 million on the dingy throwback... More »

New Tapes Air Bob Dylan's Heroin Addiction

Film now being produced around Robert Shelton's interviews

(Newser) - Bob Dylan turns 70 today, but he confesses in a previously unheard interview that along the way he “kicked a heroin habit in New York City” in the early ‘60s. “I got very, very strung out for a while, I mean really, very strung out. And I... More »

Stewart, O'Reilly Face Off Over White House Rapper

Daily Show host slams Fox 'outrage machine'

(Newser) - Jon Stewart accepted Bill O'Reilly's challenge and the pair debated rapper Common's White House appearance on last night's O'Reilly Factor. O'Reilly insisted that it was a mistake to have invited a rapper who "celebrates" a cop killer to a White House poetry night,... More »

Judges Really Like to Quote Bob Dylan

Even Chief Justice Roberts has cited his lyrics

(Newser) - When judges want to give their opinions a lyrical flourish, many turn first to Bob Dylan. He’s the most-cited musician in court opinions and briefs, experts tell the Los Angeles Times . That’s because his early songs give voice to political and legal concerns—and they emerged when today’... More »

Dylan in China: 'a Whole New Kind of Sellout'

But Dowd notes the dangerous, agitator Dylan has been gone for 40 years

(Newser) - Bob Dylan's recent concert in China represents "a whole new kind of sellout," writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times , "even worse than Beyoncé, Mariah and Usher collecting millions to croon to Gadhafi’s family, or Elton John raking in a fortune to serenade gay-bashers at... More »

Bob Dylan Gets First Gig in Vietnam

Legend expected to sell out 8,000-seat venue

(Newser) - Decades after making his name with Vietnam-era antiwar songs, Bob Dylan is set to perform in Vietnam for the first time, the AP reports. He’ll play in an 8,000-seat university stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, and planners expect the show to sell out. “Bob Dylan is... More »

Bob Dylan to Play First China Gigs

Application to play Beijing, Shanghai was rejected last time

(Newser) - Chinese authorities, with their heavy-handed crackdown on protests , have made it clear that the times are definitely not a-changing if they can help it. They are, however, letting Bob Dylan play his first-ever shows in the country, the AFP reports. Dylan will play concerts in Beijing and Shanghai next month... More »

Bob Dylan's Muse Dead at 67

Suze Rotolo inspired classic songs

(Newser) - Suze Rotolo, the inspiration behind many of Bob Dylan’s early songs and his girlfriend in New York during the early 1960s, died last week at 67 following a long illness. Rotolo appeared on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan; their relationship led Dylan to pen classics like “... More »

'Uptown Girl': Not Actually About Christie Brinkley...

And more sometimes surprising stories behind the songs

(Newser) - Inspired by Taylor Swift, who regularly pens songs about her real-life boyfriends , the New York Daily News lists six stories behind six classic songs. Most come from new book The Girl in the Song by Michael Heatley and Frank Hopkinson:
  • Billy Joel, “Uptown Girl”: Contrary to popular belief, this
... More »

Bob Dylan's No Fake, Joni

Every artist steals, remakes others' work: Sean Willentz

(Newser) - Sorry, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan's no more a phony than any other artist, historian Sean Wilentz writes for the Daily Beast . "The idea that Dylan is a faker, unless everything he wrote came out of his own imagination—word for word, note for note—is absurd," Wilentz writes.... More »

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Timelines   |   POPSUGAR Tech   |   Business Insider   |   HuffPost Entertainment   |   NewsOne