Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American songwriter, poet, and singer. Recognized as one of the most influential songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a prominent figure in popular culture over a career spanning more than six decades. With an estimated 125 million records sold worldwide, he is one of the best-selling musicians. Dylan introduced increasingly sophisticated lyrical techniques to early 1960s folk music, incorporating literary and poetic influences, as well as political, social, and philosophical themes, which helped shape the countercultural movements of the era. Dylan was born in St. Louis County, Minnesota, and moved to New York City in 1961 to pursue a music career. His 1962 debut album, "Bob Dylan", featured traditional folk and blues material. He gained recognition with "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" (1963), which included "Girl from the North Country" and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". Songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. In 1965 and 1966, Dylan attracted attention for incorporating electrically amplified rock instrumentation on "Bringing It All Back Home" (1965), "Highway 61 Revisited" (1965), and "Blonde on Blonde" (1966). His single "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) expanded both commercial and artistic boundaries in popular music. Following a motorcycle accident in 1966, Dylan paused touring for seven years. During this time, he recorded numerous songs with members of the Band, which were later compiled in "The Basement Tapes" (1975). He explored country music and rural themes on albums including "John Wesley Harding" (1967), "Nashville Skyline" (1969), and "New Morning" (1970). He received critical acclaim for "Blood on the Tracks" (1975) and "Time Out of Mind" (1997), the latter earning him the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Dylan continues to release music and has toured regularly since the late 1980s on the so-called Never Ending Tour. Since 1994, he has published ten books of paintings and drawings, and his artwork has been exhibited in major galleries. His life has been depicted in films including the biopic "A Complete Unknown" (2024). Dylan’s awards and honors include an Academy Award, ten Grammy Awards, Kennedy Center Honors in 1997, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, received a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 2008, and was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature for creating new poetic expressions within the American song tradition. Studio albums Bob Dylan (1962) The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964) Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) Bringing It All Back Home (1965) Highway 61 Revisited (1965) Blonde on Blonde (1966) John Wesley Harding (1967) Nashville Skyline (1969) Self Portrait (1970) New Morning (1970) Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) Dylan (1973) Planet Waves (1974) Blood on the Tracks (1975) The Basement Tapes (1975) Desire (1976) Street-Legal (1978) Slow Train Coming (1979) Saved (1980) Shot of Love (1981) Infidels (1983) Empire Burlesque (1985) Knocked Out Loaded (1986) Down in the Groove (1988) Oh Mercy (1989) Under the Red Sky (1990) Good as I Been to You (1992) World Gone Wrong (1993) Time Out of Mind (1997) Love and Theft (2001) Modern Times (2006) Together Through Life (2009) Christmas in the Heart (2009) Tempest (2012) Shadows in the Night (2015) Fallen Angels (2016) Triplicate (2017) Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020) Shadow Kingdom (2023)