Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, Bob Dylan, whose Jewish name is Zushe Ben Avraham was raised in Hibbing on the Mesabi Iron Range the place in which he learned how to play guitar and harmonica at the age of 6.
Bob Dylan spent his teen years listening to the radio, which provided him with early blues, country, and rock and roll influences. During his high school days Dylan formed different bands including The Shadow Blasters and The Golden Chords.
In 1959, Dylan enrolled at the University of Minnesota and moved to Minneapolis where he was soon performing at the scholar coffee house playing acoustic guitar. Bob Dylan was then involved in the local Dinkytown folk music circuit, the period of time in which he adopted his stage name.
However, Dylan dropped out of college and eventually moved to New York in 1961 seeking an opportunity to become a professional musician and met his musical idol Woody Guthrie, who was dying in a hospital. Later that year Bob Dylan signed with Columbia Records, which released his self-titled debut album in 1962 achieving very little impact.
In August 1962, Robert Allen Zimmerman became Bob Dylan legally and recorded a second album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", released in 1963. This time instead of blues, gospel or folk, the recording would be catalogued as protest songs, a labeling that later would identify Dylan's work.
From that album a song entitled "Blowin' in the Wind" became an international hit when it was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, gaining for Dylan a reputation as songwriter. Bob Dylan continued writing and singing with regular success until the song hit "Like a Rolling Stone" breakthrough into the mainstream in 1965, consolidating Dylan as a pivotal rock figure of all times.
Between 1962 and 2006, Bob Dylan has recorded and released 32 studio albums and toured extensively around the world. In 2007, Bob Dylan released a new original song "Huck's Tune" for the "Lucky You" film soundtrack, at the time that he setup the dates for the "Never Ending Tour" throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
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