Bob Dylan Receives Honorary Pulitzer
While millions of fans have been recognizing his musical genius for the past forty or more years, it has taken music officials a tad longer to see the light. At last Bob Dylan has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his exceptional contribution to music over the last few decades – a prize that is well-deserved.
This year’s New York Pulitzer Prize ceremony saw Bob Dylan make his way to the stage to accept an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” Thus far only 38 Pulitzer Special Citations have ever been awarded. This makes the achievement even more remarkable and puts Dylan in an elite category of musicians. Bob Dylan is also the first rock artist to ever receive this accolade.
Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, on May 24, 1941. He was strongly influenced by music he heard on the radio growing up and went on to form several bands in high school. In 1959 he enrolled in the University of Minnesota and moved to Minneapolis. It was at this point that his focus shifted from Rock ‘n Roll to the American Folk music that no doubt played a major contribution to his lyrical genius. In 1961 he relocated to New York where he later signed his first record deal with Columbia Records. From this point, Dylan continued to work his way up in the music world, changing his style numerous times and winning recognition and praise each step of the way.
Dylan’s latest award groups him with the likes of musical geniuses such as John Coltrane and George Gershwin. The Pulitzer Prize is America’s highest national honor and it is awarded to individuals in the fields of literary achievements, journalism and musical composition. Those who know Dylan’s work will agree that he has an amazing and very long list of songs to his credit and, despite being 67 years old, Bob Dylan is still writing songs and performing at live shows across the world. His next two tours are set to take place in Canada and Europe and his latest works continue to be enjoyed by both young and old music lovers across the globe.