Bob Dylan Height, Weight, Age, Girlfriend, Family, Facts, Biography

Bob Dylan Quick Info
Height	5 ft 6½ in
Weight	67 kg
Date of Birth	May 24, 1941
Zodiac Sign	Gemini
Eye Color	Blue

Bob Dylan is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and writer who is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Over the years, he has been a recipient of numerous accolades, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 10 Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award, as well as has sold more than 125 million records. His discography consists of albums like The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin’, Blonde on Blonde, Bringing It All Back Home, Desire, Blood on the Tracks, Dylan, Another Side of Bob Dylan, Nashville Skyline, John Wesley Harding, Highway 61 Revisited, Planet Waves, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, The Basement Tapes, Slow Train Coming, Oh Mercy, New Morning, Empire Burlesque, Modern Times, Under the Red Sky, Together Through Life, Christmas in the Heart, Shot of Love, Infidels, Rough and Rowdy Ways, Tempest, and Time Out of Mind. Also, the singer received the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” in 2016 as well as has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Born Name

Robert Allen Zimmerman

Nick Names

Bob Dylan, Bobby, Zimmy, Zimbo, The Voice of Protest, The Voice of a Generation, The Bard, Blind Boy Grunt, Elston Gunnn, Blind Boy, Grunt Bob, Landy Robert, Milkwood Thomas, Tedham Porterhouse, Lucky Wilbury, Boo Wilbury, Jack Frost, Sergei Petrov

Sun Sign

Gemini

Born Place

Duluth, Minnesota, United States

Residence

Malibu, California, United States

Nationality

Education

Bob Dylan went to Hibbing High School and after graduation got admission to the University of Minnesota. However, he dropped out of university after completing his first year as he wanted to focus on his music.

Occupation

Singer, songwriter, artist, writer

Family

Father – Abram Zimmerman (Electric appliance shop owner)
Mother – Beatrice “Beatty” Stone
Siblings – David Zimmerman (Younger Brother)
Others – Zigman Zimmerman (Paternal Grandfather), Anna Zimmerman (Paternal Grandmother), Ben Stone (Maternal Grandfather), Florence Stone (Maternal Grandmother)

Manager

Bob Dylan has been represented by Simon & Schuster.

Genre

Folk, blues, rock, gospel, country, traditional pop, jazz

Instruments

Vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica

Labels

Columbia, Asylum Records

Net Worth

His net worth had been $500 Million according to CelebrityNetWorth.com.

Build

Slim

Height

5 ft 6½ in or 169 cm

Weight

67 kg or 148 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Bob Dylan has dated –

Mavis Staples – Bob Dylan is rumored to have dated gospel singer Mavis Staples. Although the exact timeline of their relationship isn’t known, it is assumed that he went out with her in his younger days. They had reportedly met at the taping of an unspecified TV show. Dylan had expressed that he wanted to marry Mavis and her father had asked him to talk to Mavis about it. So, they started going out thereafter. The couple used to exchange letters and would talk on the phone for long hours. They dated for about four or five years before ending their relationship.

Ruth Tyrangiel – He was romantically involved with Ruth Tyrangiel in the past.

Ronee Blakely – Reportedly, he once had an affair with actor, singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and director Ronee Blakely.

Suze Rotolo (1961-1964) – Bob first met artist and political activist Suze Rotolo in July 1961 at the Riverside Church folk concert. They were introduced by her sister Carla. It was love at first sight for Bob, who would later call her the most erotic thing he had ever seen in his life. They started living together at the start of 1962, much to her parent’s dismay, who were American Communist Party radicals. However, as his fame grew, she started finding their relationship a bit stressful. When she went to Italy with her mother to study a six months course in Perugia, Bob was heartbroken and it inspired some of his earliest love ballads. By 1963, she was pregnant with his child and had to get an abortion done. The abortion took its toll on their relationship. His affair with singer Joan Baez didn’t help things either. They eventually broke up in 1964 and he channeled his emotions to write, Ballad in Plain D.

Joan Baez (1963-1965) – Joan Baez was a popular folk singer by the time he was starting out as a musician and was six months older than him. She made him popular by doing covers of his songs. It has been reported by music historians that Dylan was more interested in Joan’s sister but he soon came around. The Newport Folk Festival that was held in May 1963 is touted as the time they began their affair. After having performed With God on Our Side, they drove to her house and started one of the most passionate love affairs of the sixties. By the time, he set out for the UK Tour in 1965, he was losing interest in Baez and was getting more enamored with other women. Even, after the end of their relationship, she continued to champion his cause.

Dana Gillespie (1965) – During his UK tour in 1965, Dylan is said to have hooked up with British pop singer Dana Gillespie. He was reported to have spent hours holed up in his hotel room with Dana during the tour. He met her during his subsequent visits as well as he was very comfortable with her. In fact, he was so comfortable that he once borrowed her pink and orange flowered pants and left her sitting in the room in her underwear. He had promised to return in a couple of hours but returned about 15 hours later.

Sara Lownds (1965-1977) – In November 1965, Dylan got married to model and actor Sara Lownds. She was pregnant with their first child by the time they got married. In January 1966, she gave birth to a boy, Jesse Byron Dylan, who works as a film director and producer. In July 1967, they became parents to a daughter, Anna Lea, who was followed by a son, Samuel Isaac Abram in July 1968. In December 1969, she gave birth to Jakob Luke Dylan, who is a singer and songwriter. Dylan also adopted her daughter from a previous marriage, Maria Lownds (who was born in October 1961). Dylan even cast Sara as the female lead in his film, Renaldo and Clara. However, they got divorced in June 1977.

Françoise Hardy (1965) – Bob Dylan reportedly had an affair with French singer and songwriter Françoise Hardy in 1965.

Edie Sedgwick (1965-1966) – Dylan’s relationship with actor and socialite Edie Sedgwick has often been disputed. Some sources claim that they had started going out in 1965 while she was living at the Chelsea Hotel. They dated until February 1966 when her former mentor and director Andy Warhol informed her that Dylan had married Sara Lownds several months earlier. There are some sources that claim they never dated and that Edie just had a crush on him. And after learning about his marriage, she just gave up the thought of bagging him.

Chris O`Dell – Bob Dylan had a fling with Chris O`Dell, while she worked as his tour manager for two years. She has also hinted at their fling in her autobiography, Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with the Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved, which was published in January 2010.

Sally Kirkland – The American actor Sally Kirkland was obsessed with Dylan for almost a decade before they started going out. Sally had first seen him in the early ’60s while standing in a receiving line at Carnegie Hall. She looked him in the eye and was awestruck. She spent the next decade getting more obsessed with him. In 1975, her close friend, who had grown up with Dylan, told her that she would set up a date with Bob if Sally hired her as her manager. So, she finally got to go on a date with Dylan in 1975. They broke up by the end of the next year. However, they kept on going back to each other and dated in the late ’80s and late ’90s as well.

Ruth Tyrangiel (1974-1991) – No one knew about Dylan’s relationship with Ruth Tyrangiel until 1994 when she slapped him with a $5 million “palimony” suit. In her lawsuit, she claimed that they had been living as husband and wife for around 17 years. She also mentioned that they started dating in 1974 and were together till 1991. She was declared his common-law wife and he decided to settle out of court.

Carolyn Dennis (1986-1992) – Bob secretly got married to his backup singer Carolyn Dennis in 1986. During the course of their marriage, she gave birth to their daughter, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan. Their marriage lasted for about six years and it remained a secret until 2001, when Howard Sounes published his biography, Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan.

Race / Ethnicity

White

On his father’s side, he has Russian Jewish ancestry. While, on his mother’s side, he is of Lithuanian descent.

Hair Color

Dark Brown (Natural)

With his growing age, it has turned more into salt and pepper.

Eye Color

Blue

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

Slight body frame
Thin mustache
Curly hair

Shoe Size

8 (US) or 41 (EU) or 7 (UK)

Brand Endorsements

Bob Dylan has done endorsement work for the following brands –

IBM Watson
The Traveling Wilburys
AARP Services
Chrysler (Super Bowl Advert)
Victoria’s Secret
Cadillac Escalade
Pepsi
Apple iPod

Religion

Bob Dylan’s religious views have shifted throughout his life. He was raised in a devout Jewish household and at the age of 13, had his bar mitzvah. Then in 1979, he claimed that he was born again and had found Christ. He even released two Christian gospel albums.

About a decade and a half later, he revealed that he didn’t believe in any organized religion and that music was his spirituality. Later, it was found that he was adhering to his childhood Jewish faith and had a bar mitzvah for his sons.

Best Known For

Being one of the most popular musical artists with more than 100 million record sales to his name
His work as one of the most influential and popular lyricists. His lyrics carry political, literary, philosophical, and social influences.
Having won the much-coveted and prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature
Being the recipient of more than ten Grammy awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award

First Album

In 1962, he released his debut studio album, Bob Dylan, which was certified as silver in the UK and also managed to creep up to the #13 position on the UK music charts.

First Film

In 1967, he made his theatrical film debut in the documentary film Don’t Look Back which covers his 1965 concert tour in England.

First TV Show

On March 10, 1964, Bob made his first TV show appearance on the comedy talk show, The New Steve Allen Show. On the same day, he also appeared in The Times They Are A-Changin’ episode of the TV show, Quest.

Bob Dylan Favorite Things

Poet – Dylan Thomas
Movie – Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
Old School Rapper – Public Enemy
Literary Inspirations – Moby Dick by Herman Melville, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, and The Odyssey by Homer

Source – IMDb, Quartz

Bob Dylan Facts

While studying at the University of Minnesota, he used to perform at the Ten O’Clock Scholar, which was a coffeehouse located a few blocks from the campus.

In his early days in New York City, he used to perform at the clubs around the Greenwich Village area.

He got his first breakthrough in 1961 when music critic Robert Shelton wrote a positive review of his performance in the New York Times. This review was instrumental in helping him bag a record deal with Columbia Records.

As he was just 20 years old when he was signed up by Columbia Records, he had to get his parents’ signature on the contract as he was legally considered a minor. He found a way out of it by claiming that he was an orphan.

In July 1966, he got hurt after having crashed his motorcycle near his house in Woodstock, New York City. He retired from public life for two years to recover from his injuries and to deal with his stardom. He wouldn’t perform in a concert till 1974.

His debut studio album Bob Dylan wasn’t a success in the United States and in the first year sold only 5,000 records. Within his record label, he was known as John Hammond’s folly. Hammond had signed him up with the company.

Dylan’s uncles and great-grandfather were owners of the biggest movie theaters in Hibbing, due to which he could watch movies for free.

When he was in the tenth grade, Dylan and his music band were rejected from a high school talent competition because the student council felt their performance was shocking and too loud.

In June 1970, he was awarded an honorary degree by Princeton University. In 2004, he was honored with an honorary doctorate in music from the University of St. Andrews.

It has been reported that the first draft of his single Like a Rolling Stone was six pages long. The song peaked at the #2 spot on the music charts.

As a part of his conversion to Christianity, he took a three-month-long course at the Vineyard School of Discipleship in 1978.

After dropping out of university, he hitchhiked from Minnesota to New York City and took odd jobs along the way to pay for his passage. He also stopped at a courthouse to legally change his name to Robert Dylan.

He started taking piano lessons at the age of ten. When he was in his teens, his father gifted him his first electric guitar.

One of his most notorious stalkers, A.J. Weberman, accused Dylan of abandoning his political causes. He formed the Dylan Liberation Front and started staging protests in front of Dylan’s house, and even accused him of heroin abuse.

One day Dylan lost his patience with Weberman after he pushed his wife Sara and broke into his house. Dylan went on to beat Weberman, who was bigger in size, in a fistfight.

In 1997, he was hospitalized with a life-threatening heart condition known as pericarditis, which is caused by histoplasmosis. He had to cancel his European tour and even felt that he was going to die. Fortunately, he made a speedy recovery.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed his song Like A Rolling Stone in the first spot on the list featuring 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Blowin in the Wind was at the #14 spot and overall, he had 12 songs on the list.

He was a huge fan of the pop legend Elvis Presley and apparently was so upset with Elvis’ death that he didn’t speak to anybody for about a week.

In 2008, the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded him a special citation for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power”.

In February 2010, US President Barack Obama honored him with an American National Medal of the Arts for his services to the arts. Previously, US President Bill Clinton had awarded him a Kennedy Center Honor.

He is known to be quite rebellious in his teens and had run away from his house seven times between the ages of 10 and 18.

When he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, he became the second individual after British writer George Bernard Shaw to win the Academy Award as well as the Nobel Prize.

In August 2021, a woman accused Bob of giving her drugs and alcohol and then s*xually abusing her at his New York City apartment in 1965. The woman claimed that she was 12 years old at the time of the abuse.

His 39th studio album Rough and Rowdy Ways was released on June 19, 2020, and it was certified ‘Silver’ by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

In late 2020, Bob had sold the songwriting credits of his songs for over $300 million to Universal Music Publishing Group.

In January 2022, Bob had sold the rights to his entire recorded music catalog to Sony Music including the rights to many future album releases.

Featured Image by Alberto Cabello / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

ncG1vNJzZmiglZa5tbTYnJylnZJjsLC5jpumm2WUrrmiuo4%3D