Bob Dylan

He married Sara Lownds in 1965 and had four children with her. He also adopted Sara’s daughter from a previous relationship, Maria. The couple divorced in 1977.

He formed a relationship with the singer Carolyn Dennis which resulted in the birth of a daughter. He married Carolyn in 1986. This marriage too ended in divorce in 1992.

He was born as Robert Allen Zimmerman to Abram Zimmerman and Beatrice Stone in Minnesota where he was raised in a close-knit Jewish community. He loved music from a young age and spent hours listening to the radio.

He attended Hibbing High School and as a student played with many bands. He enrolled at the University of Minnesota in 1959. While in university he started performing at coffee houses and became active in the Dinkytown folk music circuit.

He changed his name to “Bob Dylan” when he started performing. After quitting college in 1960 he went to New York City in 1961 in order to pursue a career in music. He started playing at clubs and explored the music scenario.

His eponymous debut album, ‘Bob Dylan’ was released in 1962. It contained folk songs and two of Dylan’s compositions. The album did not do well.

The next album he released, ‘The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan’ (1963) became a big hit in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The album was a combination of protest songs, love songs, and blues with social messages which greatly appealed to the audience and popularized the singer.

Over the 1960s he became immensely popular both as a song-writer and a singer. During this time he also actively became involved in the civil rights movement. One of his biggest hits, the single, ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ was released in 1965 which peaked at no. 1 in the UK charts.

In the 1970s he ventured into films and starred in the 1973 Western drama ‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid’. He also composed and sang several songs for the film. The film however was a failure at the box office.

His album ‘Blonde on Blonde’ was one of his first major hits. It peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US and No. 3 in the UK. It was commercially very successful and went double platinum in the US.

His 1975 album ‘Blood on the Tracks’ is considered to be one of his greatest albums. It peaked at No. 1 in the US and is counted among the Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album ‘Slow Train Coming’ out in 1979 peaked at No. 1 in Australia. The album explored the musician’s new found Christian faith, and stressed upon the relevance of Christian philosophy, drawing religious people to it. It went platinum in US and Canada.