Timeline : Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan releases Hard Rain. The live album features performances from two concerts on his Rolling Thunder Revue tour that took place in May 1976.
Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, The Staple Singers, Ronnie Hawkins, and Dr. John join The Band for The Last Waltz, a farewell concert for the ages.More
Bob Dylan's wife, Sara Lowndes - the "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands" - files for divorce. The couple have been separated for years.
Bob Dylan and his wife of 11 years, Sara, finalize their divorce. She is given custody of their five children.
Bob Dylan's Renaldo and Clara, a semi-documentary of his famous Rolling Thunder Revue tour, premieres in Los Angeles.
Bob Dylan performs at the biggest open-air concert in history for a solo artist, playing for over 200,000 at "The Picnic at Blackbushe" at Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire, England.
In a clear prelude to his coming "Christian" direction, the Jewish-born Bob Dylan plays tonight's gig in Fort Worth, Texas, wearing a large gold cross around his neck.
During Bob Dylan's show at the San Diego Sports Arena, an audience member throws a silver Christian cross onstage, which the singer picks up and pockets. Perhaps coincidentally, Dylan enters his "Christian period" the next year.
Bob Dylan, a recent convert to Christianity, releases the faith-driven album Slow Train Coming. It includes "Gotta Serve Somebody," which peaks at #24, becoming Dylan's last single to crack the top 40 in the US.More
Bob Dylan makes his only appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing three songs from his Christian album Slow Train Coming.
Bob Dylan debuts the songs from his new album, a Christian polemic called Slow Train Coming, on the first night of his new tour in San Francisco, California. A shocked audience boos the new material throughout the set.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame, formed in 1969, finally lets Bob Dylan in.
The "Peace Sunday: We Have a Dream" concert takes place in Los Angeles, featuring Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne and Stevie Wonder. 85,000 attend the show, which supports nuclear disarmament.
The "We Are The World" soloists, including Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross and Bob Dylan, stumble into the morning light after an all-night recording session with producer Quincy Jones.
With the stars in town for the American Music Awards, "We Are The World" is recorded in Los Angeles, with cameras rolling for the video.More
The song "We are the World" is released as a single, soon achieving massive chart success all around the world. The song, written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, is recorded for charity to help battle famine in Africa. The supergroup USA for Africa brought together for the recording features a stunning list of big names in music - everyone from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to Ray Charles, Cyndi Lauper and Dionne Warwick.
The famously reclusive Bob Dylan opens up on the syndicated radio show Rockline, taking calls from fans.
The Live Aid concerts take place in Philadelphia and London to raise money for the hungry in Africa. The Beach Boys, The Four Tops, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Elton John, David Bowie, The Who, Queen, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan all take part.More
The first Farm Aid concert plays in Champaign, Illinois, to benefit American farmers trying to survive amidst a national agricultural crisis.More
Albert Grossman, manager to Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, dies of a heart attack at age 59.
John Hammond, who signed both Bob Dylan (in 1961) and Bruce Springsteen (in 1972) to Columbia Records, dies at 76 after suffering from a number of strokes.
The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Drifters, Bob Dylan, and The Supremes are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the third class. Mike Love of The Beach Boys gives a Ricky Gervais-at-the-Golden Globes-style speech, insulting many in attendance. Diana Ross skips the ceremony over a spat with fellow Supreme Mary Wilson.
Bob Dylan duets with Band drummer Levon Helm on the group's "The Weight" at a Helm show in New York. The duo also perform Chuck Berry's "Nadine."
The Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup for the ages, release their debut album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. The band is comprised of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne. For the project, the five music legends humorously take on Wilbury family pseudonyms: Lucky (Dylan), Nelson (Harrison), Lefty (Orbison), Charlie T. Jr. (Petty) and Otis (Lynne). The album includes two popular songs, "Handle With Care" and "End Of The Line," and goes on to win a Grammy for the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1990.
Bob Dylan plays flute and recorder at the "L'Chaim - To Life!" telethon, backing up the band Chopped Liver with his son-in-law Peter Himmelman, who is married to Dylan's daughter Maria.
Bob Dylan plays the longest show of his career, performing 50 songs over four hours and 20 minutes at the club Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut. One of the songs in his set is "Dancing In The Dark," the only time Dylan covers a Bruce Springsteen song.
At the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, The Byrds' David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman reunite for a tribute concert honoring the recently deceased Roy Orbison and raising money to support the homeless, a cause Orbison was passionate about. Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, John Fogerty and Bonnie Raitt are also on the bill; the concert is later broadcast as a Showtime special.
Sinéad O'Connor is booed when she takes the stage at Bobfest, a Bob Dylan tribute at Madison Square Garden. O'Connor had torn up a picture of the Pope 13 days earlier on Saturday Night Live, making her the most polarizing person in music. At Bobfest, she keeps going against the grain, scrapping her expected Dylan cover and shouting out a protest song instead.More
Aretha Franklin, Michael Bolton, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, and Diana Ross perform at President Bill Clinton's inauguration ceremonies.
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