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Bob Dylan has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Berklee College of Music, recognizing the 84-year-old as both a foundational influence and a lifelong student of American music traditions. Berklee will honor Dylan with a tribute concert on November 5, though he is not expected to attend.
This is Dylan’s first honorary degree from a U.S. institution in more than five decades, the previous one granted by Princeton University in 1970. Dylan, who famously left the University of Minnesota in 1959 to pursue music full-time, expressed appreciation for the recognition, calling it a “pleasant surprise” and reflecting on how his path might have differed if he’d been able to study with Berklee faculty.
Berklee President Jim Lucchese said Dylan’s decades of reinvention have shaped the evolution of modern songwriting and storytelling. Faculty members noted that Dylan’s deep engagement with American folk and blues parallels Berklee’s own emphasis on music rooted in the African diaspora. They described Dylan not only as a groundbreaking artist, but as someone who models ongoing curiosity, listening, and artistic growth.
Dylan will soon begin the U.K. leg of his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, starting November 7 in Brighton with additional dates across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland.
SOURCE: Rolling Stone