Bob Dylan to unveil blue plaque at tiny London venue?
Bob Dylan will today be honoured with a commemorative blue plaque at the venue of his first UK gig, The Water Rats in London's King's Cross.
Bob Dylan is today to be honoured with a commemorative blue plaque at the tiny venue which hosted his first UK performance. It is reported that the 72-year-old American will attend the event to unveil the plaque at The Water Rats in King's Cross London this afternoon.
Dylan is in London preparing for the final of three live dates at the Royal Albert Hall, which takes place this evening. A statement from The Water Rats said: "Bob Dylan & his publicist Tom Cording have been made aware of the ceremony as this coincides with Bob Dylan's last concert of his current run at the Royal Albert Hall."
"We are hoping that Mr Dylan will be arriving at 2:30pm after his sound check to unveil the Plaque and show his continued support for live music in the UK."
Dylan played his first UK gig at The Water Rats - which was then known as the Pindar of Wakefield - in December 1962.
The Pogues and Oasis also both played their first London gigs at the pub.
The pop-father of folk music who went electric, sang protest, but protested he wasn't a spokesman for any generation and generated one of the most diverse bodies of work in modern music.
Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941, Dylan took on the name 'Bob Dylan', after the poet Dylan Thomas. His father Abe was a Standard Oil Co worker and moved the family to Hibbing, often known as the coldest place in the US. Dylan taught himself to play the piano and guitar and formed several rock bands while at high school.
Dylan moved to New York in 1960 and quickly became immersed in the music world and, after The New York Times gave him a very positive review for one of his performances in 1961, Dylan was able to sign a recording contract with Columbia Records.
His first album, 'Bob Dylan', was released in 1962 but it was the 1963 release of 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' that really began to mark Dylan out as an original and very special talent. The album contained 'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall'.
Dylan’s reputation was consolidated with his next album, 'The Times They Are A-Changin'.
Dylan's songs were closely linked to the 1960s protest movements, and this connection became more apparent in 1963, with Dylan's relationship with Joan Baez, an established singer of the protest movement.
However, while Dylan's fame rose, he became tired of being type-cast into the role of folk-singer of the protest movement and, in 1964, he released the album 'Another Side of Bob Dylan', which was a less politically motivated and far more introspective album.
Dylan continued to try new styles and in 1965 he released 'Bringing It All Back Home', a half-acoustic, half-electric style.
Dylan's new styles were not always supported by his old followers and in 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, he was booed while on stage. This did not stop Dylan and, over the next three decades, he continued to reinvent himself, producing some of his most innovative work.
Dylan also branched out into film and in 1973 appeared in 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid'. However, music was the most memorable contribution Dylan made to this film, writing the sound track 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'.
In 1974, after having suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident, Dylan released a new album, 'Planet Waves' which became his first No.1 album. His next album 'Blood on the Tracks and Desire' also shot straight to No.1.
In 1979, Dylan declared himself a born-again Christian, which inspired the song 'Slow Train'. This song won Dylan his first Grammy Award.
In 1989, Dylan was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and, in 1997; he became the first rock star ever to receive Kennedy Center Honors.
While some had thought Dylan was passed it, his 1997 album, 'Time Out of Mind', won him three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
In 2000, he recorded the single 'Things Have Changed', for the soundtrack of the film 'Wonder Boys', which won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. This was followed by the album 'Love and Theft' released on 11 September 2001 under the name Jack Frost. It was critically well received and earned Dylan several Grammy Award nominations.
Dylan returned to his 'born-again Christianity' for his 2003 CD project 'Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan'. In the same year, he penned and played the central character in the film 'Masked & Anonymous', which also starred Jeff Bridges and Penelope Cruz. Few treated it as a serious movie.
In 2004, he published the first installment of his autobiography entitled 'Chronicles: Volume I', which was very well received and came second on the New York Times' best seller list.
Dylan then made an appearance in the Martin Scorsese-directed film biography about him, which first aired in 2005. The accompanying soundtrack featured some unreleased songs from Dylan's early career.
On 3 May 2006, Dylan made his radio presenting debut hosting the weekly 'Theme Time Radio Hour'. He recorded his 100th show in 2009 and it had the theme 'Goodbye' suggesting it was finished. He also released the album 'Modern Times' in 2006 and won two Grammy awards.
The award-winning film biography based on Dylan called 'I'm Not There' and starring Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger and Richard Gere was released in August 2007. After this, triple CD 'Dylan', which incorporated his entire musical career, was released.
His next album 'Together Through Life' (2009) was followed by Christmas record 'Christmas in the Heart'.
Dylan married Sara Lowndes in 1965 but they divorced in 1977. They had four children together. He then wed Carolyn Dennis in 1986, with whom he had a daughter, before they divorced in 1992.