1. His real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman, but over the course of his career he used several other names. In the beginning he was known for a short time as Elston Gunn, and later recorded and published as Bob Landy, Robert Milkwood Thomas, Blind Boy Grunt and the list goes on and on. 2. When he was just 20 years old Bob Dylan was signed on Columbia Records by John Hammond, although Hammond himself didn't have the green light from his boss. As legally he was still a minor, Dylan would have needed the signature of his parents. So he convinced Hammond that he was... an orphan. The move by Hammond was considered a bad business idea, and when Dylan's first record failed, as it had only sold about 5.000 copies, there were a lot of questions at Columbia Records. If it wasn't for Johnny Cash, who convinced the executives to give Bob Dylan another chance, that would have been the end of it.
3. In his youth he was a passionate chess player, and he also likes fixing old cars, riding horses, cooking and gardening. Not to mention the fact that the musician is also a prolific and talented painter.
4. One of his heroes and main influences was no other than... Chaplin. In 2006 Dylan released a record bearing the title "Modern Times", after a famous Chaplin movie from 1936. No wonder, as when Robert was just a kid he used to go to the movies for free, and never missed one. It was easy, for his family owned several movie theaters in Hibbing, the town where he grew up.
5. His very first song was one dedicated to Brigitte Bardot, a simple and naive tune that Dylan himself couldn't remember for the world. A humble beginning for the man who later wrote "Like a Rolling Stone".
6. Once Dylan gave away a Andy Warhol work, "Elvis Presley", in exchange for a sofa. A move that he regretted for the rest of his life.
7. So far Bob Dylan has won 12 Grammy Awards (not to mention the 43 nominations), one Golden Globe, an Academy Award in 2004 for Best Original Song, "Things Have Changed", included on the soundtrack of Wonder Boys. All that was missing seemed to be the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Photo: huffingtonpost.com
