Bob Dylan wins Nobel in literature

Bob Dylan, regarded as the voice of a generation for his influential songs from the 1960s onwards, has won the Nobel Prize for Literature in a surprise decision that made him the only singer-songwriter to win the award.

The 75-year-old Dylan - who won the prize for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition" - now finds himself in the company of Winston Churchill, Thomas Mann and Rudyard Kipling as Nobel laureates.

The announcement was met with gasps in Stockholm's stately Royal Academy hall, followed - unusually - by some laughter.

This year's Nobel laurel for literature goes to a legendary musician whose name is attached with the history of the very emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation in 1971.

Ending a two-year break, Bob Dylan made a on-stage comeback by joining the Concert for Bangladesh, organized by his friend former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.

Along with fellow artists George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Ali Akbar Khan and Alla Rakha, Dylan performed at the benefit concert in New York's Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971 in aid of the displaced refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War, and set the model for future multi-artist rock benefits concert.

Dylan's surprise appearance at Harrison's 1971 Concert for Bangladesh attracted media coverage, reflecting that Dylan's live appearances had become rare. Harrison latter described that he knew Dylan on the performers' list would guarantee sell-outs.

Dylan performed some of his greatest hit numbers; Blowin' in the Wind, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry, Love Minus Zero/No Limit, and Just Like a Woman.

Dylan's joining the Concert for Bangladesh made the show a hit making the world aware about the genocide taking place in then East Pakistan.

Dylan's songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind", "The Times They Are a-Changin'", "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Like a Rolling Stone" captured a spirit of rebellion, dissent and independence.

More than 50 years on, Dylan is still writing songs and is often on tour, performing his dense poetic lyrics, sung in a sometimes rasping voice that has been ridiculed by detractors.

Some lyrics have resonated for decades.

"Blowin' in the Wind", written in 1962, was considered one of the most eloquent folk songs of all time. "The Times They Are A-Changin'", in which Dylan told Americans "your sons and your daughters are beyond your command", was an anthem of the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests.

Awarding the 8 million Swedish crown ($930,000) prize, the Swedish Academy said: "Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound."

Swedish Academy member Per Wastberg said: "He is probably the greatest living poet."

Asked if he thought Dylan's Nobel lecture - traditionally given by the laureate in Stockholm later in the year - would be a concert, replied: "Let's hope so."

Dylan - who took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas - had long been tipped as a potential prize recipient.

Few experts, though, expected the academy to extend the award to a genre such as folk rock music.

Former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion is among those to have previously praised Dylan's lyrics, saying his songs "work as poems".

"They have often extremely skilful rhyming aspects to them," he told the BBC. "They're often the best words in the best order."

The estate of late Beatle George Harrison, which whom Dylan performed as part of the Travelling Wilburys, is among those to tweet its congratulations.

Simply Red's Mick Hucknall said he was the "greatest living poet", while Eurythmics' Dave Stewart welcomed the news by saying: "I love this."

Writer Salman Rushdie also praised Dylan's win, saying: "From Orpheus to Faiz,song & poetry have been closely linked. Dylan is the brilliant inheritor of the bardic tradition. Great choice."

Over the years, not everyone has agreed that Dylan was a poet of the first order. Novelist Norman Mailer countered: "If Dylan's a poet, I'm a basketball player."

Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Nobel Academy, told a news conference there was "great unity" in the panel's decision to give Dylan the prize.

Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941 and began his musical career in 1959, playing in coffee houses in Minnesota.

Dylan has always been an enigmatic figure. He went into seclusion for months after a motorcycle crash in 1966, leading to stories that he had cracked under the pressure of his new celebrity.