Last Update: 04/05/2026 at 2:50 PM EST
Bowie, Parton, and Haggard Echo Dylan
Coverage from Untold Dylan, Far Out Magazine, and others
Articles
25
Latest Article
02/14
Active Days
1396
Executive Summary
Profiles show Bowie, Parton, and Haggard measuring themselves against Dylan while revealing his lasting pull on songwriting and performance
- Bob Dylan is repeatedly cited as a key influence on Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Merle Haggard
- Bowie wrote Song For Bob Dylan in 1971 and later referenced Dylan again in 2013
- Bowie said Dylan was not a close friend but remained a lasting artistic muse
- Parton admired Dylan's songwriting and covered Blowin in the Wind in 2005, but Dylan declined to join her
- Dylan and Haggard toured together in 2005, mixing mutual respect with disagreements over performance style and sound
- Dylan later praised Haggard in interviews and kept covering his songs onstage after Haggards death
- A 2015 MusiCares speech and later comments reignited debate over Dylan and Haggards long, uneasy friendship
Quick Facts
- What: Articles examine how peers referenced, covered, or answered Dylan
- Where: Mostly in the United States and UK media
- Why: To show Dylan's lasting impact on songwriting and artistic identity
- Who: Bob Dylan and musicians shaped by his influence
- When: Spanning the 1960s through 2023
Coverage Timeline: 1396 Days
Featured Article
An essay on bob-dylan.org.uk investigates Bob Dylan's references to the Rolling Stones' Moonlight Mile and the song's wider cultural context.
Additional Articles
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Dolly Parton and Bob Dylan are discussed in a Far Out Magazine feature about their contrasting personas and a 2005 cover offer that Dylan declined, in the UK.
David Bowie wrote two songs about Dylan, one in 1971 and one in 2013, with Greenwich Village as a key reference.
In this Substack article, the writer examines Bob Dylans mid 2000s tours and interactions with Merle Haggard across venues in the United States and Europe.
Far Out Magazine article notes Bowie draws on Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and the Velvet Underground to push rock in new directions.
The article examines how Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen publicly expressed mutual admiration and detailed songcraft insights through interviews, press conferences, and live performances.
Rock and Roll Garage reports that Bob Dylan and Elton John maintained a friendship and musical exchange from the 1970s through the 2010s, including performances and a 1990 recording session in the United States.
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Dylan lauds Dave Stewart in interviews about Stewart's Dylan covers album released earlier this year.
Bob Dylan praises Dave Stewart as a captain and explosive musician in a profile referencing a USA Today interview about Stewart's Dylan covers.
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez are described as central figures in 1960s folk, from their 1961 meeting in New York to the 2023 documentary.
David Bowie discussed a near collaboration with Bob Dylan in 2004 interviews, noting Dylan's influence on his career.
David Bowie discussed Dylan in New York, recounting meetings and a proposed duet that did not materialize.
In 1963, Bob Dylan released The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in the United States, and David Bowie in London discovered Dylan's first album at Dobell's Jazz on Charing Cross Road.
David Bowie discovers Bob Dylan and John Lee Hooker in London via Dobell's Jazz and Folk Record Shop on Charing Cross Road.
Bob Dylan staged the Rolling Thunder Revue across North America in 1975-76 with guest artists, including Baez, Mitchell and McGuinn, in Montreal.
Dylan's influence on rock is traced through Jimmy Page's 1965 Albert Hall memory and Peter Grant's 1974 backstage encounter in Los Angeles.
David Bowie released Song for Bob Dylan in 1971 on Hunky Dory in the UK, and the article notes Dylan's Woodstock life and a 1976 Playboy interview.
In 1971 David Bowie released Hunky Dory, featuring "Song for Bob Dylan," a pointed homage and critique of Bob Dylan’s cultural position.
Roger McGuinn discusses his friendship with Bob Dylan in a Guitar Player interview, referencing the Byrds' 1965 debut single and the 1975–76 Rolling Thunder Revue in Malibu and New York.
In 2005, David Bowie and Michael Cunningham discussed a future-set musical in New York based on unknown Dylan songs.
Bob Dylan and the Beatles influence each other from the early 1960s London encounters to later collaborations, as described in a Kirkus review of Where the Music Had to Go.
The article recounts how Bob Dylan and John Lennon's relationship evolved from a 1964 New York meeting to later musical tributes.
David Bowie and Bob Dylan are examined in a Clash Music article about their rocky relationship, referencing Bowie's Song For Bob Dylan, Dylan's Blood On The Tracks, and related covers.
1960s: Mick Jagger praises Dylan as a lyricist; Dylan and The Rolling Stones perform Like a Rolling Stone on stage.
Bob Dylan praised Punk Rock and The Clash in his 2022 book and highlighted collaborations and performances from the 1980s and 2005 in London and Los Angeles.