HIBBING â The tunes of Bob Dylan, complete with one-man harmonica accompaniment, filled the air outside the Hibbing High School on Saturday afternoon, as close to 100 people gathered to pay tribute to the schoolâs most famous graduate.
Lyrics to many of the iconic singer/songwriterâs songs will soon be etched into a rounded half-wall in front of the school near the intersection of East 22nd Street and Seventh Avenue East, also known as Bob Dylan Drive. The monument will also contain a bronze chair to complete the spaceâs intended purpose â a place where people can sit and âget to wonderingâ about the many ways Dylanâs musical career has influenced their lives.
Copy shortlink:
Bob Dylan s native county will honor him with an entire year s worth of 80th birthday celebrations.
Born in Duluth and raised in Hibbing, Minn., the musician, writer and Nobel laureate hits the milestone birthday May 24, and St. Louis County is expected to proclaim that day until his next birthday The Year of Dylan.
A Dylan celebration needed to be big, said Zane Bail, a member of Duluth Dylan Fest, a grassroots fan group. Given the cultural icon he is in the U.S. and around the world, he deserved more than a day.
The proclamation, which organizers say will be read in front of his childhood homes in Duluth and Hibbing, lauds the cultural giant for his 60-year musical career and points to his many connections to northeastern Minnesota.
St. Louis County Board will proclaim Year of Dylan on Tuesday
The proclamation is in conjunction with yearlong festivities surrounding the 80th birthday of the musical icon born in Duluth and raised in Hibbing. 12:28 pm, May 3, 2021 ×
Bob Dylan performs at Bayfront Festival Park on Tuesday July 9, 2013. (Clint Austin / File / News Tribune)
The St. Louis County Board will celebrate Bob Dylan and his upcoming 80th birthday at its meeting in Duluth on Tuesday.
Commissioners will proclaim the Year of Dylan set to begin on Dylan s birthday, May 24, and lasting until the iconic troubadour s 81st birthday in 2022.
Referring to Dylan as a cultural giant, the proclamation outlines his birth at St. Mary s Hospital in Duluth in 1941, and his years growing up in Hibbing.
HIBBING - On Oct. 13, 2016, the Nobel Prize Committee announced that Hibbing native Bob Dylan was the first singer-songwriter in history to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature âfor having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.â Shortly thereafter, a volunteer-run group of community-minded citizens formed the Hibbing Dylan Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Endeavoring to create a public work of art to honor Bob Dylan for this pinnacle career achievement, this group has spent the last four years fundraising, gaining permissions and forming strong partnerships with all involved parties. As 2020 ended, a generous donor, once a Hibbing resident, stepped forward to ensure that all costs associated with completing this project would be covered. This important donation solidifies the organizationâs construction schedule and will allow for the project to be completed by mid-October 2021, to coincide with the fifth anniversary