Bob Dylan Center to Honor 60th Anniversary of ‘Blonde on Blonde’
Bob Dylan is a legacy because he shook things up, shrugged and kept moving. Now, a concert honoring the 60th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s celebrated album Blonde on Blonde is…
Bob Dylan is a legacy because he shook things up, shrugged and kept moving. Now, a concert honoring the 60th anniversary of Bob Dylan's celebrated album Blonde on Blonde is being held by the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The concert, called Sooner or Later, is set for Feb. 20 at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. The show will bring performances by a range of acts, including former 10,000 Maniacs frontwoman Natalie Merchant, The Hold Steady's Craig Finn, Fantastic Negrito, X founding members Exene Cervenka and John Doe, musician Willie Nile, The Walkman founder Hamilton Leithauser and The McCrary Sisters, to name just a few.
Inside Bob Dylan's Sooner or Later Show
These musicians will perform songs from Blonde on Blonde, plus other Dylan classics.
"Sixty years on from its initial release, Blonde on Blonde still sounds like the future," Steven Jenkins, senior director of the Bob Dylan Center, said in a statement. "Dylan's pursuit of what he called 'that thin wild mercury sound' led him to create this extraordinary double album, which our amazing roster of guest artists will transform anew."
Blonde on Blonde arrived in June 1966, and the double album featured musicians Robbie Robertson and Rick Danko before they became The Band.
Bob Dylan's Legacy Lives On
For more than 60 years, Dylan has done exactly what he wanted, and somehow made the rest of music has followed. He started as a folk poet with a harmonica and a head full of questions, then went electric and rewrote the rules in real time. Folk, rock, blues, gospel, country, Dylan didn't pick a lane. He changed lanes whenever the view got boring.
His lyrics snapped. They were smart, sharp and sometimes slippery, asking big questions without spelling out the answers. "Blowin' in the Wind" became an anthem by being simple and direct. “Like a Rolling Stone” crashed into radio at six minutes long and proved songs didn’t have to play nice to be unforgettable.
Dylan’s swagger comes from not explaining himself. He never chased trends or approval, yet influence chased him anyway. Artists across generations learned from him that originality matters more than polish and curiosity beats comfort every time.
