Bob Dylan joined the ranks of Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones and, most recently, Joni Mitchell in receiving honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.
Berkley shared that he rewards the artist “not only for [his] extraordinary influence on contemporary music, but also his lifelong commitment to creative exploration” throughout his sixty-year career.
“Thank you, Berklee College of Music, for recognizing me with this prestigious honor. What a pleasant surprise,” Dylan shared in a statement. “Who knows what path my career might have taken if I had been fortunate enough to study with some of the great musicians who taught at Berklee. This is worth thinking about,” he added.
The honorary degree was the first awarded by a renowned musician from an American institution in more than 50 years, with the last award being presented to the artist by Princeton University in 1970. The doctorate is the latest honor among Dylan's 10 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize in Literature.
“Bob Dylan spent a lifetime studying, absorbing and transforming every American song tradition, and Berklee is committed to teaching all the music Dylan loved,” said Matt Glaser, artistic director of Berklee's American Roots music program. Praising the artist, Glaser added: “As anyone who has read his books or listened to his more than one hundred radio programs can attest, Dylan is also a great teacher and student.”
