The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 2: 1966-2021

The second volume of Clinton Heylin's magisterial biography takes us from Dylan's creative peak in the 1960s to the present day. We meet a man who is determined to confound expectations, yet whatever he does only seems to confirm his iconic status to fans and critics alike. It's a time of peaks and troughs. There are long periods of writer's block followed by sudden bursts of creativity that produce some of the best work of his career. There is the chaotic recording process, with Dylan often including on his albums the worst takes and leaving off the best songs altogether. There is the Neverending Tour, during which he reinvents his songbook on a nightly basis, often without recognition. But then there are the albums and songs that reveal the genius of an artist whose lyrics draw on centuries of American culture but who refuses to be shackled to his own past. Today his voice is almost unrecognisable from his 1960s peak, and the man whose songs had been devoted to dissecting his romantic relationships has become focused on mortality, solitude and getting old. Yet his fans have grown old with him and his albums continue to top the charts, 2020's Rough And Rowdy Ways making Dylan the oldest No. 1-bestselling artist. There simply is no other living artist whose creative output has remained constantly intriguing, often baffling, sometimes infuriating but always fascinating for over 60 years. Clinton Heylin's definitive, scrupulously researched and revelatory life, based on unique access to new sources, paints the fullest and brightest portrait yet of an iconic figure that has defined contemporary culture.