Bob Dylan sent his friend, singer/ songwriter Patti Smith, as his stand-in for the ceremony which took place in Stockholm award of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Posted on: January 5, 2026
Patti Smith is celebrating her 79th birthday today.
Bob Dylan, excerpt from his speech to the Swedish Academy delivered by a surrogate
I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize.
Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming.
From an early age, I’ve been familiar with reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway.
These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression.
That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words. . . . . Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, ‘Are my songs literature?’ So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.”
Patti Smith is celebrating her 79th birthday today.
The world was both delighted and shocked when Bob Dylan was announced as the recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. While music fans were overjoyed that the legendary folk singer had finally been recognized for the poetry of his lyrics, the honor also caused quite a stir amongst the literary set, who thought it was a little absurd for a musician to be granted the honor over accomplished novelists and poets.
The controversy over his appointment continued for weeks, as the Swedish Academy hunted him down with emails and phone calls, but was unable to reach the enigmatic 75-year-old artist.
Bob finally called them back to formally accept the award, but he also let them know he would not be able to attend the prize ceremony; he already had pre-existing commitments.
Yet in another satisfying turn of events, Bob sent his friend, singer/ songwriter Patti Smith, as his stand-in for the ceremony which took place in Stockholm.
At the ceremony, Patti performed a touching cover of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” in front of a visibly moved crowd.
At one point, Patti either forgot the words to the second verse or was just too overwhelmed to continue. She asked the orchestra to stop and backtrack so she could try again. “I’m sorry, I’m so nervous,” she said. No one begrudged her that. The audience applauded in encouragement, and the guitarist started again.
Bob Dylan said: “Hard Rain is a desperate kind of song. Every line in it, is actually the start of a whole song. But when I wrote it, I thought I wouldn’t have enough time alive to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one.” –
“Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a-going to fall . . . ”
Patti’s performance of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” to orchestral accompaniment moved some audience members to tears (as it did me).
Click the link below to experience a powerful and memorable musical moment.
Adonis Diaries 
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