Bob Dylan receives Medal of Freedom from Obama [PHOTO]
Bob Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday at a ceremony in the White House.
Dylan was among the 13 Americans who received the highest honor awarded to civilians in the nation.
"Bob Dylan started out singing other people’s songs. But, as he says, 'There came a point where I had to write what I wanted to say, because what I wanted to say, nobody else was writing.' So born in Hibbing, Minnesota -- a town, he says, where “you couldn’t be a rebel -- it was too cold” Obama said.
"Bob moved to New York at age 19. By the time he was 23, Bob’s voice, with its weight, its unique, gravelly power was redefining not just what music sounded like, but the message it carried and how it made people feel," The President added.
"Today, everybody from Bruce Springsteen to U2 owes Bob a debt of gratitude. There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music. All these years later, he’s still chasing that sound, still searching for a little bit of truth. And I have to say that I am a really big fan," he continued.
Dylan, 71 wore dark sunglasses throughout the ceremony and sat bow-tied and stone-faced, according to media reports. He didn't smile despite emotional moments in the event.
The medal was established in 1963 by President Kennedy and is presented to those who havemade "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
Other recipients were former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Civil Rights advocate John Doar, epidemiologist William Foege, former Marine Corps pilot John Glenn, Gordon Hirabayashi, co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association Dolores Huerta, former officer Jan Karski, Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low, novelist Toni Morrison, security advocate Shimon Peres, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens and basketball coach Pat Summitt.
