
Music lovers have voted Bob Dylan more influential than the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, as well as The Man In Black, Johnny Cash. This revelation comes as part of a new survey conducted by Cambridge Audio to celebrate the release of James Mangold’s film, A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet.
The survey, which gathered responses from over 5,000 global music fans, found that 50.3% place Bob Dylan in their all-time top five most influential artists, just ahead of Elvis Presley at 45.9%. This also places Dylan above other iconic performers such as Black Sabbath (24.0%), Johnny Cash (21.1%), Taylor Swift (14.4%), and The Smiths (16.8%). The Beatles topped the list with an enormous 82.9% share.
As for Dylan's music, 26.3% of fans agreed that "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door" is his greatest hit, ahead of Like a Rolling Stone (20.9%). Blood On The Tracks topped the vote as his most-loved album with 21.6% of the vote, just pipping Highway 61 Revisited (20.7%).
Interestingly, many of Dylan’s songs have gained fame through covers by other artists. For instance, only one in five respondents knew that one of Adele’s biggest hits, Make You Feel My Love, was originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan.
Bob Dylan’s enduring and impactful career has been the subject of numerous biographies, autobiographies and now the A Complete Unknown feature film. However, just 7% of respondents knew that if Dylan had not pursued music, he would have become a soldier, a fact revealed in his 2004 memoir.
The Searchlight Pictures film, A Complete Unknown, arrives in UK cinemas on January 17th, 2025. The soundtrack, with songs performed by Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, and Boyd Holbrook, will be released on vinyl in January 2025.
Hi-res images can be downloaded from here