Bob Dylan Declares 'I Don't Care What People Think' as Iconic Singer's Life and Career Plays out in Timothée Chalamet's Oscar-Nominated Film 'A Complete Unknown'
Bob Dylan opened up about his personal views in a rare interview.
March 5 2025, Published 8:30 p.m. ET
In a rare interview, infamous recluse Bob Dylan opened up about his views on politics, his family and being considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Despite making hits since the 60s, Dylan has largely stayed out of the limelight. With Timothée Chalamet portraying the folk hero in the Oscar-nominated biopic A Complete Unknown, a new generation of Dylan fans has emerged – and once again the curiosity about the 83-year-old has been sparked.
Chalamet's portrayal of the folk icon earned him an Oscar nomination.
Dylan sat down with reporter Mick Brown at an unassuming Madrid coffee shop in 1984, where the two discussed his legacy and being deemed the voice of a generation, which he confessed he never felt that connected to.
Brown recalled his conversation with the folk icon for Esquire, noting the rare interview took place as Dylan was emerging from his "born-again-Christian phase."
He noted while chatting about the curiosity and "furore" from fans about Dylan's religious views, the rocked "mocked" the ruckus made about his beliefs.
After his 'born-again-Christian phase,' Dylan noticed he didn't understand why fans were interested in his religious beliefs.
The singer remarked: "Like I was running for Pope, or something. I mean, nobody cares what Billy Joel's religious views are, right? What does it matter to people what Bob Dylan is? But it seems to, right? Why only me? I'd like to know."
He went on to brand politics "a hoax" before later confessing after sharing which books he had been reading he doesn't "feel obliged to keep up with the times, I'm not going to be here that long anyway."
Dylan added: "So I keep up with these times, then I gotta keep up with the 1990s… Jesus, who's got the time to keep up with the times?"
Dylan said he didn't 'feel obliged to keep up with the times' because he's 'not going to be here that long anyway.'
As the two men discussed Dylan's personal life, he spoke about traveling to Israel for his son's Bar Mitzvah, as well as moving to Malibu to raise his children where there was "good schools nearby."
He had a farm in Minnesota and a 63-foot boat he sailed around the Caribbean "when I can't think of nothing else to do."
On being revered as one of the greatest songwriters to ever do it, Dylan said he never made music for the "glory" of fame.
The singer-songwriter confessed he never cared about fame.
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The Like a Rolling Stone singer explained: "There’s never really been any glory in it for me.
"Being seen in the places and having everybody put their arm around you, I never cared about any of that. I don’t care what people think. For me, all it is is doing it. That’s all that really matters."
As their time together came to a close, Dylan told Brown: "What you gotta understand, is that I do something because I feel like doing it. If people can relate to it, that's great; if they can't, that’s fine, too.
"But I don't think I'm gonna be really understood until maybe 100 years from now. Because what I've done and what I'm doing, nobody else does or has done.
"And when I'm not doing that anymore and I'm dead and gone people will realize that, and then they'll try to figure it out years later. I don't think anything I've done is mildly hinted at. Nobody's come close."
