Bob Dylan Said John Lennon Was 'Completely Out of Control' and Didn't Want That for Himself

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Bob Dylan and John Lennon were friends, but they were complete opposites in their approach to the media. Lennon was very revealing in interviews, particularly in the immediate aftermath of The Beatles’ breakup. He spoke candidly about his relationship with Yoko Ono and his distaste for other artists. Dylan, on the other hand, remained enigmatic. While he has given hundreds of interviews in his career, he is much less willing to open his private life to media scrutiny than Lennon was. In some ways, though, this has increased speculation about him.
A black and white picture of Bob Dylan holding a cigarette by a window. John Lennon wears a white turtleneck and glasses.

Dylan first met The Beatles in 1964 and quickly gravitated toward Lennon. The Beatles’ road manager Neil Aspinall believed that Dylan recognized Lennon as the leader of the band. Lennon also took a great deal of musical inspiration from Dylan and enjoyed his friendship.

“And John was a very good friend of Dylan’s,” director D.A. Pennebaker said, per the book The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait by Daniel Mark Epstein. “John just loved him. And vice versa. They adored each other. And the rest of the Beatles? Paul would come in and play something and Dylan would get up and walk out of the room.”

Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com