--- title: Read Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Banquet Speech description: The 2016 Nobel Prize banquet in will be held in Stockholm on Saturday canonical: https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-10T21:53:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:14:45.404Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Read Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Speech: 'I Recognize That I Am in Very Rare Company' og:description: The songwriter was not in attendance, but the speech was sent along og:url: https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt577f3e66d6cee7d5/6988b27e656a3ff92bbce1f2/gettyimages-462898086.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: MusiCares Person Of The Year Tribute To Bob Dylan - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Speech: 'I Recognize That I Am in Very Rare Company' twitter:description: The songwriter was not in attendance, but the speech was sent along twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt577f3e66d6cee7d5/6988b27e656a3ff92bbce1f2/gettyimages-462898086.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Speech: 'I Recognize That I Am in Very Rare Company' ## Video: Bob Dylan Receives Nobel Prize in Literature [Watch (HLS stream): Bob Dylan Receives Nobel Prize in Literature](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvOfBFJT.m3u8) (0:33)  _Published 2016-10-13. Bob Dylan was named the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday in a stunning announcement that for the first time bestowed the prestigious award to someone primarily seen as a musician._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 10, 2016 9:53 PM UTC  Honoree Bob Dylan speaks onstage at the 25th anniversary MusiCares 2015 Person Of The Year Gala honoring Bob Dylan at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 6, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Michael Kovac—WireImage Honoree Bob Dylan speaks onstage at the 25th anniversary MusiCares 2015 Person Of The Year Gala honoring Bob Dylan at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 6, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Michael Kovac—WireImageMichael Kovac—WireImage by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 10, 2016 9:53 PM UTC [Bob Dylan](http://time.com/4540379/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-website/) was not in attendance at the 2016 [Nobel Prize banque](http://time.com/4597253/nobel-prize-banquet-watch-live/)t in Stockholm on Saturday, but the 2016 winner did send a surrogate to read his speech. Dylan is the recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, one of the highest honors on the globe, though he has appeared to bit reluctant. A statement released by Swedish Academy said that while the songwriter was “very honored indeed” for the prize, due to a prior commitment he was not able to travel to the event. “That laureates decide not to come \[to the banquet\] is unusual, to be sure, but not exceptional,” the [statement](http://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/press/bob-dylan-has-decided-not-to-come-to-stockholm) says. Read his [full speech](http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel%5Fprizes/literature/laureates/2016/dylan-speech.html?utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=twitter%5Ftweet) here: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/"},"headline":"Read Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Speech: 'I Recognize That I Am in Very Rare Company'","datePublished":"2016-12-10T21:53:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:14:45.404Z","description":"\"I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize\"","url":"https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/","keywords":["nobel prize","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt577f3e66d6cee7d5/6988b27e656a3ff92bbce1f2/gettyimages-462898086.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt577f3e66d6cee7d5/6988b27e656a3ff92bbce1f2/gettyimages-462898086.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MusiCares Person Of The Year Tribute To Bob Dylan - Show","caption":"MusiCares Person Of The Year Tribute To Bob Dylan - Show","creditText":"Michael Kovac—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nobel-prize/","name":"nobel prize"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/","name":"Read Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Speech: 'I Recognize That I Am in Very Rare Company'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Bob Dylan Receives Nobel Prize in Literature","description":"Bob Dylan was named the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday in a stunning announcement that for the first time bestowed the prestigious award to someone primarily seen as a musician.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NvOfBFJT/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-13T13:33:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvOfBFJT.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/","duration":"PT33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4597291/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-speech/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```