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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
Michael Kovac—WireImage

Bob Dylan was not in attendance at the 2016 Nobel Prize banquet 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 says. Read his full speech here:

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