Patti Smith to Perform at Nobel Ceremony on Bob Dylan's Behalf

Bob Dylan’s arms-length relationship with the Nobel Prize continues. This morning, the prize announced via Twitter that the Nobel banquet would feature a speech written (but not read) by Dylan. The banquet is part of the December 10 ceremony in Stockholm to which Dylan previously turned down an invitation. The Nobel Committee has also announced that Patti Smith will be appearing in Dylan’s stead, and will perform his song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.”

Last week, Dylan passed on another Nobel formality, skipping Obama’s meet-and-greet for American Nobel Prize winners. “Unfortunately, Bob Dylan will not be at the White House today. So everyone can relax,” Obama’s spokesman, Josh Earnest, told reporters.

Read our new Sunday Review of Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, as well as the op-ed on Dylan’s Nobel on the Pitch.