Jakob Dylan

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Jakob Luke Dylan, born December 9, 1969 in New York City, is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers. He is the youngest of four children born to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and ex-wife Sara Dylan.

It has been reported that Jakob does not like his famous father to be mentioned during interviews. This is not because of animosity between the two, as is widely assumed, but because Jakob has stated that he wants to make his own name for himself, and does not want to open doors or sell tickets by capitalizing on his family name.

The Wallflowers started out playing alongside other aspiring rockers at Canter's delicatessen in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles. The band signed to Virgin Records and made a self-titled album, the cover of which had a picture of all the band members' feet, and drummer Peter Yanowitz' dog.

The debut sold poorly however, and after they were released from Virgin Records, the band regrouped. They toured with 10,000 Maniacs, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Cracker, and The Spin Doctors, and gained and lost several band members along the way. With the help of their manager Andrew Slater, the band secured a new major label record deal with Interscope Records.

Their 1996 album Bringing Down the Horse, recorded with producer T-Bone Burnett (and including collaborations with Michael Penn, Adam Duritz, Mike Campbell, Don Heffington of Lone Justice, and Sam Phillips), yielded several singles, including "Sixth Avenue Heartache" and "One Headlight." The album sold over four million copies, and The Wallflowers won two Grammy Awards, for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Rock Song. "One Headlight" also won the VH-1 Video of the Year for 1997.

Jakob shares his family's desire for an anonymous personal life: "The world's as big as the block you live on, and I like to keep it small. I have had the same friends since I was eleven years old." Jakob says he is often amused when asked the question, "When did you change your name to Dylan?"

Jakob married his childhood sweetheart, Nicole Paige Denny (now actress Paige Dylan[1]), in a ceremony at Sara Dylan's house in 1992. Their first child, Levi, was born two years later. They had a second son James in 1998 and a third son in 2000.

As of early 2007, Jakob had performed with his father only once, at a corporate gig for semiconductor company Applied Materials.[2]

As of 2005, The Wallflowers have recorded five albums.

On the September 20, 2006 it was announced by Billboard that Jakob signed a new recording contract with Columbia Records.[3] The Wallflowers current situation remains unknown since their recording contract with Interscope Records ended in 2005.

Dylan wrote and recorded "Here Comes Now" as the theme song for the U.S. television show Six Degrees, which premiered on September 21, 2006. His song "Stardust Universe" premiered on Jericho on October 25, 2006.

A cover of The Band's "Whispering Pines" will appear on the tribute CD Endless Highway - The music of The Band, which will be released late January 2007. Jakob also contributed backing vocals to the track, "Black Haired Girl," on Jesse Malin's 2007 album, Glitter in the Gutter.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Paige Dylan at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ^ Boucher, Geoff. You too can rent a rock star. Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2007. Retrieved January 15th, 2007.
  3. ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Jakob Dylan Joins Columbia, Writes For TV", 2006-09-20. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.