Hit ParadeSlate

Hit Parade: The Freewheelin’ Edition

A Complete Unknown depicts Bob Dylan’s ’60s cultural explosion—but his chart success came many years later.

At the movies, A Complete Unknown depicts Bob Dylan as a 1960s “it” boy—played by a 2020s “it” boy, Timothée Chalamet. But the film ends in 1965, before Dylan began his unusual six-decade journey into the album charts.

Many of the albums he released along the way are among the most acclaimed in rock history—from Blood on the Tracks to Time Out of Mind. And Dylan remained an object of fascination through all his changes—as a road warrior, a born-again Christian, a Traveling Wilbury, and a JFK conspiracy theorist.

Join Chris Molanphy as he walks through Bob Dylan’s career decade by decade, from his ’60s folkie years to his 21st century revival. With the biopic reviving interest in rock’s poet laureate, there’s never been a better time to get tangled up in Bob.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.


Content retrieved from: https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2025/01/when-bob-dylan-topped-the-billboard-charts.