In a ceremony held at the White House, President Barack Obama honored two icons of American culture. Bob Dylan was acclaimed by Obama to have been an iconic representation of “Youthful rebellion and poetic sensitivity”.
With a career spanning five decades, Dylan has always been a prominent figure in the music scene. His greatest work is generally considered to be that which appeared in the sixties; songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin’” were adopted by the civil rights and anti-war movements as anthems. He has always been a character that bucked the trend and this made him extremely appealing to the flourishing counterculture of that time. Since the late eighties, Dylan has been on what most people call “the Never Ending Tour”.
Obama also paid tribute to Clint Eastwood, calling his movies “essays in individuality and hard truths which have the essence of what it means to be an American”.
Eastwood has worn many hats in his career and has performed as an actor, composer, producer and director. He has received five awards each from the Academy, Golden Globe and People’s Choice Awards. He has also received a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as an award for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star.
Inexplicably both stars were missing from the award ceremony and the reason for that is not known at this time. However, many others who were honored did make it to the event and that includes Soprano Jessye Norman, Architect Maya Lin and Composer John Williams.