Bob Dylan, that rabble-rouser, prankster and social media maven, has struck again.
With a wink, Bob Dylan joins TikTok days before it might be banned
In his posts, the Jokerman indicates he knows what’s happening with the popular social media platform.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 17, 2025 at 3:45PM
Dylan, who hasn’t been exactly prolific on the social media platform X, posted on TikTok this week for the first time — just as the app might get unplugged in the United States.
On Tuesday, Dylan debuted on TikTok with a 50-second video of photos and concert clips from his career as snippets of his songs “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and “Hurricane” played in the background. His accounts reads: “Explore the world of Bob Dylan, now on TikTok.”
A U.S. law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, requires TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to either sell the app by Sunday or face a ban. There is concern that the Chinese government could gain access to data for more than 170 million TikTok users in the United States. Last week, TikTok challenged the law before the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court unanimously ruled Friday to uphold the law banning TikTok beginning Sunday if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent company.
On Thursday, Dylan, who has quickly gained 40,000 followers on the platform, posted a second video on TikTok: a six-second clip of a 1960s news conference with him saying, “Good God, I must leave right away.”
What’s next? Dylan posting a clip of his 1983 tune “Jokerman” featuring the chorus:
“Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune/ Bird fly high by the light of the moon/ Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.”
The new Twin Cities Gamer Symphony Orchestra will perform songs from popular games from the early 2000s such as “Kingdom Hearts,” “Halo” and more at a free concert Friday night in St. Paul.
