Mythical Folk Rock Pioneer, 85, Was Just Crowned as the No. 1 Greatest Living American Songwriter
Today, the New York Times Magazine published its "100 Greatest Living American Songwriters" list, which was decided by the readers of the magazine through community polling.
Some star studded names included Paul Simon,Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, and Willie Nelson rounded out the top ten, but beating them all was my personal favorite musician Bob Dylan.
The list is the result of 25,000 user submitted ballots, with the picks averaged into the list you see here. Even with the multitude of incredibly popular and celebrated artists, Dylan was the runaway favorite, with a third of all submitted ballots including him, including synonyms and alter egos, as the list revealed.
Dylan was also a heavily featured member of the NYT Critic's list, which featured an unranked collection of 30 iconic songwriters. Jody Rosen of the NYT writes about Dylan that "he's written blues and torch ballads; he's thundered prophesies and told absurdist tall tales. His diss tracks are more vicious than any battle rapper's, his love songs as heart-wrenching as any you've heard. He's treated historical catastrophes as slapstick. He depicted his marital breakup as a climatological event, capable of shooting a hurricane-force "idiot wind" across the American continent, "from the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol."
I find myself in huge agreement with this pick from my incredibly biased position. Regardless of taste, in my opinion Dylan as a figure is maybe the greatest symbol of America we've ever seen in art. He's encompassing of all the good and all the bad this country has to offer, whether he's embodying a grass roots blue collar folk singer, an iconoclastic revolutionary, a bible thumping evangelist, or a mystical old record keeper. His music has reflected and represented all parts of America. This country has produced some exceptional songwriters, but none of them are as emblematic of America as Bob Dylan.
Fans battled out in the comments of the post, debating who they think should be topping the list, and who shouldn't.
"Stevie Wonder not making the top 5 is CRAZY!!"
"Carole King's activism for the environment may be the only thing that exceeds her capacity as a song writer. True global citizen."
"Dislike for some of the artists aside, Bob Dylan being number 1 is a fact."
Many many more opinions lined the comments, all extremely passionate. It shows the strength of songwriting on display that there is such a personal attachment to the art these musicians have created.
Related: One of Bob Dylan's Greatest Musical Stories is Ranked Among His Most Overlooked Songs
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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 10:33 AM.