Watch Patti Smith Perform for Bob Dylan at Nobel Prize Award Ceremony

Today, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The 2016 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony took place in Stockholm, and it streamed live on YouTube. Dylan was not be present for the ceremony, but Patti Smith performed “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” on his behalf. The orchestra-accompanied performance was briefly interrupted when Smith accidentally repeated a line. “I apologize, I’m sorry, I’m so nervous,” she told the crowd, who then applauded her as a show of support. Watch the full event here (with Dylan honored at the at the 55:58 mark) and watch Smith’s performance below.

Professor Horace Engdahl of the Swedish Academy introduced Dylan’s award with a speech—find the full text here. Following the speech, Dylan received a standing ovation. Here’s an excerpt:

Recognising that revolution by awarding Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize was a decision that seemed daring only beforehand and already seems obvious. But does he get the prize for upsetting the system of literature? Not really. There is a simpler explanation, one that we share with all those who stand with beating hearts in front of the stage at one of the venues on his never-ending tour, waiting for that magical voice. Chamfort made the observation that when a master such as La Fontaine appears, the hierarchy of genres—the estimation of what is great and small, high and low in literature—is nullified. “What matter the rank of a work when its beauty is of the highest rank?” he wrote. That is the straight answer to the question of how Bob Dylan belongs in literature: as the beauty of his songs is of the highest rank.

After his Nobel Prize win was announced, Dylan made headlines for “ignoring” the Nobel Committee. Eventually, he acknowledged the win and contacted the Swedish Academy. Recently, he passed on another Nobel formality when he skipped President Obama’s meet-and-greet for American Nobel Prize winners.

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