Bob Dylan is surely the most influential singer/songwriter in popular music. His career began in the early '60s when he made his way to New York to join the city's burgeoning folk scene, following in the footsteps of his idol Woody Guthrie. Dylan quickly got a record deal, and birthed a batch of the era's most powerful protest songs. In '65, he shocked fans by embracing rock 'n' roll, abandoning the insular folk world and penning visionary tunes that embraced an equally broadened poetic perspective. Since then, he's never looked back, dipping into everything from blues to country and gospel.