Bob Dylan To Receive US Medal Of Freedom

Music legend Bob Dylan is to be honoured by US President Barack Obama with America's highest civilian award.

The White House has announced that the 70-year-old singer-songwriter is among the 13 people who will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Dylan is on the list with former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, astronaut John Glenn, novelist Toni Morrison and former Israeli president Shimon Peres.

Mr Obama said: "These extraordinary honourees come from different backgrounds and different walks of life, but each of them has made a lasting contribution to the life of our nation.

"They've challenged us, they've inspired us, and they've made the world a better place. I look forward to recognising them with this award."

The White House described Dylan as "one of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century" and paid tribute to his contribution to the civil rights movement.

Since releasing his first album in 1962 Dylan has won 11 Grammy awards, an Oscar and a Golden Globe award and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established in 1963 to replace an earlier Medal of Freedom created by President Harry Truman in 1945.

The White House says it honours "individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavours".

This year's other recipients include a physician who helped lead the successful campaign to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s and an officer in the Polish Underground during World War II who brought some of the first eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust to the world.

The awards will be presented at the White House in late Spring.