The musician Bob Dylan said was the most important thing in his life

When asked which musician had the biggest impact on his life, Bob Dylan didn't hesitate to point to Woody Guthrie. Long before he became one of the most influential figures in the history of popular music, Dylan was a young man fascinated by the songs of Guthrie, the composer who transformed American folk into a powerful tool for social storytelling. The influence was so profound that, upon arriving in New York in the early 1960s, Dylan made a point of seeking out his idol in person. At the time, Guthrie was already facing serious health problems caused by Huntington's disease, but he continued to be a huge reference for musicians across the country. According to Dylan, Guthrie's songs showed that it was possible to talk about ordinary people, social injustices, work, politics and dreams using simple and accessible language. Songs like "This Land Is Your Land" helped shape the artistic vision of the future Nobel Prize winner for Literature. Several compositions from Dylan's early phase bear Guthrie's direct influence, both in structure and in the themes covered. Decades later, even after revolutionizing popular music and becoming a legend in his own right, Dylan continued to cite Woody Guthrie as the figure who meant the most to his artistic formation.