Bob Dylan: “It Sickened Me No End To See George Tortured To Death Like That”

Bob Dylan granted the New York Times writer Douglas Brinkley his first interview in years earlier this week, advancing his new album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, which is out June 19.

The interview with the 79-year-old Dylan, a Minnesota native, came the day after George Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police. The article said the songwriter “sounded depressed.”

“It sickened me no end to see George tortured to death like that,” Dylan said. “It was beyond ugly. Let’s hope that justice comes swift for the Floyd family and for the nation.”

Dylan’s new album, which contains the already released 17-minute song Murder Most Foul, is his first new work in eight years.

Dylan also spoke about the recent deaths of Little Richard and John Prine in his interview, saying Little Richard “lit a match under me. Tuned me into things I never would have known on my own.” Dylan also praised Little Richard’s gospel albums, saying they were overlooked because they contained “good news,” and “good news in today’s world is like a fugitive, treated like a hoodlum and put on the run. Castigated. All we see is good-for-nothing news.”