Bob Dylan has left some fans confused after he shared footage of Machine Gun Kelly performing live on Instagram.
- READ MORE: A Complete Unknown review – don’t think twice about seeing this brilliant Bob Dylan biopic
For the most part, the music icon’s social media page has only seen posts relating to his upcoming live shows and an assortment of clips from old movies. However, that changed last night (February 26) when the folk legend – or whoever runs the account on his behalf – shared a seemingly random clip of Machine Gun Kelly performing live.
In the footage, the rapper, who now goes by MGK, is seen performing an acoustic set at the Park Ave CDs store in Orlando, Florida. There don’t seem to be any ties in the set to Bob Dylan, and with no caption included, it isn’t quite clear why it was uploaded.
“This is my favourite thing that’s ever happened on the internet,” one follower commented, while another added: “Bob respectfully what the fuck is this?”
A third joked: “Bob probably thought this was Timothée Chalamet so he reposted it”, while MGK himself also took to the comment section and added: “You having a phone is so rad.”
As highlighted by Pitchfork, a possible reason for the post could have stemmed from Timothée Chalamet, who portrayed Dylan in the recent biopic A Complete Unknown. Although the two haven’t yet met, the actor did make a nod to MGK while on Saturday Night Live in 2023, describing himself as “a moisturised Machine Gun Kelly”.
The outlet also suggests that Beak> and former Portishead star Geoff Barrow could be a connection between Bob Dylan and MGK. This comes as comments made by the musician in 2023 saw him hit out at The Weeknd after the latter paid respects to the late MF Doom. Barrow described the act as “Machine Gun Kelly dressing as Bob Dylan”.
This isn’t the first time that Bob Dylan has got fans talking for his posts on social media. Last month he made headlines after finally making a TikTok account, just days before the platform was set to be banned in the US.
In November, he also turned heads by taking to X/Twitter to share his fondness for Nick Cave after seeing him perform live in France. “Saw Nick Cave in Paris recently at the Accor Arena and I was really struck by that song ‘Joy’ where he sings ‘We’ve all had too much sorrow, now it the time for joy.’ I was thinking to myself, yeah that’s about right.”
Cave would later share a reply on his website The Red Hand Files, noting: “I hadn’t known Bob was at the concert and his tweet was a lovely pulse of joy that penetrated my exhausted, zombied state.”
Around that same time, Dylan also took to X to personally respond to claims from a former backing dancer, who recalled an alleged past incident where she was told not to make eye contact with him.
“Saw your reply. Just want you to know I’ve never told anybody not to make eye contact with me,” he wrote. “That is just ridiculous. And the next time you see me please look straight into my eyes.”
Earlier this week, Timothée Chalamet took home the Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role for his portrayal of Dylan in A Complete Unknown. In his acceptance speech, he said: “I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role, and how much this means to me, but the truth is, this was five and a half years of my life.”
“I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero, and it was the honour of a lifetime playing him,” he added. “It’s an honour I share with Monica [Barbaro], Edward [Norton], the entire cast, doing a biopic in a genre that could be perhaps tired. Everyone gave it their all – I’m so deeply grateful to them.”
As for MGK, the artist has recently been confirmed as one of the names set to perform at F1 75 Live at The O2, alongside Take That and Kane Brown.
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