Bob Dylan: 10 Images of Music Icon Turned Nobel Laureate

Bob Dylan has been named the winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, breaking a decades-old drought on American winners and becoming the first honoree to have primarily made his life's work as a musician.

The 75-year-old singer-songwriter was cited by the Swedish Academy for "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

"He is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition, and he is a wonderful sampler — a very original sampler," Sara Danius, the academy's permanent secretary, said in a statement Thursday. "For 54 years now he has been at it and reinventing himself, constantly creating a new identity."

Dylan will now add the Nobel Prize to his impressive list of accolades, including 11 Grammys, an Academy Award, a Rock and Roll Hall of fame induction, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Here are 10 images spanning Dylan's iconic career:

Folk singer Bob Dylan sings on stage during his final appearance with "The Band" at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California, on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1976. The show was known as "The Last Waltz." (AP Photo)

Bob Dylan live during Collisioni 2012 in Barolo on July 16, 2012. (Thevirex/Dreamstime.com)

Country singer Willie Nelson joined folk and rock singer Bob Dylan, right, on stage before more than 78,000 people attending the Farm Aid benefit concert Sunday, September 23, 1985 at the University of Illinois football stadium. (AP Photo)

Rock star Bob Dylan performs on stage at the Prince's Trust Masters of Music concert in Hyde Park on June 29, 1996. Other legends on the bill include Eric Clapton and The Who, a crowd of about 150,000 are reported to have attended the concert. (Russell Boyce/Reuters)

Rock and pop music memorabilia is displayed by Christie's on November 21, 2006, at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York, in advance of a December auction. Included is a demonstration album of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," 1963, from the personal archives of Suze Rotolo, the woman in the album cover photo with Dylan, estimated at USD $8,000 to $12,000. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

Books by and about U.S. songwriter Bob Dylan, who was announced the laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, are displayed at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 13, 2016. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images)

Pope John Paul II (R) greets American rock singer Bob Dylan after he performed in a concert during a Catholic Youth rally in the city of Bologna September 27, 1997. (Reuters)

Bob Dylan is joined by Bruce Springsteen, right, during Dylan's set for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame benefit concert, Sept. 2, 1995, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

This April 27, 1965, file photo, shows singer Bob Dylan in London. (AP Photo/File)

In this May 29, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama presents rock legend Bob Dylan with a Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

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