Big news for the 40th anniversary show for Farm Aid which is Saturday in Minneapolis. A home town hero is a late addition - and it's a big one.
Bob Dylan is a late addition to the concert which already features Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and many other big name artists. The news was first reported by the Star Tribune's Jon Bream.
It's not the first time Dylan has jumped into a Farm Aid show. He made surprise appearances at the Farm Aid festival in 1985 and 1986. Then performed in a surprise appearance in 2023, playing his first Farm Aid set with members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers during a short, impactful three-song performance.
His initial involvement with Farm Aid was sparked by a comment he made at the 1985 Live Aid concert, calling for support for American family farmers. That comment was the initial spark for the idea when Willie Nelson heard it and the rest is history.
Dylan recently performed in his home state of Minnesota in Mankato this April. That was his first concert in his birth state in six years.
Robert Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan, was born in Duluth, raised in Hibbing, Minnesota, and was briefly a student at the University of Minnesota where Farm Aid is taking place this Saturday.
The show, in doubt as of late last week due to a workers strike on campus which now is settled, features a unique lineup of artists and genres, along with family farm-identified, local and organic foods as part of their HOMEGROWN Concessions.
This is the first time the festival has appeared in Minnesota. Farm Aid has raised over $85 million for the nation's farm communities and helps with disaster relief, educational programs and more.
Kenny Chesney, Steve Earle, Dave Matthews, Wynonna, and many others are scheduled to perform in the hours-long set at the U of M.