Bob Dylan made a surprise appearance at Farm Aid on Saturday night, performing three songs with three members of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers.
Dylan made the surprise appearance at Farm Aid 2023 in Noblesville, Indiana. He played guitar and was joined by Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, and Steve Ferrone for a performance of three songs from 1965: "Maggie's Farm," "Positively 4th Street," and "Ballad of a Thin Man."
Dylan performed on the Farm Aid stage for the first time since the inaugural event in 1985.
Dylan is credited with inspiring Willie Nelson to launch Farm Aid. During a 1985 performance at Live Aid, Dylan wondered whether a similar event could be put to support American farmers.
Nelson along with John Mellencamp and Neil Young organized the Farm Aid benefit concert to raise money for and help family farmers in the United States. The first concert was held on September 22, 1985, at the Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, before a crowd of 80,000 people. Performers included Dylan, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty, among others.
Meanwhile, Dylan is set to kick off the new leg of his North American tour in Kansas City on October 1.
(Photo: Raphael Pour-Hashemi)
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