Legendary music icon and subject of the biopic A Complete Unknown, Bob Dylan, has joined TikTok just days before its ban.

He joined the social media platform on Wednesday, January 16, 2025. His first post was a compilation of various pictures and videos from throughout his career, with his hit songs “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Knockin' on Heaven's Door,” and “Hurricane” playing in the background.

The top comment said, “You've got 30 minutes[,] king,” in reference to him joining the platform before it is banned days later. The second post slyly responded to this comment with an old video of him saying, “Good God, I must leave right away.”

So, those who want to see Bob Dylan on TikTok before the ban should check it out. He has already garnered over 40,000 followers, and his two posts have gotten over 146,000 likes. We will have to wait and see if he posts more before the ban.

Why is TikTok being banned?

TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is just days away from its deadline to sell the social media platform under the federal legislation that was signed into law by President Joe Biden. If ByteDance doesn't sell TikTok, it will be banned in the United States.

The ban would cause the app to become illegal to distribute by online app stores and hosting services. The TikTok ban has been a long time coming, and we will see how it shakes out.

With President Donald Trump set to be inaugurated on Monday, January 20, that may change things. He was previously in favor of the ban but has since changed his opinion on it.

Who is Bob Dylan?

Bob Dylan performing on The Johnny Cash Show in 1969.
Jimmy Ellis / The Tennessean, Nashville Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC.

Dylan is one of the most revolutionary musicians of all time. He started as a folk artist, gaining notoriety for his Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album in 1963.

He continued his hot streak by releasing The Times They Are a-Changin', Another Side of Bob Dylan, and Bringing It All Back Home. Dylan began a new phase of his career with Highway 61 Revisited, implementing electrically amplified instruments into his music.

This caused a stir in the folk community. Dylan then had a controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. However, since then, he has released over 30 more studio albums, most recently Shadow Kingdom in 2023.

Additionally, he is a renowned author. In 2004, Dylan published the first part of his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One. However, a follow-up has not been released.

He did gain critical acclaim for the memoir. Chronicles became a New York Times Best Seller. He has received a Nobel Prize in Literature for his written works.