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Bob Dylan has issued a rare public statement to apologise for his “error in judgment”, amid controversy over his use of a machine to autograph special copies of his new book that had been advertised as “hand-signed”.
The book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, features the legendary singer-songwriter’s commentary on tracks by other artists and was released in early November, with a limited run of 900 “hand-signed” editions sold for US$599 each. All copies came with a letter of authenticity from publisher Simon & Schuster.
As buyers began receiving their copies, many shared photographs of their books online – and quickly realised they featured identical signatures.
In a statement, the 81-year-old musician said all of his signatures “over the years” had been hand-signed.
“However, in 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into the pandemic years,” he wrote. “It takes a crew of five working in close quarters with me to help enable these signing sessions, and we could not find a safe and workable way to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging.
