- Bob Dylan has six kids from his previous marriages to Sara Lownds and Carolyn Dennis.
- Dylan and Lownds welcomed four kids together and the singer adopted Lownds’ daughter, Maria.
- Dylan shares a daughter named Desiree with Carolyn Dennis, whom he was married to from 1986 to 1992.
Bob Dylan is a 10-time Grammy Award winner and is considered one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of all time, but his personal life is surprisingly low key.
The Minnesota native’s rise to fame in the ’60s is the focal point of James Mangold’s latest film, “A Complete Unknown,” which stars Timothée Chalamet as Dylan. The movie also features Monica Barbaro as the folk singer Joan Baez and Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, a fictional version of Dylan’s girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo.
In real life, Dylan, now 83, was twice married and shares six kids with his ex-wives. Here’s everything to know about them.
Dylan welcomed 4 children with his first wife, Sara Lownds, and adopted her daughter from a previous marriage
Dylan and Lownds were married from November 1965 to June 1977. During their relationship, Dylan adopted Maria Lownds (born on October 21, 1961), Sara’s daughter from her marriage to the photographer Hans Lownds. Maria changed her last name to Dylan after the musician legally became her father.
According to Howard Sounes’ 2001 Dylan biography, “Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan,” Maria became a copyright lawyer and welcomed four kids with her husband Peter Himmelman.
Dylan and Lownds’ first child together, Jesse Byron Dylan, was born on January 6, 1966.
Jesse got into filmmaking and directed music videos for artists including Dylan, Lenny Kravitz, Elvis Costello, and Tom Waits. He’s also the director of the comedies “American Wedding” and “Kicking and Screaming.”
He’s the founder and CEO of Wondros, a global creative agency geared toward social change, public health, and the arts. He’s also the cohost of the educational podcast called “Wondros Podcast.”
Jesse and his wife, Susan Taylor, have a son named Pablo William Dylan, born in 1995, and a daughter named daughter Feury Mae Beatrice Dylan, born in 2000.
Little is known about Dylan and Lownds’ daughter, Anna Lea, who was born on July 11, 1967. According to the biography, she completed college in 1999 at 32 years old, became a painter, and got married.
Dylan and Lownds’ third child together, Samuel Isaac Abram, was born July 30, 1968. After graduating college, Samuel worked alongside Jesse at the LA-based production company Straw Dogs. He married Stacy Hochheiser, and they have two children, Jonah and Lowell.
Dylan and Lownds’ youngest child, Jakob Luke, was born on December 9, 1969. Like his famous father, Jakob became a singer-songwriter.
Jakob is the lead singer and guitarist of the band The Wallflowers, formed in 1990. The band has released seven studio albums, beginning with its eponymous debut album in 1992. “One Headlight,” from the album “Bringing Down the Horse,” is perhaps their most notable song.
Separate from the Grammy-winning band, Jakob also released two solo albums: “Seeing Things” in 2008 and “Women and Country” in 2010.
In 2011, Jakob earned an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Idaho State University. He and his wife, Nicole Paige, married in 1992 and have three kids.
Dylan shares one child with Carolyn Dennis, his second wife
Dennis was Dylan’s backing singer. On January 31, 1986, the couple quietly welcomed one child together, a daughter named Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan. Their secret wedding took place in LA in June of that year, and their marriage ended in 1992.
Dylan and Dennis’ child and marriage were kept a secret from the press for years. Upon the release of Sounes’ biography, Dennis explained that she and Dylan mutually agreed to keep their marriage a secret so their daughter could have a normal childhood.
