Bob Dylan is named MusiCares Person of the Year

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan is to be honored as the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year at a benefit gala dinner and concert Feb. 6.

The announcement was made Tuesday by Neil Portnow, president and chief executive officer of the MusiCares Foundation and The Recording Academy, and Bill Silva, chair of the MusiCares foundation board.

Among the performers confirmed for the Dylan tribute are Beck, the Black Keys,, Norah Jones, Tom Jones, Los Lobos, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Eddie Vedder, Jack White, Neil Young, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Three-time Grammy-winning producer and recent Emmy winner Don Was will be the evening's musical director. Additional performers will be announced.

Proceeds from the event -- to be held in Los Angeles during Grammy Week -- will provide essential support for MusiCares, which said its mission is to ensure "music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need."

"In celebrating the 25th anniversary of our MusiCares Person of the Year tribute, it is most fitting that we are honoring Bob Dylan, whose body of creative work has contributed to America's culture, as well as that of the entire world, in genuinely deep and lasting ways," Portnow said in a statement.

"Bob Dylan's songwriting ability is unmatched, and it will be an extraordinary evening to hear his work showcased by such a remarkable group of artists," Silva added.

Dylan, 73, is best known for his songs "Blowin' in the Wind," "The Times They Are a-Changin'," "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Mr. Tambourine Man."