MusiCares Person of the Year

MusiCares, the charity linked to the Grammys that helps musicians in need, chose him as its honoree, and a lineup of artists performed his songs at a benefit dinner. Then he took the stage with a prepared text and spoke for around half an hour, an extraordinary length for a man known for terse public remarks. He traced his songs back to the folk, blues and country music he had absorbed when young, explaining how old forms had fed his writing. He thanked the people who had helped him early on, and he also hit back at critics who had complained about his voice for decades, and at a few fellow musicians he felt had slighted him. The speech was widely published afterward and remains one of the clearest accounts he has given of how he works.