1 INTRODUCTION

After the turbulent 1997 with the dramatic hospitalization, the triumphant release of Time Out Of Mind, playing for the Pope, and receiving the JFK Award, 1998 meant back to business, i.e. back to touring, touring and more touring. In February Dylan received no less than three Grammy Awards for Time Out Of Mind. And in October volume 4 of Bootleg Series was finally released. The media attention during last year and the Grammies meant that Dylan now played in bigger venues than ever before during the Never-Ending tour.

2 THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

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3 CALENDAR

January	Dylan appears in a promotional music video by Sony recording artist Wyclef Jean. The song, Gone 'Til November, mentions Dylan and Knockin' On Heaven's Door. The video is shot in Los Angeles International Airport.
January	Bob Dylan gets three Grammy nominations: Time Out Of Mind for "album of the year" Time Out Of Mind for "best contemporary folk album" (!) Cold Irons Bound for "best male contemporary rock vocal performance". Jacob Dylan gets two Grammy nominations, both for the song One Headlight, one in the category "best rock vocal" and one in the category "best rock performance by a duo or a group with vocal".
January 13, 14	Dylan starts the 11^th year of the Never-Ending Tour with two warm up show in New London, Connecticut. The first show features the second live rendition of Make You Feel My Love and Bob Dylan on organ on Love Sick. This is the first live keyboard playing by Dylan since Stuttgart June 16, 1991. It also turned out to be the only keyboard exercise in 1998. The second show features Million Miles and Not Dark Yet, both performed live only once before.
January 16-24	The shows in New York City and Boston are "double bills" with Van Morrison.
January 18	Dylan joins Van Morrison during his set at The Madison Square Garden in New York City and they perform More And More together.
January 21	Dylan joins Van Morrison one more time during his set at The Madison Square Garden in New York City and this time they perform Blue Suede Shows together.
January 24	Dylan joins Van Morrison for the third and last time during his set at Fleet Center in Boston and again they perform Blue Suede Shows together. Later Van Morrison joins Dylan on Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
February	The February issue of Mojo contains an interview with Dylan conducted by one Serge Kanganski. It comes from the mini press conference held in October 1997 in London.
February	Gone 'Til November with Wyclef Jean is released as a video single.
February 1	Born In Time from the show in Newark, New Jersey is released in June on one of the LOVE SICK singles.
February 22	The US Winter tour ends with a show in Fairfax, Virginia.
February 23	At Carl Perkins' funeral mass in the R.E. Womack Chapel on the campus of Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee Wynona Judd read the following note sent by Bob Dylan: "He really stood for freedom. That whole sound stood for all degrees of freedom. It would just jump off the turntable. We wanted to go where that was happening".
February 25	Bob Dylan and his band appear at the 40^th Grammy Awards Ceremony at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. They perform Love Sick which is released as a single in June. Dylan wins all the three categories mentioned above! During Dylan's performance a shirt-less "performance artist" appear with the words SOY BOMB written in block letters on the chest but Dylan and the band ignores him best as they can. The whole ceremony is broadcast live over the CBS television network in the USA and later on several networks in Europe. Jacob Dylan also wins his nominations, so it is a great evening for the Dylan family.
March	The Not Dark Yet promotional video directed by Michael Borofsky is released. [TOP]
March 30-31	A short tour of South America where Dylan and his band opened for The Rolling Stones is preceded by two warm-up shows in Miami Beach, Florida
April 4, 5, 11 and 13	Bob Dylan performs Like A Rolling Stone with The Rolling Stones during their set.
April 15	The South American tour ends with a concert in Teatro Monumental in Santiago, Chile. Since this a bill without The Rolling Stones it is a full length concert with 15 songs as opposed to the short 11 song sets used earlier during the tour.
May 13	The short West Coast tour with Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison starts with another warm up show in the small 1000 seater venue The Rage in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Gordon Lightfoot song I'm Not Supposed To Care is performed for the first time.
May 14	Frank Sinatra dies at age 82.
May 17	Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell opened the show in George, Washington. All other shows during this tour are opened by Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison.
May 19	The double CD Clinch Mountain Country by Ralph Stanley & Friends is released. Bob Dylan contributes with
May 20	Bob Dylan attends Frank Sinatra's funeral mass at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills, California. Bob Dylan's publicist issued the following statement from Dylan: "Right from the beginning, he was there with the truth of things in his voice. His music had an influence on me, whether I knew it or not. He was one of the very few singers who sang without a mask. It's a sad day."
May 21	At the show in Los Angeles Dylan performs Restless Farewell as a tribute to Frank Sinatra.
May 22	The audience at the Pauley Pavilion, UCLA in Los Angeles is treated to the first acoustic version of This Wheel's On Fire.
May 23	Final show of the Spring tour in Anaheim, California.
May 24	Bob Dylan's 57^th birthday.
May 30	After just a week's rest, the so far longest tour of Europe starts with a show in Nürburg, Germany at the Rock Am Ring festival held at the race course Nürburgring.
June 2	Two singles with Love Sick as the leading track are issued in Sweden. The first single has Love Sick from the Grammy Awards and three live tracks from 1997. The second single has Love Sick from Time Out Of Mind and three more live tracks from 1997.
June 15	The show in Rotterdam's Sportpaleis Ahoy is yet another double bill with Van Morrison, as are the UK concerts later on, with the exception of the Glastonbury Festival gig.
June 19	Dylan opens the show in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast with Gotta Serve Somebody, first live performance since Charlottesville, November 20, 1991. This show also features the second only performance of The Roving Blade, the first being from Reims, France, July 1, 1992.
June 30	Happy Birthday is performed for Suzie at the show in Paris, France.
July 3	Bob Dylan plays his 1000^th show during The Never-Ending Tour at the 32^nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland.
July 12	The massive 33 gig Summer tour ends in Zürich, Switzerland.
August 19	The Never-Ending Tour rolls on with 15 more shows in Australia and New Zealand, the first being another warm up gig in the small Mercury Lounge in the Crown Casino in Melbourne. The show is longer than usual and features no less than seven songs in the acoustic set, one being Dark As A Dungeon, not performed since New York City, October 19, 1990.
August 22	First show without Silvio since Fort Myers, Florida, September 27, 1995!
September 4	I Threw It All Away is performed at the show in Sydney, first time since New Haven, September 17, 1978!!
September 12	End of Tour down under with a concert in Christchurh, New Zealand. [TOP]
September 17, 19	On their way home from New Zealand Dylan and the band give two shows on Hawaii, one in Maui and one in Honolulu.
September 22–27	Short West Coast tour with Van Morrison.
September 29	Sheryl Crow releases The Globe Sessions, which contains an unreleased song from the Time Out Of Mind sessions called Mississippi.
October 13	The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall Concert" is finally released. For further details see section 4.5 below.
October 15	The last 1999 tour starts in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
October 28	Tomorrow Night returns to the set list after more than five years. It was last played in Springfield, April 5, 1994.
October 31	Bob Dylan and Joan Osborne record Chimes Of Freedom in New York City. The song is released on the soundtrack to the NBC television series The '60s in January 1999.
November 3	At the show in Rochester, New York I Believe In You returns after almost three years, Last time was in Cottbus, Germany, July 14, 1996. Also played is Across The Borderline which has been absent since Ames, November 2, 1991, eight years to the day!
November 7	This years 110^th and last show is played in Atlanta, Georgia.
December	The third triple album in the Genuine Bootleg Series entitled "The Third One Now" appears. For further details see section 4.8 below.

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