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Who sang the female backing vocals on Bob Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’ in 1975?
Ronee Blakley sang the female backing vocals on Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”, helping turn the song into a forceful account of the case of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. Her contribution reflected Dylan’s decision to use more voices to draw attention to an injustice that he wanted to bring to a wider audience.
Blakley was part of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue backing band in 1975 and 1976. Dylan had first recorded the song before the tour, but legal threats over some lyrics led him to re-record it with his touring musicians, including Blakley. She later said the song remained a meaningful anthem, while Dylan described his aim as spreading the message about Carter.
In short
- Ronee Blakley sang backing vocals on “Hurricane”.
- Dylan re-recorded the song with his touring musicians after legal threats.
- Blakley called it a meaningful anthem in 2019.
Explained simply
“Hurricane” is a 1975 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan about Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a professional boxer convicted of murder in the United States. Carter maintained that he had been wrongly convicted, and his case drew public attention.
Dylan used the song to bring Carter’s case to a wider audience. Ronee Blakley, an actor and singer, was among the musicians on Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour and sang female backing vocals on the re-recorded version. The song is often discussed both for its account of the case and for the role music played in raising awareness of it.