These 8 Rock Musicians Are Jimmy Carter’s Personal Friends

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When you think about Jimmy Carter, rock ’n’ roll might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But the 39th President of the United States is a big music fan, has used it as a way to connect with voters, and is personal friends with several musicians, including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Bono.

From Willie Nelson smoking pot on the White House roof to Gregg Allman mistaking Carter for a shirtless “bum” during their first introduction, below are just a few of the stories from Jimmy Carter’s friendships with some of rock music’s most recognizable names.

Bob Dylan

While Carter was serving as Georgia governor, his adult sons were living with him and regularly played Bob Dylan music in the mansion’s halls. Carter had already been a Dylan fan, and he and his sons grew closer together through his music, according to the documentary Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.

In 1974, the Carter family attended a Dylan concert in Atlanta and invited the iconoclastic musician to the governor’s mansion for a post-concert party. Carter described Dylan as “painfully timid,” and even Dylan said he initially felt “uneasy.” But the two eventually bonded, particularly during a private conversation about Carter’s Christian faith.

“When I first met Jimmy, the first thing he did was quote my songs back to me,” Dylan said in the documentary. “It was the first time that I realized my songs had reached into, basically, the establishment world. … He put my mind at ease by not talking down to me and showing me that he had a sincere appreciation of the songs that I’d written.”

Willie Nelson