Huey Lewis On Not Recording A Song Bob Dylan Wrote For Him

Huey Lewis is still kicking himself over never recording a song Bob Dylan wrote for him.

The singer recalled this lost opportunity in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Lewis said, "He sent me a cassette and a lovely note saying he liked the last record, and here's a song of mine. Not only did I not cut it, I don't actually know where the cassette is."

After the studio audience gasped at that revelation, Lewis clarified the tape is somewhere in his cassette collection, which features thousands of tapes, and that he could likely find the tape eventually.

This isn't the first time Lewis has spoken about this Dylan song with Kimmel. The two talked about it during a February 2020 event at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. During the event, Lewis said, "I should have cut it. I don't know what I was thinking."

During that same Grammy Museum event, Lewis also mention another regret that would have netted him big bucks: Licensing "The Heart of Rock & Roll" to Coca-Cola to use in a commercial.

The attempted deal went down shortly after Michael Jackson signed a deal with Pepsi in 1987. Looking back on his decision, Lewis said, "Before that deal, no music stars did corporate tie-ins. Coca-Cola asked to have a meeting. We flew to Atlanta. They offered us millions of dollars [to use] ‘The Heart of Rock & Roll’ in a commercial. I said no. Stupid."

One thing Lewis clearly doesn't regret is venturing into the world of Broadway. The singer appeared on Kimmel in part to promote the March 29 opening of The Heart of Rock & Roll, a new jukebox musical featuring the music of Huey Lewis & the News.

When news of the Broadway production first broke in November 2023, Lewis said in a statement, "I’ve always been a storyteller, and it’s a thrill to see my songs woven together in service of a fantastic, new story.  That it will all take place on the world’s most prestigious stage — Broadway — just makes the ride that much sweeter."

Bob Dylan: his voice isn't for everyone, but you can't deny his songwriting ability. In his six decades of making music, he's been covered by a huge range of artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Wonder, Heart with Layne Staley, U2, Elvis Presley, Tim Armstrong of Rancid, Silversun Pickups, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and many more. There's a reason why he recently sold his music publishing for a rumored nine-figure deal.

With that in mind, we thought we'd celebrate his 80th birthday with a list of the best versions of his 80 best songs. So, it's a mix Dylan's versions, and a few of his live performances as well and lots of covers by the aforementioned artists.

And yes, we know that some Dylanologists will be mad that some of the "classics" are missing (we just don't love "Just Like A Woman" or "Mr. Tamborine Man" as much as everyone else). We love some of the material from the second half of his career as much as the music from his more celebrated first half. We love the covers, and we gave them extra points in some cases for introducing his music to younger generations. And with that, let's start with number eighty.