A previously unheard interview with the legendary singer reveals how he successfully beat his addiction to the class-A drug during the early 1960s, while he was living in New York.
In the interview - which was conducted by his friend Robert Shelton and took place in March 1966 after one of his US concerts - Dylan said: "I kicked a heroin habit in New York City. I got very, very strung out for a while, I mean really, very strung out. And I kicked the habit. I had about a $25-a-day habit and I kicked it."
According to BBC News, Dylan - who turns 70 today (24.05.11) and has never previously confirmed speculation he had used heroin in the past - also revealed he contemplated suicide after people started calling him a genius.
He said: "Death to me is nothing... death to me means nothing as long as I can die fast. Many times I've known I could have been able to die fast, and I could have easily gone over and done it. I'll admit to having this suicidal thing... but I came through this time."
He later returned to the subject of death and suicide, concluding: "I'm not the kind of cat that's going to cut off an ear if I can't do something. I'm the kind of cat that would just commit suicide. I'd shoot myself in the brain if things got bad. I'd jump from a window ... man, I would shoot myself. You know I can think about death, man, openly."
