Bob Dylan has broken his silence after becoming the first musician to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature - revealing he had been left "speechless".

The 75-year-old laureate had been accused by the Swedish Academy panel that awarded him the honour of being "impolite and arrogant" after he initially failed to publicly acknowledge the award.

But the panel have revealed Dylan has now commented in a phone conversation.

They said he told Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy: "I appreciate the honour so much. The news about the Nobel Prize left me speechless."

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph he said he "absolutely" wants to attend December's Nobel Prize Award Ceremony "if it's at all possible".

He told the newspaper that being awarded the prize was "hard to believe", adding it was "amazing, incredible".

The legendary singer-songwriter has sold more than 110 million records and played thousands of gigs during his career which he began as a leading light of the early 1960s folk boom before embracing electric rock 'n' roll.

source:news.sky.com