Salvador Dalí and Rock and Roll

Discover Salvador Dalí's influence on rock and roll as a musical icon and his relationship with stars such as Lennon, Cooper and Gainsbourg.

Dalí's surrealist influence on Rock and Roll

Dalí's surrealist work and his eccentric personality had aesthetic points in common with the universe of rock music. The man from Emporda was aware, as was Andy Warhol, of the impact that rock music had achieved and of the role of indisputable stars and icons that were musicians such as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, with comparable or even superior strength to movie stars. John Lennon himself, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Grateful Dead, Velvet Underground, Serge Gainsbourg, Captain Beefheart (who dedicated the song Dali's Car to him), Pau Riba or his muse Amanda Lear, among others, were part of , at one time or another and with more or less intensity, of the universe of Dalinian relationships. The excessive Alice Cooper went so far as to say: “Dalí was almost as surreal as his works and he was the most interesting person I have ever met in my life.” So much so, that he was inspired by the work Mercat d'esclaus to create the cover of his album Da Da, with clear artistic references. For his part, Dalí turned Cooper into a famous hologram.

Dalí and his artistic and musical collaborations

The beatle John Lennon unsuccessfully wanted to involve Salvador Dalí in his campaigns for world peace (it seems that Dalí asked in return for Lennon to participate in a campaign in favor of the war). Lennon said: “The world of my dreams is El Bosco and Dalí. I love it, I look forward to it every night.” With his unmistakable style, Dalí created, for example, the cover of Jackie Gleason's album Lonesome Echo (1955), with a reflection on anxiety and space, and Paco Ibáñez's first album (1964), others. The relationship between Dalí and Serge Gainsbourg could have resulted in collaboration in a ballet (or dance) that Dalí wanted to invent and to which the Frenchman would have set music. But the matter did not come to fruition.

Homage from Empordà to Dalí through rock music

In our house, Pau Riba maintained a one-off but continuous relationship with Salvador Dalí, both neighbors of Cadaqués. He dedicated a song to her, La daliniana flor. They were united by their genius and artistic and musical surrealism. In 1989, the album El gran masturbador was published, in which several groups from the Empordà musical scene paid tribute to the universal fig tree. The album features groups such as Los Carbónicos, Doctor Chivato, La Cripta or Código de Barras performing themes that refer to Dalí's artistic universe: The City of Soft Clocks, Divine Wind or The Endless Riddle.