Bob Dylan's official website on Friday retracted a mention of the legendary musician winning the 2016 Nobel Prize for literatur, The Guardian reported. The site had acknowledged the Nobel Prize five days after it was announce through the online mention. Observers have speculated that the 75-year-old singer's shyness, aloof nature and even "bad manners" may be reasons for the delay and subsequent retraction. It is still unclear if the change was a result of a technical glitch or a conscious decision by the musician's staff.

The sentence "winner of the Nobel prize in literature”, which appeared on the website's page The Lyrics: 1961-2012, has been withdrawn. On October 18, officials of the Swedish Academy said that they have given up trying to contact Bob Dylan for him to acknowledge the award. Permanent secretary of the academy Sara Danius said they are not sure if Dylan will show up at the award ceremony, but added that the "honour belongs to him".

This is not the first time that Dylan has acted in this manner, reported The Telegraph. In 1963, he won the Tom Paine award for civil rights and delivered an acceptance speech for which he had to apologise later. In 2000, he skipped the Oscar ceremony and later accepted an award via a video. In 2007, he gave the Crown Prince of Spain’s ceremony a miss and in 2010 he did not go to the White House to collect his National Medal for the Arts.

The jury selected him "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. Dylan's writing and lyrics have often incorporated political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. Several commentators have suggested that Dylan decline the prize as it was initiated by armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel.

In 2008, the Pulitzer Prize jury gave him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." The academy will present the award at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.