At the annual MusiCares Charity event in Los Angeles, one of music’s most influential icons, Bob Dylan, accepted the Person of the Year Award. The charity event is held annually in anticipation of the Grammy awards, happening tonight. Dylan’s acceptance speech, which was over 30 minutes long, focused primarily on his long career path as a musician, and his less-than-easy journey with critics along the way.

“Critics have been giving me a hard time since day one. Critics say I can’t sing. I croak. Sound like a frog. Why don’t critics say that same thing about Tom Waits?” said Dylan. He jested that critics always have saved a level of criticism especially for him. He was introduced by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and thanked many of his early influences in the industry including John Hammond and Joan Baez. He mentioned his aggrieved relationship with Merle Haggard, who never truly understood his work, according to the artist. Dylan expressed love and admiration for music legends such as Johnny Cash and Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix, who believed in Dylan’s songs even before Dylan did, was one of his biggest fans, and it seemed that Dylan’s only wish for the night was that Hendrix could be there with him.

The night featured tributes to Dylan, with acts including Beck , Bonnie Raitt, Jack White, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young all on hand to do covers of the American Superstar’s classic songs. The rock legend himself did not perform. In classic Dylan fashion, he ended his speech with a line that left the audience wanting more: “I’m going to put an egg in my shoe and beat it.”