08-04-2025
Bob Mould to receive honorary degree from school he left for Hüsker Dü
Bob Mould, the Minnesota music pioneer who was part of Hüsker Dü and other projects, will give the keynote speech for Macalester College's 2025 commencement, the school announced this week.
Mould will also receive an honorary degree from the school, which he attended.
"Bob Mould is a rock and punk music legend who not only paved the way for other bands and sounds, but also used his esteemed platform to fiercely advocate for a more just society," says Macalester College President Suzanne M. Rivera.
Mould formed Hüsker Dü with Grant Hart and Greg Norton in 1978 during his first year attending the St. Paul college.
The group quickly gained momentum in the burgeoning punk scene, and Mould left school to go on tour during his senior year. He never graduated. Now, he'll get the degree that was almost completed while his group was cementing its legacy.
"At the time, he was in the process of writing an honors thesis on punk rock as a subculture under the guidance of sociology professor Michal McCall," the school says in its announcement.
While Hüsker Dü was gaining popularity at that time, enough that Mould set his studies aside, it was years later when the group's most pivotal albums arrived, including 1984's Zen Arcade, which has long been considered one of the great recordings in punk rock history.
"The Minnesota power trio broke all the rules of three-chord hardcore with this double-vinyl concept opus," Rolling Stone writers said, ranking it as the 13th best punk album of all time. "Bob Mould and Grant Hart traded off spit-and-growl vocals in savagely emotional hardcore blasts, but the music expanded into psychedelia, acoustic-folk rage, and the closing 14-minute feedback instrumental, 'Recurring Dreams.'"
Mould will give the keynote address at the school's Leonard Center Fieldhouse on May 17.
