In the interview, published in the magazine’s 27 September 2012 edition, the singer said racism was holding America back.

“If you got a slave master or (Ku Klux) Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that,” he was quoted as saying. “That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood.”

The formal investigation followed a legal complaint from the organisation, CRICCF, which is based in France, alleging that the comments as carried in the French version of the magazine violated French racial hatred laws.

CRICCF did not return an email seeking comment. Calls to Dylan’s manager and Rolling Stone were not immediately returned.

In France, racism complaints automatically trigger formal investigations, irrespective of the merits of the case.

Dylan was awarded France’s prestigious Legion d’Honneur award last month in Paris. Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said that, for French people, he embodied a “subversive cultural force that can change people and the world”. DM

Photo: Bob Dylan. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)