Columbia RecordsThe American Academy of Arts and Letters held its annual induction ceremony on Wednesday at its New York City headquarters, and Bob Dylan became the first rock-era musician to be accepted into the respected institution.  According to RollingStone.com, the folk-rock legend did not attend the ceremony.

Dylan did send a statement that read, "I feel extremely honored and very lucky to be included in this pantheon of great individual artists who comprise the Academy of Arts and Letters.  I look forward to meeting all of you some time soon."

The singer/songwriter also was a no-show at a special dinner that the Academy held in April, although, to be fair, Dylan was in the midst of a busy U.S. tour at the time.

The Academy, which recognizes those who have achieved excellence in a variety of artistic areas, decided to induct Dylan as an honorary member because of his multifaceted career as both a musician and a writer.  Other luminaries who also have been welcomed as honorary members include Meryl Streep, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese.

RollingStone.com reports that the Academy's citation honoring Dylan reads as follows: "For more than 50 years, defying categorization in a culture beguiled by categories, Bob Dylan has probed and prodded our psyches, recording and then changing our world and our lives through poetry made manifest in song -- creating relationships that we never imagined could exist between words, emotions and ideas."

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Surfdog RecordsCongratulations appear to be in order for Eric Clapton, who's expected to become a grandfather for the first time in the coming days.  The Daily Mail reports that the guitar legend's oldest daughter, 28-year-old Ruth Clapton, is preparing to give birth to her first child later this month.

A friend of the Clapton family tells the newspaper, "The baby is due any day and Eric is ecstatic."

The 68-year-old rocker is said to have a close relationship with Ruth, whom he walked down the aisle in September 2011 when she got married to her husband, architect Dean Bartlett.  Eric also hosted the reception at his home in Surrey, England, and performed with his band during the festivities.  In addition, Clapton's three young daughters from his current marriage to Melia McEnery reportedly served as flower girls at the ceremony.

Ruth Clapton's mother is Yve Kelly, who was working for famed Beatles producer George Martin on the island of Montserrat when she met Eric.  Eric was still married to his first wife, Pattie Boyd, when Ruth was born.

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Facebook.com/GraceSlickOfficialFormer Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship singer Grace Slick may no longer be making music but she continues to follow her artistic muse as a prolific painter.  Slick will pay a visit to four galleries in four separate California cities this week in celebration of a new display of her art titled "Once upon a Time."

Slick's appearances will take place tonight at the San Francisco Art Exchange in San Francisco, Friday at the Gordon Huether Gallery in Napa, Saturday at the Norcal Modern Gallery in Healdsburg and Sunday at the Peabody Gallery in Menlo Park.  All of the events start at 6 p.m. PT and will run for three hours.

In a note on her official Facebook page, Grace says that because the focus of all of the events is on her artwork, she's asking fans to please not bring albums or music-related memorabilia for her to autograph.  Among the new pieces featured in the exhibition is a painting called "Airplane" that depicts her old band's five members standing on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

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