Bob Dylan has called on The Rolling Stones to reunite with their former bassist Bill Wyman.

Dylan said the group had become a “funk band” without the bassist, who quit in 1992.

But, in an interview with The Telegraph, he also revealed that he still regarded the band as “the first and last” great rock and roll band.

When asked what he thought of The Rolling Stones, Dylan replied: “What do I think of them? They’re pretty much finished, aren’t they?”

When the interviewer questioned Dylan’s response, making reference to the band’s recent lucrative world tours, the singer said: “Oh yeah, you mean Steel Wheels.

“I’m not saying they don’t keep going, but they need Bill. Without him they’re a funk band. They’ll be the real Rolling Stones when they get Bill back.”

But Dylan later conceded that the band were “far from finished”.

He added: “The Rolling Stones are truly the greatest rock and roll band in the world and always will be. The last too.

“Everything that came after them, metal, rap, punk, new wave, pop-rock, you name it …. you can trace it all back to the Rolling Stones.

“They were the first and the last and no one’s ever done it better.”

(by Jason Gregory)