LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wallflowers rocker Jakob Dylan has broken an uncomfortable silence about his famous father, Bob Dylan, to lambaste fans for over-reacting when the music legend was laid low by a potentially fatal heart infection several years ago.

The younger Dylan rarely discusses his father at length in public. But as the Wallflowers prepare for the Oct. 10 release of their third album, the critically acclaimed ``Breach,'' he is no longer dodging the inevitable questions.

In a cover story for the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine, he talked about the time in May 1997 when Bob Dylan, who is now 59, was admitted to a New York hospital with histoplasmosis, a fungal disease that can kill if left untreated.

``What was so interesting was people had such a sense of panic. They suddenly realized a world without him,'' Dylan said. ''And my feeling was, 'Shame on you. You think that you get these kind of people your whole life? You should be proud of the fact that you're living during the time that this person is.'''

While proud of his father's accomplishments, Jakob Dylan, 30, indicated he wanted to carve out his own identity.

``There's countless biographies (about Bob Dylan),'' he said. ''In most of the books there might be one page that mentions the names of his children. That's it. I don't want to be a page in the book.''

Jakob's efforts seem to be going to plan. The rock band's 1996 album ``Bringing Down the Horse,'' sold about six million copies worldwide -- reportedly more than any of his father's albums ever sold -- and yielded two Grammys.

RTR/ENTERTAINMENT-PEOPLE