Simon has delivered a sea of melancholy, gifted songs about loneliness and contactlessness that stand as the soundtrack for a generation.
At the same time, he has renewed himself along the way and had lasting value for new generations through decades. His songs have been re-recorded by countless others for the same reason.
Even though Simon was actually artistically full of days at the age of 75 and swore himself ready for retirement, he still toured actively in the years that followed until 2019.
His latest, however, short appearance with, among other things, the monster hit “Bridge over Troubled Water” took place a few weeks ago in Central Park in his hometown of New York.
Sung, however, with a distinctly thinner voice than in the Simon and Garfunkel glamor days, where all harmonies sat razor-sharp knocked in right in the middle of the closet.
The two schoolboys from Queens already met when they were 11 years old and then started singing together.
In 1965, they topped the US charts with the song “The Sound of Silence”. A few years later, they were superstars on the folk rock scene.
Simon’s strong songs carried by common perfect harmonies created a queue of hits such as “I Am a Rock”, “The Boxer”, “Cecilia”, “Scarborough Fair” and “Mrs. Robinson”, which Paul Simon wrote for the film “The Graduate “.
Biggest was probably “Bridge over Troubled Water”, a combined love tribute and commentary on the world’s social injustice, which has become one of the best-selling records of all time.
However, the relationship between Simon and Garfunkel did not last. They became unfriends, but have met a few times since.
Among other things, in front of half a million listeners at a legendary concert in Central Park in New York in 1981. This was followed by a world tour in 1993, where the duo gave 21 sold-out concerts, as well as a US tour in 2003 after receiving a joint honorary Grammy.
But for the most part, Paul Simon has since the break pursued a successful solo career with albums such as “Still Crazy after all the Years” and “Graceland”, where he added African rhythms and a whole new drive to his music. The latter has been voted one of the best albums of the 1980s.
Along the way, he has received almost every award and honor worth owning – including 16 Grammy Awards. He has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Paul Simon is the father of four children and has been married three times, most recently since 1992 to singer Edie Brickell.