Paul Simon Biography

Paul Simon won more than a dozen Grammy awards from the 1960s through the 1980s, and is considered one of the best pop songwriters of his generation.

In the 1960s he became famous as half of Simon & Garfunkel, the folk rock duo he created with childhood friend Art Garfunkel. On the strength of Simon’s songwriting and Garfunkel’s harmonies they became international superstars, beginning with “The Sound of Silence,” a number one hit in 1965. Until they broke up in 1970, Simon & Garfunkel cranked out hit songs such as “The Boxer,” “Mrs. Robinson” (from the Dustin Hoffman film The Graduate) and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

Paul Simon then pursued a solo career that produced hit songs like “Kodachrome,” “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” and “Still Crazy After All These Years.” He changed his sound in the 1980s, and his African-influenced album Graceland (1986) was a popular and critical success that kept him on the charts. His albums since then include The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), Songs From the Capeman (1997), Surprise (1986, with producer Brian Eno), So Beautiful Or So What (2011) and Stranger to Stranger (2016).

His occasional reunions with Art Garfunkel included The Concert in Central Park, a 1981 live concert that drew an audience of 500,000 people. Simon has made many appearances on Saturday Night Live and also dabbled in film: he wrote and starred in the 1980 film One Trick Pony and had a small role in Woody Allen‘s Oscar-winning 1977 film Annie Hall. His musical The Capeman ran for 68 performances on Broadway in 1998.

Paul Simon was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of Simon & Garfunkel in 1990 and as a solo act in 2001.