Paul Simon turns 85 – from “The Sounds of Silence” to a late return to the stage
The Queens-raised songwriter shaped pop history with Simon & Garfunkel and “Graceland”. After saying farewell in 2018 he returned despite hearing loss – including Berlin in 2026.
Archive image · Photo: Matthew Straubmuller (imatty35) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
U.S. songwriter Paul Simon turns 85 on Tuesday; he was born on Oct. 13, 1941, in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in Queens. With Art Garfunkel he reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts in September 1965 with “The Sounds of Silence”, followed by albums such as “Bookends” (1968) and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. “Mrs. Robinson”, from the film “The Graduate”, also became a classic.
As a solo artist Simon released records including “Still Crazy After All These Years” (1975) and “Graceland” (1986). His late-career album “Seven Psalms” (2023) grew out of a dream in January 2019, according to Rolling Stone; his wife Edie Brickell sings on the closing track.
In 2018 Simon announced his retirement from the stage, partly because of hearing loss. He made a surprise return last year; new technology lets him hear himself again, Rolling Stone reported. His “A Quiet Celebration Tour” included two concerts in Berlin in April 2026.