September 26, 2018

On Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Paul Simon ended his final tour with a concert at Flushing Meadows Corona Park near his boyhood home in Queens, a borough of New York City. Simon is retiring from touring, but denies he will stop making music or the occasional live appearance. The farewell concert, titled “Homeward Bound—the Final Performance,” featured a 26-song set and an appearance by his wife, singer Edie Brickell. Simon, who will turn 77 in October, made little mention of his former singing partner, Art Garfunkel, with whom he formed one of the most popular folk-rock groups of the 1960′s. Simon has had a successful solo career since the 1970′s.

Paul Simon, left, teamed with his childhood friend Art Garfunkel, right, to form Simon and Garfunkel, one of the most popular folk-rock groups of the 1960′s. Simon ended his final concert tour with a show in New York City on Sept. 22, 2018. Credit: © Pictorial Press/Alamy Images

Simon and Garfunkel first billed themselves as Tom and Jerry, and in 1957 recorded a minor hit titled “Hey, Schoolgirl” while they were still in high school. Simon and Garfunkel made their popular breakthrough in 1965 with the success of the folk-rock version of their song “The Sounds of Silence.” Simon wrote almost all their material, including the hits “Mrs. Robinson” (1968) and “Bridge over Troubled Water” (1970).

Simon and Garfunkel separated in 1970. Simon’s major solo success of the 1970′s was the album Still Crazy After All These Years (1975). Simon reunited with Garfunkel in 1981 for a concert in New York City’s Central Park. It was recorded as an album and inspired a reunion tour. In 1986, Simon released the acclaimed album Graceland, which he made with black South African musicians. In the 1990′s, he turned to Brazilian music for inspiration. In 2011, Simon released the album So Beautiful or So What. Simon wrote the music for the Broadway show The Capeman (1998). Simon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with Art Garfunkel and in 2001 as an individual performer. Paul Frederic Simon was born on Oct. 13, 1941, in Newark, New Jersey.