Little-Known Details About Paul Simon's Private Life
Paul Simon's long and remarkable career has provided many soundtracks for America. While the industry titan is best known as half of Simon & Garfunkel, the poetic songwriter transitioned into a smash-hit solo artist after the duo broke up. There were a lot of hiccups along the road to glory, but all these years later, Paul has come forward with his wild story.
Paul's legacy is meaningless to him
Looking back on his folk-rock stardom and high-profile relationships, Paul Simon is surprisingly unsentimental. "I’m not that interested in my legacy. I didn’t do this so everyone would applaud for me when I’m dead," he told Vice in 2016.
It was some spark inside him that drove him to create music and allowed him to captivate so many people. "I didn’t do it for you, but I’m glad you like it," he added.
He was only one part of the success
It's fair to say that people did like it — and they liked it a lot. You don’t need to be a die-hard fan of his to recognize Paul Simon’s musical genius.
His 13 Grammys, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame prove it. Not to mention the sheer ubiquity of his music. But he didn’t reach that success on his own.
Moving to Queens and meeting his match
You could give part of the credit to his parents. After all, Louis and Belle Simon gave birth to him on October 13, 1941, but more importantly, they moved the family from New Jersey to Kew Gardens, Queens.
That was four years later, and it practically set their son on the future path to stardom. In Queens, Paul Simon met his classmate Art Garfunkel in the fourth grade.
A fateful meeting with Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel performed at a talent show, and Simon noted that a female classmate was impressed by guys who sang. So Simon found a new hobby! As high schoolers, Simon and Garfunkel teamed up as a singing duo.
Back then, though, they chose to call themselves Tom and Jerry. It was their attempt to distance themselves from their Jewish names. Still, the teens managed to snag a huge opportunity.
Performing on American Bandstand
At just 15 years old, the duo recorded the single “Hey Schoolgirl.” That earned them a guest spot on the popular show American Bandstand, where they were in the same lineup as Jerry Lee Lewis.
It was a major get for the young pair, and they might have expected it to lead to bigger and better things. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. At least, not right away.
The pair parted ways
The phone didn’t ring as they expected after their TV debut. And even though they recorded a whole album of songs, none of them proved as popular as "Hey Schoolgirl."
With nothing else going for them, Garfunkel opted to study art history at Columbia University. Simon studied at Queens College and worked part-time making demos in the studio with producers. This at least proved useful later on.
Simon kept on improving
Simon's side job helped him learn the ins and outs of recording work and gave him firsthand experience with the business side of the industry. The savviness Simon gained from cutting his teeth in the studio proved crucial.
It certainly helped when he reunited with Garfunkel years later. Garfunkel, on the other hand, earned a BA in art history in 1965 and an MA in mathematics education in 1967.
Simon & Garfunkel make a flop
They stuck with their real names this time, calling their band Simon & Garfunkel. Their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., had 11 tracks on it, five of which you could credit to Simon.
These included a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and an early version of “The Sound of Silence.” Unfortunately, though, their album was a flop — at first.
He fled to London and found freedom
Simon seemingly took it as a sign to go it alone and moved to Europe. He spent some of his time playing in folk clubs in England. "I had a lot of friends there and a girlfriend there," he told Rolling Stone in 1970.
"I could play music there. There was no place to play in New York City. They wouldn't have me," he added. He also found time to pen a few future hits.
One more time with feeling
But it was an already-released tune that eventually brought Simon back to the U.S. A little ditty called “The Sound of Silence” began to pick up in popularity, and then producer Tom Wilson gave it a little makeover.
In what turned out to be a brilliant move, Wilson overdubbed the track with extra instrumentation and got it released as a single. Simon was reportedly "horrified" by the new sound — but the public was not.
It catapulted them to fame
Tom evidently made the right call. The song took the top spot on the music charts! The success certainly took the pair by surprise. Simon often recalled, "Artie said to me, 'That Simon & Garfunkel, they must be having a great time,'" — as the duo sat in a car in Queens doing nothing.
But it was enough to get Simon & Garfunkel back into the studio. They recorded the albums Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme in 1966 — and then landed another major opportunity.
Here's to you, Mrs Robinson
It was in 1967 that they landed what would be the big one: Their songs would be included on the soundtrack to The Graduate. The five songs Simon & Garfunkel contributed to the film, including "Mrs. Robinson."
The tracks on the soundtrack pushed them into the mainstream. But while their music was reaching more listeners than ever, Paul and Art were at odds with each other behind the scenes.
There was no bridge over their troubled water
In 1970 Simon & Garfunkel released Bridge Over Troubled Water. The album won six Grammy Awards and gifted the world the anthemic title track. However, Simon and Garfunkel were unable to navigate the troubled waters of their collaboration.
It wasn't long before it became apparent that Paul and Art were drifting apart in their cultural preferences. For Simon, Garfunkel's focus on acting was a real point of contention.
Simon felt betrayed by Garfunkel
After Garfunkel signed on to star in the movie Carnal Knowledge, Simon was upset. "He knew how I’d feel, but he did it anyway,” Simon said in the biography Paul Simon: The Life. "Mike [Nichols, the director] told Artie he was going to be a big movie star, and Artie couldn’t say no."
Simon added, "He later told me he didn’t see why it was such a big deal to me — he would make the movie for six months, and I could write the songs for the next album. Then we could get together and record them."
Simon was not happy
“I thought, ‘F you, I’m not going to do that,'" Simon continued. "And the truth is, I think if Artie had become a big movie star he would have left." So the end was in sight.
Simon continued, "Instead of just being the guy who sang Paul Simon songs, he could be Art Garfunkel, a big star all by himself… This made me think about how I could still be the guy who wrote songs and sing them. I didn’t need Artie."
Garfunkel claimed it was over before it even began
Garfunkel has had his say in the matter, too. In his 2017 memoir, What Is It All But Luminous, Notes from an Underground Man, Garfunkel wrote the friendship was actually over long before the pair became famous.
It all went back to a moment in 1958 when Simon released a solo single, seemingly without Garfunkel's knowledge. That's when, according to Garfunkel, he concluded that Simon was "base."
"I got the girls"
"Boy's love is a beautiful thing. I loved my turned-on friend," wrote Garfunkel, adding, "He's base, I concluded in an eighth of a second, and the friendship was shattered for life... But I never forget and I never really forgive – just collect the data and speckle the picture."
He continued, "Take the blows. Call it the Inequality of Love. Eight years later, we were world-famous. You will love your crooked neighbor with your crooked heart." The final jab was: "Paul won the writer's royalties. I got the girls."
Simon starts going it alone
After the break-up in 1970, Simon returned to solo recording, releasing his hit "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” in 1972. And while some people may have been skeptical about his ability to have a hit without his former partner, he proved the naysayers wrong.
His 1972 album, Paul Simon, was a critical and commercial success, and so was his 1973 follow-up, There Goes Rhymin' Simon. He trudged forward toward success, not looking back. He also began to make headlines for his non-musical relationships.
The many loves he lost and gained
He found his first muse in a little-known English woman named Kathleen Chitty in 1964. Though they were desperately in love, Kathy was shy and couldn't stand the publicity of dating a star.
She was also only a teenager when they started dating. Luckily for her, the couple split before he made it really big, though not before she inspired "Kathy's Song" and "America."
Flourishing in his personal and professional lives
But the '70s seemed like they would be better for Simon, both professionally and personally. He married his first wife, Peggy Harper, in 1969, and the pair had a son called Harper Simon in 1972.
Simon also established his cool-guy status with an appearance in the film Annie Hall and wrote, starred in, and recorded the music for his own film One-Trick Pony. But his marriage to Peggy Harper didn't last, and the pair divorced in 1975.
He wasn't ready for marriage
In the 2018 book Paul Simon: The Life, Simon said, "Ultimately, I wasn't ready for marriage. The marriage didn't solve the loneliness. I knew right away I had made a mistake."
"I didn't know how to be a good companion. I wasn't a very mature person. I didn't understand you had to work at problems. I wanted the marriage to solve my problems," he continued.
Shelley Duvall was next in line
Simon turned to this sad event as the inspiration for the songs "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Train in the Distance." Fans noted that his music sounded darker, too. But Simon didn't stay single for very long.
Around the time of the divorce, Simon started dating the movie star Shelley Duvall. Things were going swimmingly until Duvall introduced him to a good friend of hers: Carrie Fisher.
Simon and Fisher had an indescribable connection
"Years ago there were tribes that roamed the earth, and every tribe had a magic person," Carrie explained in her 2008 memoir, Wishful Drinking. It might seem like a strange metaphor — but she had a point to make.
She continued, "Well, now, as you know, all the tribes have dispersed, but every so often you meet a magic person, and every so often, you meet someone from your tribe. Which is how I felt when I met Paul Simon."
It was infatuation at first sight
"Once they saw each other, no one else mattered to either of them," author Peter Ames Carlin wrote in Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon. "Carrie added velocity to [Paul’s] life... and sometimes made him scream."
Fisher agreed. "We once had a fight (on our honeymoon) where I said, 'Not only do I not like you, I don’t like you personally!'" Carrie wrote in Wishful Drinking. "We tried to keep the argument going after that but we were laughing too hard."
They tried to make it work
While laughter helped Simon and Fisher work through some of their disagreements, it wasn't enough to sustain a marriage. The couple divorced in 1984 after just 11 months but got back together a year later.
"There had always been something perfect about them when they were getting along," Carlin noted in Homeward Bound, adding. "And he loved her, with a desperation that could frighten him."
What could've been
"I’m not good at relationships," Carrie explained to Rolling Stone in 2016. "I’m not cooperative enough. I couldn’t give [Simon] the peace that he needed. Also, it’s interesting when you are with another celebrity."
She continued, "The issue of celebrity becomes neutralized and you can get onto your bigger problems… It’s all a shame because he and I were very good together in ways that were good."
Simon channeled the heartbreak into his music
Naturally, the trials and tribulations of the relationship provided plenty of songwriting material for Simon. The prolific singer-songwriter referenced Fisher in the songs "Hearts and Bones," "Graceland," and "She Moves On."
Yet while Simon was more than open about the 12 years they spent together in his music, he very rarely talked about Fisher in public. He described her as "a special, wonderful girl" after her death in 2016.
One epic reunion with Art
Simon's professional success entered a kind of slump in the early 1980s, too. His album from One-Trick Pony did not sell as well as previous records, and Hearts and Bones in 1983 was similarly unsuccessful.
His only big sales triumph came when he reunited with Garfunkel for one epic show in 1981. They played in Central Park to a crowd of 500,000 people. The concert album was a hit, too, and the pair went on tour together.
Creating a new sound
Simon & Garfunkel had planned on recording a new album together, too — but creative differences soon drove a wedge between them. Simon told Playboy in 1984 that the songs on Hearts and Bones were "too much about [his] life to have anybody else sing them."
So Garfunkel bowed out of the partnership, and Simon flew solo again. Then, in 1985, he collaborated with South African musicians to create a unique sound... that wasn't well received.
A new direction and a new era
The album Graceland was controversial due to the political unrest that swept across South Africa, where Simon recorded it. He was even briefly placed on the United Nations blacklist. But the album became a massive bestseller, winning the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1987.
"I would say sorry if I was wrong, if I made a mistake," Simon told Vice in 2014. "But if you tell me, ‘You took our culture,’ I would say, ‘It looks like it’s still there. Where did I take it? What did you lose? What happened?’ Nothing."
He couldn't stay close to Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel made sporadic appearances together over the next 20 years. There were reunion performances in 1993, 2003, 2009, and 2010 — but the once-close friends have never been able to stay together for long.
It seems that a lifetime of interactions has proved too much to overcome. Simon has, for example, spoken about how Garfunkel would often tease him about his height — and that it proved too much for him.
"I'll always be taller than you"
In 2018 Robert Hilburn's book Paul Simon: The Life was released with new details of the pair's relationship. In it, Simon said, "I remember during a photo session Artie said: 'No matter what happens, I'll always be taller than you.'"
"Did that hurt?" Simon asked. "I guess it hurt enough for me to remember 60 years later." Simon is 5-foot-3; Garfunkel is 5-foot-9. This was seemingly a constant problem for Simon.
A source of envy
Simon said, "It came up all the time. There is a prejudice against small men and that has been a problem at times because I happen to be a sort of alpha male-ish type guy. It becomes a competitive thing."
"There's this attitude that 'I'm taller, so I could beat you up, or I should be in charge.' Simon said fans would think that Garfunkel was the songwriter because he "looks like he writes the songs."
Getting over himself
Simon would reveal that it took a long time for him to get over his height issue. He was already in his 40s, when he told himself, "Listen, man, if you're going to make a big issue out of what you don't have, you're taking your actual gifts for granted..."
"That's the hand I've been dealt with," he said. "That's the way I'm going to play it." But while Simon may have improved his own feelings, his relationship with Garfunkel seemingly never got better.
The pits
According to Paul Simon: The Life, their relationship was at its worst during their reunion tour in 1993. Joseph Rascoff, Simon's business manager, claimed that he had to break up some arguments for fear of things getting out of hand.
He said, "I genuinely believed that if there had been a knife on the table, one of them would have used it." Garfunkel apparently tried to make Simon feel embarrassed on stage, too.
An ugly fight
The book claimed that Garfunkel blamed Simon for a bad review in the press. And on one night, Garfunkel supposedly stopped singing in the middle of a song. "I didn't forget," Garfunkel reportedly told Simon afterward.
"I just wanted you to see what it feels like to be made a fool of," Garfunkel taunted. Simon said the resulting fight was "ugly — the most vicious fight, verbally at least, [he'd] had in [his] life."
Simon settled down with Edie
These days, after so many broken hearts, Simon has seemingly found his romantic and musical match in singer-songwriter Edie Brickell. The pair married in 1992 and have three children together.
And 2023 seems like it is going to be a big year for Simon. He has revealed a shocking health update to his fans — and that he'll release a new life-spanning documentary.
A troubling health issue
In September 2023 Simon the world premiere of In Restless Dreams: the Music of Paul Simon at the Toronto International Film Festival. Despite the strikes affecting Hollywood at that time, Simon was able to promote the documentary.
He told the press at a Q&A that he is "beginning to" get used to the idea of losing all of hearing in his left ear. Even though this will obviously impact any future live performances of his music.
He still plays guitar
"I play the guitar every day," the songwriter said. "It’s the instrument that allows me to express myself creatively. But it’s also where I go for solace. If I’m feeling… ‘whatever.’"
"So it’s a very crucial thing to me," he continued. "You know, something happens to you when you have some sort of disability that changes your awareness or changes how you interact with life."
Still working
Despite turning 81 in 2023 and struggling with his new condition, Simon still found time to produce new music. The album Seven Psalms came out in May 2023 and received widespread acclaim.
The musician said, "Looking over my career, my cycle of creativity is pretty constant and comes about every three years. I suppose you could say if it comes to me in a dream that’s pretty special, but it’s just my brain working."
Paul Simon and Carole Klein
And it seems like this is always how Simon's brain worked. Even back before Simon & Garfunkel were Simon & Garfunkel, Simon was still trying to break onto the music scene.
And even when he wasn't writing music for Garfunkel to sing, he was still writing music. At one point, it was with a fellow Queens College student named Carole Klein — soon to become better known as Carole King!
King and Simon recorded lots of demos together
Simon once told Life magazine, “Carole King and I made a lot of demos: Carole Klein, from Brooklyn. She'd play piano and drums, I could play bass and guitar, and we sang all the parts.”
“That's where I learned how to stack voices and do overdubs — how to make records,” he said. He also told Rolling Stone magazine, “The game was to make a demo at demo prices and then sell it to a record company.”
Chasing profit
“Maybe you'd wind up investing $300 for musicians and studio time, but if you did something really good, you could get as much as $1,000 for it,” explained the “Bridge Over Troubled Water” singer.
“I was never interested in being in groups, I was only after that $700 profit,” he said. Unfortunately for Simon, King’s songwriting in the Brill Building —completely separate from him — soon took off like a rocket.
King co-writes a number-one hit
In December 1960 “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles shot to the top of the charts. It had been co-written by King and her husband at the time Gerry Goffin.
It did extremely well for the duo. As Simon admitted, “One moment we were making demos; the next she was making $150,000 a year writing number-one hits. It was very demoralizing to me.”
King writes some of the most iconic pop songs of the ‘60s
The list of iconic hits written by King and Goffin in the ‘60s is truly stunning. They penned “The Loco-Motion” for Little Eva, “One Fine Day” for The Chiffons, “Up On The Roof” for The Drifters, and “Take Good Care Of My Baby” for Bobby Vee.
As if that weren't enough, it all built to perhaps their crowning achievement in songwriting for hire: “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” sung so memorably by Aretha Franklin.
“I knew it had to be gospel”
Of the song, King told Performing Songwriter, “I think I wrote the music first, and I knew it had to be gospel. I knew it had to have that feel.”
She added, “I always admire that Gerry could really get inside the head of a woman and write a lyric like, ‘You make me feel like a natural woman’ or, ‘Will you love me tomorrow,’ which is such a teenage girl’s lyric. That was really fun.”
King reinvents herself as a singer-songwriter
By the time 1968 rolled around, though, King and Goffin were divorced, and she was living in Los Angeles. It was at this point that she made the choice to stop giving her songs away to other artists and instead sing them herself.
In truth, a focus on singer-songwriters was simply where the industry was heading. It coincided with the demise of the Brill Building method and the rise of the stars we now most associate with the period.
The times, they are a-changin’
Ellie Greenwich, who worked in the Brill at the same time as King, told The Guardian that the rapid social changes occurring in America in the late ‘60s made that songwriting style fall out of fashion.
She reflected, “I think, with the loss of innocence, the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, and all that happening, people got very cynical and very bitter. And, of course, a lot of the music reflected that.”
King’s first album flops
King’s songwriting, which had always been more personal and in tune with genuine raw emotion, left her perfectly positioned to capture people’s hearts as a solo artist. However, it wasn't an easy road.
In 1970 her first album — fittingly entitled Writer — was released, but it failed to set the world alight. The next year she followed it up with Tapestry, though, and her career changed forever.
Tapestry is a stratospheric success
Buoyed by the number-one hit single “It’s Too Late,” Tapestry hit the top of the Billboard album chart and stayed there for 15 weeks. It went on to sell 30 million copies all over the world
It also stayed on the Billboard chart for a mind-boggling six years. At the following year’s Grammy Awards, King won Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance.
Fame is a double-edged sword
King was used to other people getting attention as a result of her songs, not being in the spotlight herself. Suddenly being famous took her by surprise: she didn’t even attend the Grammys, instead choosing to stay at home with her baby daughter.
In her memoir A Natural Woman, she explained, “With Tapestry now a multi-platinum-selling album that had wildly exceeded my teenage dreams, I didn’t know what to do with my success.”
Avoiding celebrity at all costs
“I didn’t want the problems that came with being famous, and I didn’t want my private life to be public,” continued King. “I just wanted to do what I’d been doing as a wife and mother before the success of Tapestry.”
Indeed, this would be indicative of how King would operate going forward; rarely conducting interviews, she never embraced the celebrity lifestyle. Perhaps you can take the girl out of the cubicle, but you can’t take the cubicle out of the girl!