Showbiz holds no interest for me... Paul Simon is ready to retire at 74
HE has had a long, distinguished career writing some of the most memorable songs of the past half century, but Paul Simon has had enough of the music industry.
Announcing yesterday that his career is ‘coming towards the end’, the 74-year- old singer- songwriter behind hits such as The Sound of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water said: ‘Showbiz doesn’t hold any interest for me – none.
‘It’s an act of courage to let go. I am going to see what happens if I let go. Then I’m going to see, who am I? Or am I just this person that was defined by what I did?’
In the years since he launched his career with his friend Art Garfunkel at the age of 15, he has seen a number of high-profile fellow artists fall victim to fame.
‘I’ve seen fame turn into absolute poison when I was a kid in the Sixties,’ Simon told The New York Times. ‘It killed (Elvis) Presley. It killed (John) Lennon. It killed Michael Jackson.
‘I’ve never known anyone to have gotten an enormous amount of fame who wasn’t, at a minimum, confused by it and had a very hard time making decisions.’
Earlier this month, Simon’s latest album Stranger to Stranger debuted at No 1 in the UK Albums Chart, selling 19,218 copies in its first week. This made him the oldest male solo artist ever to chart at No 1.
But the singer confessed to being mystified by his success. ‘All of a sudden you’re there, and you’re surprised,’ he said.
He revealed that his European tour this autumn is likely to be his last. After that, he wants to quit music and travel with his musician wife Edie Brickell, 50.
‘I don’t have any fear of it,’ he said of retirement.
Simon admitted that he struggles to write songs but remembers the ‘special’ moments when his creativity blossomed.
‘I was 21, maybe 22, when I wrote The Sound of Silence, which seems
‘I’ve seen fame turn into poison’
to me like quite a big jump from where I was before that,’ he said.
‘I thought the same thing when I wrote Bridge Over Troubled Water – whoa, that song is better than what I’ve been doing. Different chords… something special.’
Simon, who is coming to the end of a US tour, said he now requires 15 hours of sleep a day, his voice needs frequent rest and his eyesight is deteriorating.
Reflecting on the challenges of his advancing age, he told how he looked out from the stage during a recent concert and was surprised to see four mountains on the horizon. It was only when he put on his glasses that he realised they were actually big white tents.
Simon moved to England briefly in 1964, playing as a solo artist in clubs in London and Brentwood, Essex, before returning to New York, where the duo Simon and Garfunkel took off. They split in 1970 and they remain estranged, although they have reunited for a few performances. Simon went on to write his hit 1986 album Graceland, which drew on South African musical influences, revived his career and won a Grammy for Album of the Year.