ART GARFUNKEL
THE LEGENDARY SINGER REVEALS HOW HE LOST HIS VOICE — AND GOT IT BACK
How the legendary singer lost his voice — and found it again.
Imagine you’re Art Garfunkel, who’s made a life and career of singing soaring melodies — such as “Bridge Over Troubled Water” — with a heart-melting tenor voice. Now imagine waking to find your voice is gone. “I had come off an arena tour with Pauly [Simon, in 2010],” says Art, who joined the ranks of music legends as Simon & Garfunkel. “A month later my voice went south. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t sing. It was all froggy.”
That moment was “tragic,” says the 76-yearold. His doctor told him two of his vocal chords were “fat” and “stiff,” and it would be a long road to regain his ability. “I was determined to not accept it’s gone,” he shares. “I don’t know how to be an Art Garfunkel that doesn’t sing!”
As he reveals in his new memoir, What Is It All but Luminous, Art first discovered he could sing at 5. “It delighted me,” he says. A few years later, “at age 11, I met this guy, Paul Simon. We fused our talents.” The rest has been music history — admittedly some of it rocky. He and Paul, 76, are currently not talking, but while he declines to elaborate, Art is hopeful they’ll patch things up. “It might [get better],” he says.
The grueling process of retraining his voice “took years,” he says. But he never gave up. “It was terrible. I would book an [empty] hall and sing. No voice. I would fall to my knees and look up at
God and say, ‘Oh, man, this is tough.’” Eventually, he began singing to audiences again. “There were some shows where my voice crapped out,” he admits. But he felt the love and support around him, including from his wife, Kathryn Cermack.
The lifelong perfectionist learned to adapt. “If you pretend that you are recovered and go onstage and do your best, you pull your recovery along,” he says. “By 2014 I was singing again.” And he’s now doing a solo tour. “Boy, this is exciting,” he says. “I’m captivated by my new show. I love it so much!”
— Lisa Chambers
“I was dedicated to my own recovery.”
— Art