Simon & Garfunkel’s future looks promising, according to Art Garfunkel.
The singer, 83, confessed in an interview with The Times that he recently had a sad reunion with his longtime musical colleague, Paul Simon, also 83.
While promoting his new Garfunkel & Garfunkel album Father and Son with his son Art Garfunkel Jr., 33, the eight-time Grammy winner said that he spoke with Simon “a couple of weeks back.”
“It was the first time we’d been together in many years,” Garfunkel said in the interview. “I turned to Paul and asked, ‘What happened?'” Why haven’t we seen each other? Paul referred to a previous interview in which I expressed specific views.
The “Bright Eyes” singer proceeded to express his sadness about their quarrel. “I cried when he told me how much I had hurt him,” he said. “Looking back, I suppose I wanted to shake up Simon & Garfunkel’s nice guy image. “You know what? “I was a fool.”
Garfunkel claimed that the two “made plans to meet again” and hinted that they may explore their musical legacy, albeit that is not his top concern. Will Paul bring his guitar? Who knows. “I wanted to make amends before it was too late,” the singer explained. “It felt like we were back in a great location.” Tears stream down my cheeks as I reflect on it. “I still feel his hug.”
Garfunkel and Simon recorded five studio albums between 1964 and 1970. They disbanded upon the release of their final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water. They eventually rejoined while pursuing their respective music careers.
In 1981, the pair reunited for a benefit concert in Central Park, which resulted in the publication of an album and concert film.
In the 2024 documentary Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, Simon discussed the events that led to their split.
“We were really best friends up until Bridge over Troubled Water,” Simon remarked of his former bandmate and pal from elementary school. After the breakup, the friendship lost its harmony.
Simon expected Garfunkel to continue his music career when he cast him in the film Catch-22. “Artie said, ‘Yeah, the way it’s going to be is that I’ll do movies for six months, then I’ll come back, you’ll have written the songs, and we’ll record the album,'” Simon said. Actually, no. That won’t happen.” I’m not going to do that,” Simon recalled.
In an exclusive conversation with people, Simon described their Central Park reunion as “a luxurious bandage.”
“We never repaired the breakup that occurred after Catch-22,” he told me. “We simply applied a bandage to it.” However, the lavish nature of the bandage—the Central Park concert—made us forget we had completed our task as a team.”
Garfunkel’s son also told The Times about his father’s recent reunion with Simon, stating, “They’ve had their ups and downs over the years, but after the encounter, Dad was overjoyed. He called and said, ‘Paul’s my brother; he’s related.'”
Regarding their future as a musical duo, Garfunkel Jr. expressed his belief that they could potentially collaborate musically. I’m speaking hypothetically here, but consider a large television/charity event. And with some support from their colleagues in the music industry, they may be able to create some new work.” A new generation is discovering the beautiful music they create together.”
Garfunkel and Garfunkel’s latest album, Father and Son, is available now.