Paul Simon

American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, born in 1941 in Newark and raised in Queens, New York, first rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as half of the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, for which he wrote most of the songs, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1970s. Paul Simon’s music blends folk, pop, and rock with intimate songwriting, paying particular attention to storytelling and everyday detail, and gradually opens up to rhythms and harmonies from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. His first significant solo album, Paul Simon (1972), followed by There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973) and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), established a writing style that ranges from acoustic ballads to soul arrangements and gospel influences. With Graceland (1986), recorded in part with South African musicians, and The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), shaped by Brazilian percussion and players, Simon deepened his exploration of cross-cultural musical exchange. He also composed for film with One-Trick Pony (1980) and for the stage with the musical The Capeman (1997). The albums You’re the One (2000), Surprise (2006), So Beautiful or So What (2011), Stranger to Stranger (2016), In the Blue Light (2018), and Seven Psalms (2023) continue this trajectory, in which Simon explores forms both melodic and experimental, from intimate folk songs to more orchestrated compositions.