Paul Simon reveals he’s losing his hearing amid health concerns
With Simon & Garfunkel and his solo output, Paul Simon has established himself as one of the most revered songwriters in history. However, he has now revealed that his craft is being hindered by his recent hearing loss.
Reflecting on his ailing health, the 82-year-old musician conceded “boy, have I been beaten up in these last couple of years,” as he recovers from a bad bout of Covid-19. However, his main health concern is the sudden loss of hearing in one ear.
While working on new material, Simon explains that the project was rocked by a life-changing moment. “Quite suddenly I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it,” he told The Sunday Times.
This also derailed his new-found passion for writing again. “So everything became more difficult. My reaction to that was frustration and annoyance; not quite anger yet, because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself.”
However, the problem has sustained now for months and it makes the prospect of a live return for Simon very unlikely. Reflecting on this, Simon said: “The songs of mine that I don’t want to sing live, I don’t sing them.”
Continuing: “Sometimes there are songs that I like and then at a certain point in a tour, I’ll say, ‘What the f*** are you doing, Paul?’ Quite often that would come during You Can Call Me Al. I’d think, ‘What are you doing? You’re like a Paul Simon cover band. You should get off the road, go home.”
So, while Simon might not be taking to the road any time soon, we can expect some new songs from him with his new album Seven Psalms on the way. And despite his health issues, he still remains upbeat and comments, “But I look good, right?”
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