- Born
- Birth namePaul Frederic Simon
- Nicknames
- Jerry Landis
- Tico
- Tico and the Triumphs
- Tom and Jerry
- True Taylor
- Paul Kane
- Bobby Susser
- The Mystics
- Height5′ 2″ (1.57 m)
- Born on October 13, 1941, in Newark New Jersey, Paul Simon is one of the greatest singer/songwriters ever. In 1957, he and high school pal, Art Garfunkel, wrote and recorded the single, "Hey Schoolgirl", under the name "Tom and Jerry". After some failures, they broke up. Simon still wrote and recorded music as "Tico and The Triumphs" and "Jerry Landis". He also attended Queens College and got a B.A. in English. He also studied law but quit to pursue a music career in 1964.
He and Art Garfunkel got back together as Simon & Garfunkel and recorded "Wednesday Morning 3 a.m.". After the commercial failure of the album, they broke up again. Simon left America to go to England, where he played in folk circuits and he made a solo album. Back in America, the producer of their first album, Tom Wilson, dubbed bass, electric guitar, and drums to the all-acoustic song, "Sound of Silence", which propelled them into the folk-rock scene. Simon & Garfunkel were back and, in 1966, they had popularity with the album, "The Sound of Silence", which features songs such as "I am a Rock", "Richard Cory" and "Kathy's Song". Their next album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme", had songs such as "Homeward Bound" "The 59th Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".
In 1967, Mike Nichols asked Simon to write a score for his upcoming movie, The Graduate (1967). Their next album, "Bookends", which is considered one of the greatest albums of the sixties, featured songs such as "Mrs. Robinson" from The Graduate (1967), "Hazy Shade of Winter", "At The Zoo", "America". Their last album, "Bridge Over Troubled Water", featured songs such as the title song, "The Boxer", "Cecilia".
In the seventies, Simon emerged as a singer/songwriter with albums such as "Paul Simon", Still Crazy After All These Years", "Hearts and Bones", "Graceland", and "Songs from the Capeman". Aside from music, he wrote and starred in the movie, One-Trick Pony (1980), and reunited with friend, Art Garfunkel, in 1981, to give a concert in Central Park.
- IMDb mini biography by: Paul Abb
- SpousesEdie Brickell(May 30, 1992 - present) (3 children)Carrie Fisher(August 16, 1983 - July 1984) (divorced)Peggy Harper(May 24, 1970 - 1975) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenGabeAdrianLulu
- His melodic and literate songwriting
- His diminutive stature
- His sweet singing voice
- One of the few artists from his generation to own all the songs he's written.
- Even after their divorce in 1983, he and Carrie Fisher continued to date for eight more years before finally breaking up in 1991.
- Is left-handed, but plays guitar right-handed.
- After his breakup with Carrie Fisher, he was depressed for two years. In 1985, his comeback album "Graceland" included songs about her.
- Attended a recording session in 1974 with Art Garfunkel, former The Beatles John Lennon, and singer Harry Nilsson. Lennon directed the session, and he and Simon reportedly clashed on Simon's cue in the song, leading to Simon's walking out (with Garfunkel close behind, making apologies) before anything was recorded.
- The public hungers to see talented young people kill themselves.
- I don't see much truth in laurels, period. The forces of habit make you go on. There's an internal engine that's been running since I was 14; I keep an ear out to see if it's still purring and it is. It chronically purrs. Music making is who you are and it doesn't go away. If you love to play music, you're lucky.
- Dylan [Bob Dylan] frequently reinvents himself, and at a very sophisticated level. Nobody ever did it better. That's his real genius. He's still interesting. "Love and Theft" is a fascinating record.
- Brian Wilson is a couple of years younger than I am--but not many--and his stuff is still interesting. The same goes for Tom Waits. There are other people doing interesting work, but the people doing it aren't coming from the same history of enormous popular success that I've had. There's a certain expectation that I'm going to reach the level I was at back when I was enormously successful. That may be impossible to do at this point.
- If a song lives for a couple of years, it's a pretty good thing.
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