Paul Simon’s hearing is coming back, he says.
In 2023, the singer-songwriter spoke openly about losing nearly all of the hearing in his left ear, rendering him unable to perform live.
“Nobody has an explanation for it,” he said then. “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.”
READ MORE: Paul Simon’s ‘Rhymin’ Simon’ Was Defined by In-the-Moment Genius
Now, he says, he’s regained at least some of it.
“That’s come back to enough of a degree that I’m comfortable singing and playing guitar and playing a few other instruments,” he said recently at the New York premiere of the docuseries In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (via People). “I can hear my voice the way I want it in the context of the music. If there’s a drum or an electric guitar, it’s too loud and I can’t hear my voice. But when I first lost the hearing, I couldn’t get, it threw me off. Everything was coming from this side.”
Paul Simon, Docuseries Subject
The first part of In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon will debut on March 17, followed by the second on March 24. The film works its way through Simon’s multi-decade career, highlighting milestones like his 1981 Central Park concert with Art Garfunkel, the making of 1986’s Graceland and his most recent release, 2023’s Seven Psalms.
“It’s not an information drop,” director Alex Gibney told USA Today. “It’s an emotional experience; of the moment, but full of memory.”
Watch the Trailer for ‘In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon’
Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel Albums Ranked
He was always an uneasy folksinger, a role his record company tried to push him into starting with Simon & Garfunkel’s debut.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
