Paul Simon Hopes to Play a Full Concert

Paul Simon may have retired from touring, but playing live generally is not off the table.

“I’m hoping to eventually be able to do a full-length concert,” he recently told The Guardian. “I’m optimistic. Six months ago I was pessimistic.”

Six years ago, the singer-songwriter announced his retirement from the road and has since spoken about struggling with hearing loss — at one point, he noted that he had lost nearly all hearing in his left ear, a reality that made playing live difficult.

Retired From the Road, Not From Music

Last month, he made a brief appearance at the SoHo Sessions loft in New York City, performing seven songs for around 150 people. Speaking with The Guardian, Simon clarified that his 2018 announcement was never intended to spell the end of his career.

“I never said I was going to retire,” he said. “I said I was going to stop, which I did. I thought that with that band and the repertoire we were doing we’d developed it as far as we could. It was enjoyable, but I wanted to find out what happens when you stop. Then I had a dream, and everything changed back to a new version of reality.”

That dream led to the creation of his most recent album, 2023’s Seven Psalms. It was during this time that Simon’s hearing loss worsened.

“It was scary, frustrating,” he explained. “You’re in denial and then you’re overwhelmed by this change in your life because you now have a disability. But even though it wasn’t pleasurable any more, I started to think that this was some new information that I needed to absorb into the piece. I started to focus on sounds, not from computers or synthesizers, but acoustic instruments used in unusual ways.”

READ MORE: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Paul Simon

Not only is Simon thinking about more performing, he’s also written two entirely new songs.

“One of them, a duet with Edie, is different from anything I’ve written. I might just put it out into the ether, see where it goes,” he said, referring to his wife and sometimes creative collaborator Edie Brickell. “I’m interested in relearning how to write songs, like I did in England, and developing new acoustic sounds. Maybe I’m something of a lone wolf in that respect. But I’m kinda interested in the conclusion of where my thinking in music finally ends up.”