Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel have shared a notoriously rocky relationship, but the legendary folk rock duo is trying to build its own bridge over troubled waters.
Simon and Garfunkel, both 83, recently met for dinner, marking the first time in years the two have spent time together. Garfunkel opened up about that evening on the Wednesday, December 11, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark.
“I know we met up recently for the first time in years,” Garfunkel said. “We had a period of estrangement for some years until — he has a son that moved into the place that I live in and I knew I was going to run into Harper [Simon] and Harper set up a dinner and Paul and I hung out, first time in years. And it was very touching.”
Simon and Garfunkel broke up in 1970 after releasing five studio albums together and writing hits like “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which remain popular today.
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The pair reunited several times in the years since, including a 1981 Central Park reunion concert that drew more than 500,000 people. They tried touring together after that, but their contentious relationship resulted in them not speaking for the majority of their run.
Their most recent performance together came in 2010 at the American Film Institute’s tribute to Mike Nichols, where they performed “Mrs. Robinson.”
Garfunkel also talked about their recent dinner reunion in a November 17 story for The Times, where he acknowledged part of the reason for the rift.
“First time we’d been together in many years,” he said. “I looked at Paul and said, ‘What happened? Why haven’t we seen each other?’ Paul mentioned an old interview where I said some stuff. I cried when he told me how much I had hurt him.”
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Simon shared his thoughts in the 2023 documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon. He pointed to Garfunkel’s role in the 1970 movie Catch-22 as the turning point in their relationship.
“Artie said, ‘Yeah, the way it’s going to be is that I will do movies for six months, then I’ll come back, you’ll have written the songs, and we will do the album,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah? Actually, no. That’s not gonna happen. I am not gonna do that,’” Simon recalled.
While Garfunkel told The Times he’s unsure if the duo would ever perform together again, he did reveal that they have made plans to meet up one more time. For him, he said it was about making “amends before it’s too late.”
“As I think about it now, tears are rolling down my cheeks,” he said. “I can still feel his hug.”
