Jania Ashlynn
The singer shared the news of his hearing loss during an interview with The Times. He isn’t sure of its cause.
Videos by Rare
Medical Hurdles
“Quite suddenly I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it,” he shared. “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.”
Simon, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician, experienced hearing loss while recording his new album Seven Psalms, which was released last week. He had hoped that his hearing would recover, but unfortunately it has not. He now feels that it will influence his concerts, as he will be able to avoid playing songs that he doesn’t like.
“The songs of mine that I don’t want to sing live, I don’t sing them,” he added. “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.'”
All In Time
Simon admitted that, due to aging, it may not be possible for him to go on tour again. This was made more poignant to him by the recent deaths of fellow musicians Gordon Lightfoot and Jeff Beck.
“My generation’s time is up,” he stated.
Simon said he is doing well, even though he has hearing loss and is still recovering from COVID. He is not ready to leave yet.
“Boy, have I been beaten up in these last couple of years,” he added. “But I look good, right?”
