Paul Simon Biography 2026: Age, Height, Wife Edie Brickell, Graceland, Net Worth & Tour Updates

Paul Simon is an American singer-songwriter widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the past half-century, whose catalog – from The Sound of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water to Graceland – has shaped popular music for more than sixty years. In 2026 Simon is once again the center of attention: he celebrated his 85th birthday on October 13, 2026, extended his touring year despite severe hearing loss, and sat down for a major CBS News interview on September 22, 2026, in which he spoke candidly about performing again, telling the network, “I haven’t given up hope.”

This Paul Simon biography covers his age, height, family life, legendary career, net worth, and the latest 2026 updates, including his return to the stage at 84 after what he calls losing about “6 percent” of the hearing in his left ear.

Quick Facts

Full Name	Paul Frederic Simon
Nick Name	Paul, Jerry Landis (songwriting pseudonym)
Profession	Singer-Songwriter, Musician, Producer, Actor
Birth Date	October 13, 1941
Age	85 years old
Birth Place	Newark, New Jersey, USA
Nationality	American
Known For	Simon & Garfunkel, Graceland, The Sound of Silence, Bridge Over Troubled Water
Ethnicity	Jewish (Ashkenazi descent)
Zodiac Sign	Libra
Height & Weight	approx. 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm), approx. 70 kg (154 lbs)
Hair Color	White / Gray
Eye Color	Blue
Qualification	Attended Queens College, City University of New York
Religion	Judaism
Marital Status	Married to Edie Brickell (since May 30, 1992)
Relationships	Previously married: Peggy Harper (1969-1975), Carrie Fisher (1983-1984)
Children	4: Lulu and Harper Simon; Adrian and Gabriel Simon
Family Tree	Father: Lou Simon (bandleader); Mother: Irene Simon (schoolteacher)
Hobbies	Writing, Baseball (New York Mets fan), Tennis, Philanthropy
Current Work	Recording, Touring (2026 tour), Songwriting
Years Active	1957–present
Net Worth (2026)	Estimated $75 Million

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Early Life & Education

Paul Frederic Simon was born on October 13, 1941, in Newark, New Jersey, to Lou Simon, a bandleader and dance-hall operator, and Irene Simon, a schoolteacher. The family moved to New York when Paul was a child, and he grew up in the city’s outer boroughs, attending public schools in the Bronx and Queens. Music was everywhere in the household: his father’s band played standards and swing, and Paul began writing songs before he was a teenager.

At Forest Hills High School in Queens, Simon met Art Garfunkel, and the two began performing together as youngsters, drawn together by an uncanny ability to blend their voices into a single, shimmering harmony. Both enrolled at Queens College, City University of New York, where Simon studied English while the duo pursued music on the side – a juggling act that would soon pay off in an unexpected way.

Career Journey and Recent Activity in 2026

Simon’s career can be read as three distinct chapters: a teenage rock-and-roll dalliance, the defining partnership of Simon & Garfunkel, and a solo run that produced some of the most acclaimed albums in modern music – capped, at last, by a improbable return to touring in his mid-80s.

Tom & Jerry, Songwriting and Simon & Garfunkel (1957-1970)

As teenagers, Simon and Garfunkel performed as the doo-wop duo Tom & Jerry; their 1957 single Hey, Schoolgirl even cracked the Billboard Hot 100, appearing on American Bandstand. The moment was fleeting – the two went off to college – but it proved the chemistry was real. Through the early 1960s Simon wrote under pseudonyms such as Jerry Landis for other artists while honing the craft that would define his future.

The breakthrough came with Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964), the duo’s folk-flavored debut for Columbia. Its closing track, The Sound of Silence, was re-released with an overdubbed electric arrangement in 1965 and rocketed to No. 1 in early 1966. Mike Nichols then placed the song in his film The Graduate (1967), and Mrs. Robinson became the duo’s second chart-topper and a defining anthem of the 1960s. The albums Bookends (1968) and Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970) followed, with the title track – written by Simon – becoming one of the best-selling singles of the era. The album Bridge Over Troubled Water was the best-selling album of 1970, and the duo won multiple Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

Simon & Garfunkel parted ways in 1970 at the summit of their fame, a split that would prove temporary: they reunited repeatedly for albums, films, and landmark concerts over the following decades.

Solo Apex: Graceland and Beyond (1972-1998)

Simon’s solo career began with Paul Simon (1972), featuring Mother and Child Reunion, and quickly established him as a restless stylist. Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1976 and contained the No. 1 hit 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. After the commercial disappointment of Hearts and Bones (1983), Simon reinvented himself with Graceland (1986), a landmark fusion of American pop and South African township music recorded in Johannesburg with musicians including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masekela, and the band Kalahari Braziers. Graceland won the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and has sold millions of copies worldwide, but it arrived amid intense controversy – more on that below. He followed it with the Brazilian-influenced The Rhythm of the Saints (1990) and reunited with Garfunkel for the 1981 Central Park concert, which drew an estimated 500,000 people, one of the largest concert audiences in history.

The Later Catalog (1998-2023)

Simon continued to release adventurous work: Songs from The Capeman (1998), the reflective You’re the One (2000), Surprise (2006, produced with Brian Eno), So Beautiful or So What (2011), and In the Blue Light (2018), a collection of reworked older songs performed with a small jazz ensemble. In 2023 he released Seven Psalms, an album he has described as a late-life reckoning with mortality and faith, written partly in response to his hearing loss.

2026: 85th Birthday, Hearing Loss and Touring Again

Simon’s current chapter is defined by defiance. After declaring his 2018 Homeward Bound tour a farewell, he returned to the stage in 2025 and has kept adding dates through 2026, including a widely reviewed performance in Liverpool on May 8, 2026 – at 84, back on stage after hearing loss. On September 22, 2026, CBS News published a major interview, Paul Simon on his hearing loss, and performing live again: “I haven’t given up hope.”, in which he disclosed that “there’s only about 6 percent [hearing] in my left ear.” He has worked with Stanford University’s Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss to adapt his stage setup so he can continue to perform. He turned 85 on October 13, 2026.

Career Stats

• Studio Albums (solo): Paul Simon (1972), There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973), Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), Graceland (1986), The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), You’re the One (2000), Surprise (2006), So Beautiful or So What (2011), In the Blue Light (2018), Seven Psalms (2023)
• With Art Garfunkel: Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964), Sounds of Silence (1966), Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966), Bookends (1968), Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
• Signature Songs: The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Graceland, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Kodachrome, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
• Grammy Awards: Multiple wins, including two Albums of the Year (Still Crazy After All These Years, Graceland)

Personal Life

Simon has been married three times and is famously private, but his personal life has followed a pattern of long, settled relationships – and four children who have, at times, followed him into music.

Family

Simon and his first wife, Peggy Harper, were married from 1969 to 1975 and have two children: daughter Lulu and son Harper Simon, who has released his own music. His four-year marriage to actress Carrie Fisher ran from August 1983 to July 1984; the pair later spoke about the marriage with warmth and humor, and Fisher remained part of his story in interviews for years. In 1992 Simon married singer-songwriter Edie Brickell, lead vocalist of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, on May 30; the couple have two sons, Adrian and Gabriel, and have largely raised their family away from the spotlight in the New York area.

Dating History and Relationships

Before his marriage to Brickell, Simon’s two earlier marriages both ended in divorce within a few years. He was briefly linked to actress Carrie Fisher during the making of her screenplays in the early 1980s (the two wed in 1983), and he has been guarded about any other relationships throughout the 1970s. As of 2026, Simon and Brickell are still married, celebrating 34 years together – one of the more enduring partnerships in American music.

Controversies

The Graceland boycott dispute (1986-1987): Simon’s decision to record Graceland in South Africa during the international cultural boycott of apartheid drew sharp criticism from anti-apartheid campaigners, who argued that a star of his stature lending his name to projects in the country undercut the pressure campaign against the regime. Defenders pointed out that Simon recorded with Black South African musicians, not the white government, and that the album gave those musicians a global platform. The debate followed the album for years, even as it swept the 1987 Grammys and became one of the best-selling records of the decade; the episode remains the single most debated decision of Simon’s career.

Otherwise, Simon has kept an unusually clean profile for a star of his magnitude: no legal scandals, no feuds conducted in public, and a long-standing refusal to give social-media interviews or comment on other artists’ work. His returns to touring – first in 2018, then in 2025-2026 – have been framed as music-first decisions rather than publicity moves.

Awards & Achievements

• Grammy Awards: Multiple wins, including Album of the Year for Still Crazy After All These Years (1976) and Graceland (1987), plus Record and Song of the Year for Simon & Garfunkel hits
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Inducted twice – with Art Garfunkel (1990) and as a solo artist (2001)
• Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song – 2007
• Polar Music Prize – laureate
• Special achievement: The Central Park reunion concert with Garfunkel (1981) drew an estimated 500,000 fans

Physical Statistics

Paul Simon stands approximately 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall and weighs around 70 kg (154 lbs). He has white-gray hair and blue eyes, and in 2026, at 85, he cuts a compact, energetic figure on stage – though he now performs with a hearing aid and a stage setup adapted with help from Stanford researchers. Simon has long been described as an unassuming presence offstage; he dresses simply for performances, typically in dark jackets, and is known for preferring a low profile over red-carpet spectacle.

Quotes

• “I haven’t given up hope.” – CBS News, on performing live again, September 22, 2026
• “There’s only about 6 percent [hearing] in my left ear.” – CBS Mornings, on his hearing loss
• “Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.” – lyric from Bridge Over Troubled Water, written by Paul Simon (1970)

Favorites

• Musical influences he has cited: Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan
• Favorite collaborators: Art Garfunkel, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Brian Eno
• Favorite city: New York, the backdrop of countless Simon songs
• Favorite sport: Baseball – a lifelong New York fan
• Favorite musical form: African township rhythms, popularized for global audiences by Graceland
• Favorite instrument: Acoustic guitar, his writing tool of choice

Earnings and Net Worth in 2026

As of 2026, Paul Simon’s estimated net worth is around $75 million, according to celebrity net-worth trackers. The bulk of that fortune comes from more than six decades of songwriting royalties – The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Graceland alone generate steady income from radio, streaming, film licensing and covers – plus the proceeds of repeated stadium and arena tours.

His catalogs have been commercially significant for publishers for decades, and Graceland alone is reported to have sold in the tens of millions of copies worldwide. The 2025-2026 touring run, undertaken against medical advice in the eyes of some observers, is also expected to be among the highest-grossing late-career cycles of his life. Simon and Brickell have also invested in real estate in the New York area over the years.

Interesting Facts

• Simon’s first taste of chart success came at 16, when the duo Tom & Jerry’s Hey, Schoolgirl appeared on American Bandstand in 1957.
• Mother and Child Reunion was named after a dish Paul Simon spotted on a Chinese-English restaurant menu.
• The title track Bridge Over Troubled Water was written by Simon but made iconic by Garfunkel’s vocal – a source of gentle tension between them.
• Graceland was recorded in Johannesburg with Black South African musicians at the height of apartheid-era sanctions.
• The 1981 Central Park reunion concert with Garfunkel drew an estimated 500,000 people – one of the largest ticketed concerts ever.
• He has worked with Stanford University’s Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss to adapt his live-performance setup.
• He continues to write music at 85, with Seven Psalms (2023) described as his most personal album in years.

Did You Know Already?

• Did you know Paul Simon turned 85 on October 13, 2026?
• Did you know he says he has only about 6 percent of the hearing in his left ear?
• Did you know his songwriting pseudonym was Jerry Landis?
• Did you know Graceland won Album of the Year at the 1987 Grammys despite the boycott controversy?
• Did you know he was married to Carrie Fisher for less than a year in the 1980s?
• Did you know he performs with a stage setup adapted by Stanford hearing-loss researchers?

Social Media Links

• Official Website: paulsimon.com
• YouTube: Paul Simon – Official artist channel
• Facebook: Paul Simon – Official Page

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Paul Simon’s biography is the story of American popular music itself: a kid from Newark who learned harmony in Queens, defined the sound of the 1960s with Art Garfunkel, reinvented world music for Western audiences with Graceland, and – at 85 – refused to stop performing even as his hearing failed him. His 85th birthday, his September 2026 CBS interview, and his continued touring make him one of the most searched musicians of 2026. If you found this Paul Simon biography helpful, please share it with fellow fans and explore more celebrity biographies on our site.