Paul Simon is sharing his experiences performing with near-total hearing loss.
In an interview with "CBS Mornings," the 83-year-old Simon and Garfunkel singer got candid about embarking on this challenging aspect of his journey as a performer. He said at first, losing his hearing was “incredibly frustrating." Simon was diagnosed with hearing loss in his left ear when he was working on his 15th studio album "Seven Psalms" which was released last year.
“I was very angry at first that this had happened. I guess what I’m most apprehensive about would be if I can’t hear well enough to really enjoy the act of making music,” Simon revealed.
But Simon is adjusting to life with his hearing loss. He explained that has begun with tweaking his extensive work to become more accessible to himself. He said, he was “going through my repertoire and reducing a lot of the choices that I make to acoustic versions.”
“It’s all much quieter,” he continued. “It’s not ‘You Can Call Me Al.’ That’s gone. I can’t do that one.”
Despite the initial frustration and adjustments, Simon clarified that the hearing loss has only made him more creative. “You know Matisse, when he was suffering at the end of his life, when he was in bed, he envisioned all these cut-outs and had a great creative period.
“So I don’t think creativity stops with disability. So far, I haven’t experienced that. And I hope not to," he said.
Earlier this spring, at the premiere of his documentary, "In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon," Simon told People Mazagine that some of his hearing had come back “enough of a degree that I’m comfortably singing and playing guitar and playing a few other instruments."
