Paul Simon is remaining honest, yet optimistic about his recent health issues. After recently revealing that he’s suffering from hearing loss, Simon explains in a new interview that he started to lose his hearing about two and a half years ago, and suspects that he has roughly eight percent of hearing in his left ear. He says that while the hearing loss has impacted his ability to play live, it hasn’t affected his ability to write songs. But he believes there’s a message in all of it.
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“It’s upsetting,” he tells CBS News about the injury. “I can still hear well enough to play guitar and write. But I can’t hear well enough to play with five or six musicians. Maybe that’s fine. Maybe there’s something to be learned from that?”
Simon further explained what he believes the lesson is. “Acceptance of…less? That’s life. People have a lot worse than this…I feel pretty much the same about it, which is I’m not happy about it,” he admits.
The legendary singer/songwriter released his latest album, Seven Psalms, in May 2023. Inspired by the Book of Psalms, the first book in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, Seven Psalms is written in seven parts and features all acoustic songs. The album cracked the Top 30 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart.
“I really wanted to perform the Seven Psalms,” he continues. “I haven’t given up hope, but I’m prepared to accept that I might not be able to.”
Simon’s most recent major performance was at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival where he performed some of his biggest hits, including “The Boxer” and “The Sound of Silence.” He says he hopes that wasn’t his final live appearance and isn’t giving up on the creative process.
“I just started to write recently, I’ve written two songs,” he shares. “As long as I can write and sing, I’ll make records, even if it’s just for myself.”
Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images
