Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors
Paul Simon is opening up about his struggles with hearing loss.
In an interview on CBS Mornings, which aired Wednesday, November 20, the Simon & Garfunkel singer, 83, revealed that he has only 6 percent of hearing in his left ear.
Simon began losing his hearing four years ago, as he was working on his album Seven Psalms.
"It was incredibly frustrating," the "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" artist said. "I was very angry at first that this had happened."
Around that time, Simon began to fear that he would not be able to record or perform music anymore.
"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," he confessed.
But the "Mother and Child Reunion" singer hasn't given up on potentially restoring his hearing. Elsewhere in the interview, Simon pays a visit to Stanford Medicine's Palo Alto, California program facility, during which he received an exam. He is currently seeking help from Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss (SICHL), which is composed of a team of nearly 100 scientists searching for ways to prevent, repair and replace damaged inner ear tissue.
While he waits, Simon has changed a lot about the ways he listens to and performs music. He also performs with large speakers around him, which allow him to hear and perform better.
The "Bridge Over Troubled Water" artist has also been performing some of his songs as acoustic versions, which has resulted in him cutting back on some of the hits from his catalog.
"I'm going through my repertoire and reducing a lot of the choices that I make to acoustic versions," Simon said. "It's all much quieter. It's not 'You Can Call Me Al.' That's gone. I can't do that one."
Though he's dealing with hearing loss, this hasn't broken his spirit. Back in September, he performed a small, intimate set at The Soho Sessions in New York. In the CBS Mornings interview, he noted that he plans to continue performing for as long as he can.
"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," Simon said. "So I don't think creativity stops with disability. So far, I haven't experienced that. And I hope not to."
English (US) ·