Paul Frederic Simon was born 81 years ago in New Jersey, USA, is married and has 3 children. He is a singer and songwriter, musician and actor.
At the age of 11, Paul met schoolmate Art Garfunkel and 2 years later they started singing together in occasional dances held at school. The Everly Brothers were their idols and they used to imitate them. Paul began to show interest in various music genres such as folk and blues as well as jazz and composed his very first song named ‘The Girl for Me’. A few years later, together with Garfunkel, Simon recorded ‘Hey, Schoolgirl’.
In a span of 7 years, Paul composed and issued over 30 songs, both for himself as well as for other music artists. Then, in 1964, the duo Simon & Garfunkel was formed, and their first album was released.
Until the duo split in 1970, they had released 25 albums and 26 singles. Some of their most popular songs include the US number one hits ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘Mrs Robinson’ and worldwide hit ‘Bridge over troubled Water’.
Paul then worked on several solo music ventures, and sometimes did collaborate with Garfunkel on some of them. He also made guest appearances on various musical events.
As a solo artist, Simon recorded 44 albums and 61 singles. His 7th studio album ‘Graceland’ is considered his best-selling one, with over 16 million copies sold globally.
Paul starred in over 15 movies and TV programmes and also wrote some songs for some films he acted in. He is also involved in various charitable institutions, particularly children’s health and music education.
During his long career, Simon received several honours, amongst which there are 12 Grammy and 2 Brit Awards.