Paul Simon said he’s optimistic to be able to perform again, after experiencing an unexpected improvement in his hearing.
Simon offered fans an update on his health during a guest appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Wednesday. “[The hearing has] come back to enough of a degree that [I]’m comfortable singing and playing guitar and a few other instruments,” he said. “I can hear my voice the way that I want it. [But] if there’s a drum or an electric guitar, it’s too loud and I can’t hear my voice.”
“Next month I’m going to try to do a rehearsal with an entire ensemble of ‘Seven Psalms’ and see if I can get through the [album],” Simon told Colbert.
He added, “I’m optimistic that I can.”
The glimmer of hope comes after his June 2022 announcement on “CBS Sunday Morning” that he had performed for the last time at the Newport Folk Festival, according to Page Six. At the time, the legendary star said it was “extremely” unlikely that he would ever perform again, after losing nearly all of the hearing in his left ear. He now says the sudden improvement has left him “optimistic” about someday performing his latest album on the live stage, according to Page Six.
Paul Simon performs live on the pyramid stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 26, 2011 in Glastonbury, England. Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images
Simon spoke of the traumatic loss of his hearing during the interview.
“I lost the hearing in my left ear uh it was a pretty precipitous decline I mean it happened over a couple of months. Didn’t come from any trauma or illness. It just happened. So I suspect that it’s genetic and what does that do to you as an artist like does it literally unbalance you,” he said.
“It really was disconcerting and was depressing I just didn’t know what to do, and so I was racing around to doctors,” he said.
Singer-songwriter Paul Simon performs on stage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 25, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The legendary singer and songwriter spoke with optimism and hope about technological developments that can aid those suffering from hearing loss.
“I have recently had a discussion with a, a group of people that I know at Stanford, they’re scientists. Their group is called the Stanford initiative to cure hearing loss and uh what they said was that they’re very close to several really big technological breakthroughs,” he said.
US singer and songwriter Paul Simon performs on the Auditorum Stravinski stage during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival on July 9, 2008 in Montreux. The festival runs from July 4 to July 19. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
“One is, they can find the gene that predisposes some people to have hearing loss. I mean not everyone’s hearing loss is genetic but they can find that and they can flip it off. They can flip that, that mutation off so I don’t know if that would have any effect on me but if my children have this gene that would be detected,” he said. (RELATED: Country Legend Willie Nelson Releases Tribute To Border Patrol Agents)
Simon has been thrilling fans with his talents in the music industry since he came to prominence in the 1960s alongside his friend, Art Garfunkel, as the duo Simon & Garfunkel.