Years after their infamous break up, Simon and Garfunkel are in a good place.
Art Garfunkel told People in a new interview he and Paul Simon had dinner recently that was friendly and supportive.
“We had a dinner [last year]. It was very lovely. There were tears, there were hugs,” Garfunkel said. “I don’t know if it’ll lead to anything. I don’t think so much about him as I think about what’s ahead of me. I’m feeling very positive now.”
Garfunkel is currently in the middle of his What a Wonderful World tour.
When it comes to his legendary partnership with Simon, Garfunkel said “I’m proud of it. I only feel great about it.”
The duo met in school in Queens, N.Y. and bonded over a shared love for artists like the Everly Brothers, who inspired their harmonizing.
“Before the world knew Simon & Garfunkel, our ears heard it first, and we knew it was special,” the 84-year-old said. “We were always cracking each other up.”
They scored hits like “Sounds of Silence” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” but Garfunkel always felt he was at a “disadvantage” in their partnership because he was a singer only and Simon wrote the songs.
Garfunkel was offered a role in the film “Catch-22” in 1970 and he accepted it, thinking it would “beef up my half” of the duo, but it only precipitated the end.
“[Director] Mike Nichols had originally offered a role for Paul in that movie, then Paul’s part was dropped,” he explained. “There were too many characters, he thinned it out. And it was just bad luck. So Paul was left with that uncomfortable feeling.”
In the 2024 documentary “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Simon said the film’s production ran long, interrupting work on their “Bridge Over Troubled Water” album. He also noted an overall “uneven partnership” between the two.
Simon & Garfunkel parted ways in 1970 and reunited in 1981 for their iconic Central Park concert.
“I’m playing a huge lawn that people were spilling out into the Great Lawn, into the trees, and I had to connect with them,” he recalled. “That’s the greatest night of my life.”
They toured together a handful of times since then, but Garfunkel says his relationship with Simon, “goes in and out. It’s got a summer and a winter.”
Follow us on Instagram @WeArePauseRewind for all your pop culture obsessions.