Simon & Garfunkel were an American musical duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were among the best-selling musical acts of the 1960s. Their recordings include three U.S. number-one singles—"The Sound of Silence" and the two Record of the Year Grammy winners "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge over Troubled Water"—as well as "Homeward Bound", "I Am a Rock", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", "A Hazy Shade of Winter", "America", "The Boxer", and "Cecilia".
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Simon & Garfunkel were an American musical duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were among the best-selling musical acts of the 1960s. Their recordings include three U.S. number-one singles—"The Sound of Silence" and the two Record of the Year Grammy winners "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge over Troubled Water"—as well as "Homeward Bound", "I Am a Rock", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", "A Hazy Shade of Winter", "America", "The Boxer", and "Cecilia".
Simon and Garfunkel met in 1953 while attending school in Queens, New York City, where they learned to harmonize and Simon began writing songs. As teenagers, performing under the name Tom & Jerry, they had minor success with "Hey Schoolgirl" (1957), a song inspired by the Everly Brothers. In 1963, they reunited and signed with Columbia Records as Simon & Garfunkel. Their debut album, "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." (1964), sold poorly; Simon then pursued a solo career in England, while Garfunkel resumed his studies at Columbia University.
In 1965, a remixed version of "The Sound of Silence" became a U.S. AM radio hit and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The duo released their second album, "Sounds of Silence", in 1966 and toured colleges nationwide. Their third album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" (1966), saw them assume more creative control. Their music was featured prominently in Mike Nichols's 1967 film "The Graduate", and in 1968, the soundtrack album and their fourth album, "Bookends", which included the hit version of "Mrs. Robinson", reached number one on the Billboard Top 200.
Simon and Garfunkel’s relationship was often troubled, leading to artistic disagreements and their breakup in 1970. Their final studio album, "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1970), became one of the world’s best-selling albums. Following the split, Simon had a successful solo career, releasing albums including the acclaimed "Graceland" (1986). Garfunkel released successful singles such as "All I Know" (1973), "I Only Have Eyes for You" (1975), and "Bright Eyes" (Britain’s top single of 1979), and pursued acting with leading roles in Mike Nichols’s "Catch-22" (1970) and Nicolas Roeg’s "Bad Timing" (1980).
Simon & Garfunkel reunited several times, with their 1981 concert in Central Park attracting over 500,000 people, one of the largest concert attendances in history. They won seven Grammy Awards and four Grammy Hall of Fame Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Music critic Richie Unterberger described them as "the most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s" and one of the decade’s most popular artists. They are among the best-selling music artists, with over 100 million records sold, and were ranked 40th on Rolling Stone’s 2010 list of the Greatest Artists of All Time and third on its list of the greatest duos.
Studio albums
Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964)
Sounds of Silence (1966)
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)
Bookends (1968)
Bridge over Troubled Water (1970)
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