Paul Simon has said that he is currently “optimistic” about a potential live return following his near-total hearing loss.
Last year, the veteran singer-songwriter suffered a near-total loss of hearing in his left ear which has left him struggling to perform live. In September, he admitted he hadn’t “accepted” his hearing loss but was in the process of finding a new solution which would help him return to the stage.
He previously explained that his previous attempts to rehearse with his touring band didn’t quite go to plan.
“I haven’t figured out how to perform with the hearing loss,” he said to Mojo back in July. “I’ve tried to rehearse with the guys in my touring band, to see if I could manage it. I can’t so far.”
Earlier this year while appearing at the premiere of his two-part documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, he shared that his hearing had returned to “enough of a degree that I’m comfortably singing and playing guitar and playing a few other instruments”.
Now, in an interview with The Guardian, the ‘You Can Call Me Al’ singer has revealed that he is “hoping to eventually be able to do a full-length concert” and is “optimistic” after performing seven songs with two guitarists at a fundraiser for the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss, his longest performance in five years. However, he did say that “six months ago I was pessimistic.”
The musician also shared that it was a “scary, frustrating” feeling to lose his hearing. Last year, Simon revealed that he had suddenly lost the majority of his hearing in his left ear while recording his 15th studio LP ‘Seven Psalms’.
“You’re in denial and then you’re overwhelmed by this change in your life because you now have a disability,” Simon told the publication. “But even though it wasn’t pleasurable any more, I started to think that this was some new information that I needed to absorb into the piece. I started to focus on sounds, not from computers or synthesizers, but acoustic instruments used in unusual ways.”
Back in 2018, Simon embarked on his ‘Farewell’ tour and played what was billed as his final concert at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York. Reflecting on the show in the same interview, the musician shared that it was “an act of courage to let go” and went on to describe the “natural end” of performing as “a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating and something of a relief.”
Previously reflecting on his “Farewell” tour, Simon told Mojo: “I’ve often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I’d consider bringing my performing career to a natural end. Now I know: it feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating and something of a relief.
“I love making music, my voice is still strong, and my band is a tight, extraordinary group of gifted musicians. I think about music constantly. I am very grateful for a fulfilling career and, of course, most of all to the audiences who heard something in their music that touched their hearts.”