Paul Simon announced Monday that he will be embarking on his farewell concert tour this summer after a music career that has spanned over 50 years.
The tour, which is called “Homeward Bound” after the famous song he wrote with Art Garfunkel, will start in Vancouver on May 16 and continue for 20 shows through North America, including two at the Hollywood Bowl.
The tour will conclude at Hyde Park in London on July 15, where James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt are listed as opening acts.
“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,” Simon said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“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,” he added. “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 my music that touched their hearts.”
Simon said his guitar won’t go in its case permanently, however. He hinted he would still perform some one-off benefit concerts from time to time, with proceeds going to charity.
Still, Simon is treating this as the final chapter in a career that includes 29 Top 40 singles and 16 Grammy Awards between his solo work and his time as one-half of Simon & Garfunkel, including three Album of the Year awards for “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Still Crazy After All These Years,” and his seminal album, “Graceland.”
Simon is far from the last artist to announce farewell tours in recent months, as Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and even metal legends Ozzy Osbourne and Slayer are hanging it up.
Tickets for “Homeward Bound” go on sale this weekend, with presales beginning tomorrow. Check Paul Simon’s website for more information.
