Art Garfunkel, 84, Opens Up on Paul Simon Reconciliation Ahead of Return to Touring

Art Garfunkel, 84, is preparing to tour again for the first time since 2019, and in a new interview he has described both the personal reckoning that led him back to the stage and a recent reconciliation with his longtime musical partner Paul Simon. The singer’s What a Wonderful World tour marks his first major run of shows in seven years and will bring him to the UK in October 2026, with a stop at Watford Colosseum on October 13.

• Garfunkel says he and Paul Simon reconciled over lunch at the Pierre hotel in New York in November 2024.
• A 2026 dinner between the two left them in tears and hugs, and Garfunkel says they now plan to meet again.
• Garfunkel and his son, Art Garfunkel Jr, released the covers album ‘Father and Son’ via BMG on November 8, 2024, opening with a rendition of ‘Blue Moon’.
• His latest recording, ‘Authorship,’ pairs a spoken passage from his 2017 memoir ‘What Is It All But Luminous’ with AI-generated piano, released through ElevenLabs’ Eleven Album compilation.
• Garfunkel jokes that he remains “the only person left in America without a computer or the internet.”

Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon: How the Reconciliation Happened

Garfunkel and Simon built one of the best-selling partnerships in pop music history, and their falling-out had kept them apart for years. The thaw began with a November 2024 lunch at New York’s Pierre hotel, and Garfunkel says a follow-up dinner in 2026 turned emotional, with both men in tears and embracing. He describes the evening as “a lovely time” together and says the two have already made arrangements to see each other again, adding that he holds out hope they could one day share a stage once more.

Why Art Garfunkel Decided to Tour Again at 84

Garfunkel explains that his return to performing grew out of an unexpected moment of reflection rather than a planned comeback. He recalls lying in a half-dream state and turning over questions about the purpose of his days, before a friend who worked at an art gallery outside New York suggested he try a small evening of singing and storytelling for a crowd of about 60 people. That experiment convinced him to keep going, and he says two things have brought him the deepest happiness in life: meeting his wife, Kathryn, in 1985, and the sensation during a performance when singing turns effortless and reaches what he calls a point of pure joy. He now says he is singing more than he has in the past twenty years.

From a Queens Basement to a Global Stage

Garfunkel traces his singing back to age five in 1946, when he first sang along with the radio and later found himself moved to tears of excitement by the acoustics of a kindergarten stairwell. His first public performance came in a fourth-grade talent show, watched from the audience by a classmate named Paul Simon. The two soon began taping their harmonies on a wire recorder in the basement of the Garfunkel family home in Queens, New York, the earliest seeds of a partnership that would go on to outsell every other pop duo on record.

Art Garfunkel UK Tour Dates 2026

• October 13: Watford, Watford Colosseum

More Info

• ‘Why not try to be the best in the world, just for the fun of it?’ Art Garfunkel on a rich, restless life – and reconciling with Paul Simon | theguardian.com
• Garfunkel Returns to Road After Paul Simon Reconciliation | streamlinefeed.co.ke
• ‘Why not try to be the best in the world, just for the fun of it?’ Art Garfunkel on a rich, restless life – and reconciling with Paul Simon | imdb.com