In a new interview with The Guardian, legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon expressed optimism about returning to the stage despite his hearing loss.

“I’m hoping to eventually be able to do a full-length concert. I’m optimistic. Six months ago I was pessimistic,” said Simon, who had quit touring in 2018 and lost the hearing in his left ear in 2023 during the recording of the Seven Psalms album.

While announcing his final tour in 2018, Simon called it “an act of courage to let go. 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.”

After his final tour performance at his childhood home of Queens, New York, in September 2018, Simon turned out for a few one-off sets in 2019.

“The farewell tour was basically just to bump the prices,” he joked to Stephen Colbert that year. He added, “I don’t intend to tour any more, but I will perform again, and the monies that I make I’m going to donate to various causes I believe in.”

While recording his Seven Psalms album, Simon began experiencing hearing loss.

“It was scary, frustrating,” Simon says in his Guardian interview. “You’re in denial and then you’re overwhelmed by this change in your life because you now have a disability.”

“I haven’t figured out how to perform with the hearing loss. I’ve tried to rehearse with the guys in my touring band, to see if I could manage it. I can’t so far,” he told Mojo magazine in July this year.

However, the veteran singer made a tentative return to live performance in September, performing seven acoustic songs at an invite-only charity fundraiser in a New York loft to an audience of 150.

Source: RTT Music News