Paul Simon

Paul Simon had already helped soundtrack the '60s counterculture with Art Garfunkel, his friend since elementary school, by the time Simon & Garfunkel signed off with Bridge over Troubled Water in 1970. On his own he went looking for new rhythms, trying on gospel, reggae and soul, and the albums Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years kept him in the spotlight with hits like "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" and "Kodachrome", plus the rueful "American Tune". One-Trick Pony brought "Late In The Evening" in 1980, and Hearts and Bones followed in 1983.

Then came Graceland in 1986, the most successful and acclaimed record he has made, built on South African sounds. The guitars bubble and chime, the bass lines roll and pop, and Simon's wry, conversational voice rides on top of it all in "You Can Call Me Al", "The Boy in The Bubble" and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes". It is a pop album that sounds like nothing else from its decade, and it has since been added to the National Recording Registry.

The Rhythm of the Saints followed in 1990 with "The Obvious Child", and a second Concert in the Park, this time without Garfunkel, came in 1991. Later records such as So Beautiful or So What and Stranger to Stranger won him younger listeners, and the honors stacked up: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001 and the Gershwin Prize in 2007.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.