Last year, the legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon opened up about his loss of hearing when he explained to The Times that he began having issues in his left ear while working on his album “Seven Psalms.”
“Quite suddenly, I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it,” he explained. “So everything became more difficult.”
Now, in a new interview with “CBS Mornings,” Simon spoke to reporter Anthony Mason about his hearing loss journey and his attempts to manage the condition.
In the beginning, grappling with the condition was so arresting that he even feared he wouldn’t be able to write or compose again.
“It was incredibly frustrating. I was very angry at first that this had happened,” he admitted. “I guess what I’m most apprehensive about would be if I can’t hear well enough to really enjoy the act of making music,” he added.
Since then, he’s had dramatic hearing loss, revealing that he only has 6% hearing in his left ear. But refusing to let the condition hinder him, he’s learned to make adjustments.
The “Bridge Over Troubled Water” singer opted for larger speakers instead and places them around him when he’s playing so he can hear the music better. Also, he changed how and what music he plays.
“I’m going through my repertoire and reducing a lot of the choices that I make to acoustic versions. It’s all much quieter. It’s not ‘You Can Call Me Al.’ That’s gone. I can’t do that one,” Simon said, laughing a bit.
Even though Simon’s final tour came to a close in 2018, he’s still making a few appearances. Recently, he performed a surprise set at New York City’s Irish Arts Centre. Some weeks before that, he performed for The SoHo Sessions in New York.
His performance there was part of a fundraiser for the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss (SICHL).
“You know Matisse, when he was suffering at the end of his life, when he was in bed, he envisioned all these cut-outs and had a great creative period,” Simon said. “So I don’t think creativity stops with disability. So far, I haven’t experienced that. And I hope not to.”
At first, doctors told Simon there was nothing that could be done about his hearing loss, but he soon learned about the SICHL, which includes a team of nearly 100 scientists searching for ways to prevent, repair and replace damaged inner ear tissue.
The news is a positive one for Simon and those who’ve struggled much like himself.
Part of the “CBS Mornings interview” featured Simon visiting the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss at their Palo Alto, California, facilities, where they discussed how animals such as zebrafish and mice are being used to investigate ways to recover hearing.
