Folk rock legend Paul Simon to quit touring after 50 years, announces Homeward Bound farewell tour

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon announced on Monday he is quitting touring saying he had grown tired of travelling after 50 years as a performer. In a social media post, Simon, 76, said he would make a final tour - “Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour” - of North America and Europe later this year. After that, the Sounds of Silence singer said he would do an occasional performance “in a (hopefully) acoustically pristine hall.” [caption id=“attachment_4337921” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Singer Paul Simon greets the audience while performing at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Reuters[/caption] “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,” the musician wrote. The folk rock legend said he came to the decision mostly because the travelling and time away from his family had taken a personal toll that “detracted from the joy of playing.” Simon, a native New Yorker whose career first took off in Britain, will say goodbye on 15 July in London’s Hyde Park, where he played a career-spanning concert in 2012 that he turned into a live album.

A message from Paul Simon — February 5, 2018https://t.co/kdNRIgKswR pic.twitter.com/EFq3Ry4cUp

— Paul Simon (@PaulSimonMusic) February 5, 2018

Simon’s award-winning career includes a legendary partnership with singer Art Garfunkel. They released their first album in 1964 and went on to record classics including ‘Mrs. Robinson,’ ‘The Boxer’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water. The duo split in 1970 and Simon launched a successful solo career with Grammy-winning albums like Still Crazy After All These Years and Graceland. Simon is the latest pop artist from the 1960s and 1970s to step back from touring. Elton John announced last month that he would be making a final three-year farewell tour, and Neil Diamond announced he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and would retire from touring. With inputs from agencies