American music legend Paul Simon said his battle with hearing loss means there are some songs he just can’t perform live anymore ― including one of his best-known tracks.
“I’m going through my repertoire and reducing a lot of the choices that I make to acoustic versions,” Simon told “CBS Mornings” this week. “It’s all much quieter. It’s not ‘You Can Call Me Al.’ That’s gone. I can’t do that one.”
Simon’s not happy about having to make those changes since he suffered a sudden and dramatic loss of hearing last year.
“It was incredibly frustrating,” he said. “I was very angry at first, y’know, that this had happened.”
Simon, 83, has performed “You Can Call Me Al” live more than 400 times, according to Setlist.fm, making it one of the most frequently performed songs of his solo career.
He last played it in Kahului, Hawaii, in 2019.
While Simon wrapped up a farewell tour in 2018, he has performed sporadically since, often smaller shows with shorter sets. He told The Guardian last month he is “optimistic” that he can do full-length concerts again despite his hearing loss.
“CBS Mornings” went with Simon to Stanford to see the latest research on hearing loss and what the future may hold.
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