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Paul Simon announces 2025 North American tour, seven years after retirement

todayFebruary 18, 2025 9

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Paul Simon has announced an extensive 2025 North American tour, seven years after he retired from playing live.

The legendary singer-songwriter will play a long string of dates across the continent, kicking off in New Orleans’ Saenger Theater on April 4. Runs of five shows in New York’s Beacon Theater and Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall are included in the run, which finally concludes in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall on August 3.

Tickets for the ‘A Quiet Celebration’ tour go on sale at 10am local time on Thursday (February 20), and you will be able to get yours here.

Simon played what at the time was described as his final ever concert in September 2018 in Queens, New York’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park. “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,” he said at the time. “Now I know: it feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating and something of a relief.”

Last year, Simon opened up about being diagnosed with hearing loss while recording his 2023 album ‘Seven Psalms’, describing the process as “incredibly frustrating”.

In 2023, he told The Times that he lost “most of the hearing in my left ear”, saying the process happened “quite suddenly”. “Nobody has an explanation for it,” he explained, “so everything became more difficult.”

However, Simon went on to tell The Guardian in November 2024 that he was “optimistic” about returning to perform live, saying he was “hoping to eventually be able to do a full-length concert”.

Paul Simon will play: 

APRIL 
04 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theater 
05 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theater 
08 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall 
10 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall 
11 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall 
14 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre 
16 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre 
17 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre 
20 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre 
22 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre 
23 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre 
26 – Kansas City, MO – Midland Theatre 
28 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre 
29 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre 

MAY 
07 – Dallas, TX – AT&T Performing Arts Center 
08 – Dallas, TX – AT&T Performing Arts Center 
11 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium 
13 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium 
14 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium 
17 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater 
18 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater 
21 – Chicago, IL – Symphony Center 
23 – Chicago, IL – Symphony Center 
24 – Chicago, IL – Symphony Center 
27 – Toronto, Ontario – Massey Hall 
29 – Toronto, Ontario – Massey Hall 
30 – Toronto, Ontario – Massey Hall 

JUNE 
06 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap 
07 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap 
10 – Boston, MA – Boch Center, Wang Theatre 
12 – Boston, MA – Boch Center, Wang Theatre 
13 – Boston, MA – Boch Center, Wang Theatre 
16 – New York, NY – Beacon Theater 
18 – New York, NY – Beacon Theater 
20 – New York, NY – Beacon Theater 
21 – New York, NY – Beacon Theater 
23 – New York, NY – Beacon Theater 
26 – Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music 
28 – Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music 
29 – Philadelphia, PA – Academy of Music 

JULY 
07 – Long Beach, CA – Terrace Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center 
09 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall 
11 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall 
12 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall 
14 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall 
16 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall 
19 – San Francisco, CA – Davies Symphony Hall 
21 – San Francisco, CA – Davies Symphony Hall 
22 – San Francisco, CA – Davies Symphony Hall 
25 – Vancouver, British Columbia – The Orpheum 
26 – Vancouver, British Columbia – The Orpheum 
28 – Vancouver, British Columbia – The Orpheum 
31 – Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall 

AUGUST 
02 – Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall 
03 – Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall 

Simon made a surprise return to live performance this last weekend when he joined Sabrina Carpenter for a duet of ‘Homeward Bound’ on the 50th-anniversary episode of Saturday Night Live.

Introducing the performance, Simon told the audience: “I sang this song with George Harrison on Saturday Night Live in 1976,” to which Carpenter responded: “I was not born then. And neither were my parents.”

In late 2024, Simon’s old partner Art Garfunkel spoke to NME about the duo’s recent meeting, which brought to an end “years of detachment with a lot a sweet candour”.

The post Paul Simon announces 2025 North American tour, seven years after retirement appeared first on NME.

Written by: Brady Donovan

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