Art Garfunkel Recalls Tearful Reunion with Paul Simon and Teases Their Music Future: ‘I Can Still Feel His Hug’

Art Garfunkel says the future is hopeful for Simon & Garfunkel. 

The musician, 83, revealed in an interview with The Times that he recently had a tearful reunion with his former music collaborator Paul Simon, 83.

While promoting his upcoming Garfunkel & Garfunkel album Father and Son with his son Art Garfunkel Jr., 33, the eight-time Grammy winner said that he caught up with Simon “a couple of weeks back.”

“First time we’d been together in many years,” Garfunkel said in the interview. “I looked at Paul and said, ‘What happened? Why haven’t we seen each other?’ Paul mentioned an old interview where I said some stuff.”

The “Bright Eyes” singer continued to share his regrets over their feud. “I cried when he told me how much I had hurt him,” he said. “Looking back, I guess I wanted to shake up the nice guy image of Simon & Garfunkel. Y’know what? I was a fool!”

Garfunkel revealed that the two “made plans to meet again” and teased that they may revisit their music legacy – although that is not his priority. “Will Paul bring his guitar? Who knows. For me, it was about wanting to make amends before it’s too late,” the singer said. “It felt like we were back in a wonderful place. As I think about it now, tears are rolling down my cheeks. I can still feel his hug.”

Garfunkel and Simon released a total of five studio albums from 1964 to 1970. After the final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water, they split. However, they reunited over the years while growing their solo music careers. 

The duo famously came back together in 1981 for a benefit concert in Central Park, which was later released as an album and a concert movie.

In the 2024 documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, Simon recalled the events that led to their breakup.

“We were really best friends up until Bridge over Troubled Water,” Simon said of his former bandmate and friend since elementary school. “[Afterwards], it didn’t have the harmony of the friendship… that was broken.”

According to Simon, when Garfunkel was cast in the movie Catch-22, he expected him to hold the fort down with their music career. “Artie said, ‘Yeah, the way it’s going to be is that I will do movies for six months, then I’ll come back, you’ll have written the songs, and we will do the album,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah? Actually, no. That’s not gonna happen. I am not gonna do that,’ ” Simon recalled. 

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Simon said that their Central Park reunion was just “a luxurious bandage.”

“The breakup that happened after Catch-22 was never repaired,” he explained. “It was just a bandage put over it. But the bandage was such a luxurious bandage — the concert in Central Park — we forgot that essentially, we were done as a team.”

Garfunkel’s son also spoke with The Times about his father’s recent reunion with Simon, saying, “They’ve had their ups and downs over the years, but after the meeting, Dad was so happy. He called me and said, ‘Paul’s my brother; he’s family.’ ”

As for their future as a musical duo, Garfunkel Jr. continued, “I do think there is a possibility of them getting together musically. I’m speaking hypothetically here, but maybe a big TV/charity event. And with a bit of encouragement from their peers in the music industry, that could lead to some new material. A new generation discovering the beautiful music they make together.”

Garfunkel and Garfunkel’s new album Father and Son is out now.