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Artie's Wonderful World

Art Garfunkel reflects on his legacy, his loves and his future as he plots a new tour.

By Rachel DeSantis in People

rt Garfunkel is mid-interview when he asks if he can be granted an "indulgence." A prolific writer, Garfunkel, best known as a singer -- first with his childhood friend Paul Simon and later as a solo artists -- would like to read aloud a poem he's written about London's Royal Albert Hall, where he'll play in October as part of his upcoming What a Wonderful World tour. Twenty minutes later he asks to read another, this one about falling in love with the way his parents sang harmony together when he was 6 years old, selections that perfectly bookend his nearly 70-year-career. "It's not so long," he says, pausing during the second poem. "I won't bore you."

Garfunkel, 84, has read the dictionary cover to cover (for fun!), so he knows his words have power. A Grammy-winning singer, actor and poet who sold more than 100 million records as part of Simon & Garfunkel, he's currently gearing up for his first full-scale tour in seven years. "I didn't know I was going to do this. I'm getting up in years. But I'm a singer. I'm good at it. I want to be known rather than fade away," he says. "I'm more nervous now, but I flip over from fear to confidence immediately as I hit the stage. I lean on my voice. It's my friend."

Of course, it was leaning on another friend, his junior high school classmate Paul Simon, that set Garfunkel up on the road to success. Growing up in Queens, the two bonded over their love of James Dean, Lenny Bruce and the Everly Brothers, whose harmonies they tried to emulate. "Before the world knew Simon & Garfunkel, our ears heard it first, and we knew it was special," he says. "We were always cracking each other up." Garfunkel used the money he earned from their first hit, 1957's "Hey Schoolgirl," to major in art history at Columbia University, and in 1964 he and Simon released their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. The record flopped -- Sounds of Silence, fared better, thanks to their sumptuous harmonies and Garfunkel's hauntingly emotive voice. Before long the two were topping the charts, winning Grammys and contributing the sound track to the blockbuster 1967 film The Graduate, led by their megahit "Mrs. Robinson."

Still, despite his soul-stirring vocals on classics like the 1970 No. 1 hit "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Garfunkel says he was at a "disadvantage" in the partnership, since he was a singer and Simon the songwriter in an era when writing was the more revered role. When he was offered a part in the 1970 war comedy Catch-22, he accepted, thinking it would "beef up my half" of the beloved duo. Instead their bond splintered, and Simon, 84, has said Garfunkel's career pivot "disrupted" the band. By 1970 they parted ways -- but they have reunited several times over the years, including for an iconic 1981 concert in Central Park and for several tours, most recently in 2010. "It goes in and out. It's got a summer and a winter," the singer says of his relationship with Simon. The two healed old wounds over a "lovely" dinner about a year ago, which Garfunkel says was filled with "tears" and "hugs." "I don't know if it'll lead to anything," he says. "I don't think so much about him as I think about what's ahead of me. I'm feeling very positive now."

  

arfunkel may have found fame as a member of a duo, but some of his most satisfying adventures have been his own. He launched a successful solo career in 1973 and put out his most recent album in 2024 with a new partner: his son Art Jr., 35. He's also walked across the United States, Japan and across Europe on foot and has traversed oceans on freighters, writing along the way. He describes himself as a "weird loner" -- yet his most successful partnership of all is his 37-year marriage to his wife, Kathryn Luce Garfunkel, 67, a model he met on the set of the 1986 film Good to Go. They live in Manhattan and share Art Jr. and his brother Beau, 20. "I'm crazy about my wife," he says. "It all changed [when I met her]. That was the end of putting me in the center of my life. Now I'm giving to another. I'm one of two." And becoming a father at 49 was a lifelong dream he realized. "The heart triples," he says of raising his boys, who have caught the music bug too; Art Jr. is a singer, and Beau a student at the Berklee College of Music.

As Garfunkel prepares to head out on tour, he admits he's "thrilled" to reopen a chapter of his life he thought might have suffered vocal-cord nerve damage and partial paralysis in 2010 that affected his voice. "Success is liking yourself, staying interesting to yourself all through your life," he says. "If you're not alive and happening now, what are you? You can't live on your past. You've got to keep going with a meaningful agenda."  

Flashback to 1978!

From People's July 25, 1978, issue.

ALI MacGRAW RETURNS TO HOLLYWOOD WITH CONVOY AFTER FIVE YEARS AWAY

fter an unprecedented three hit movies in a row (Goodbye, Columbus; Love Story; The Getaway), Ali MacGraw suddenly took off on a five-year sabbatical with third husband Steve McQueen. "It was like I had no persona because I couldn't name my last movie, or my next one," says Ali after splitting from Steve. "Well, I'm more interesting than that. I am not my last haircut or my last divorce." At 39, MacGraw has returned, playing opposite Kris Kristofferson in Convoy. The chance to ride shotgun with the country star, 42 -- not to mention $400,000, which was more than he was making -- was enough to lure her back. By her own lights, MacGraw is finally getting what she wants. "I've decided that there is no point in presenting myself with protective covers, trying to please everyone at the expense of my own truth," she says. "I don't want to be any age or in any place than the one I am right now. I'm having my passport, driver's license, everything changed to Ali MacGraw. That's who I am legally -- and in reality. Finally."

IN THE NEWS: JULY 1978

Waiting: "Most of the time we just stand there, bending to the wind machines while they throw birds past our heads." - Margo Kidder, on playing Lois Lane in Superman.

Expecting: The Beatles' George Harrison, 35, and his girlfriend Olivia Arias, 30, were expecting their first child, Dhani, in August.

Parties: Sylvester Stallone celebrated turning 32 with his wife, Sasha, 20, at Manhattan's Xenon disco.

Suzanne Somers, 31, threw a star-studded bash for her husband Alan Hamel's 38th, attended by Ringo Starr, his girlfriend Nancy Andrews, Paul Anka and his wife, Anne.

PICKS & PANS

Jaws 2  The best gimmicks were used the first time around. Despite a couple of tense who'll-be-the-main-course sequences, the $25 million sequel turns out ordinary.

Stardust by Willie Nelson  While there are a few embarrassing vocal moments, his attention to lyrics and his voice's resonance work well on music from Tin Pan Alley.  

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