Happy Birthday to Art Garfunkel, who turns 80 today (November 5th)!!! Garfunkel, who is best known for his string of hits as part of Simon & Garfunkel, has gone on to enjoy a long and varied career since his 1970 split with Paul Simon. Out now in paperback is Garfunkel's critically acclaimed 2017 memoir, What Is It All But Luminous – Notes From An Underground Man. The book chronicles his life and career, shedding new and important light on his relationship with Paul Simon and the evolution of Simon & Garfunkel's sound and rise to fame.
Back in May 2015, Garfunkel slammed Simon for continuing full force on his solo career, seemingly oblivious to both Garfunkel and their fans' pleas for yet another Simon & Garfunkel reunion, saying he had “created a monster” by befriending and supporting Simon while school kids back in Queens and referred to Simon alternately as a “jerk” and an “idiot” for splitting with him in 1971 at the peak of the duo's success. Garfunkel also went on to agree with the interviewer who suggested that the five-foot, three-inch Simon might suffer from a “Napoleon complex.”
After that, during Garfunkel's chat with The Guardian, he once again touched upon his relationship with Simon, saying, “Paul Simon is a man who has enormously enriched my life, period. . . we’ve enriched each other’s lives. What would have been his life if his friend Artie didn’t sing so good and been so good and produced those records so good? What would it have been? Something smaller.”