Art Garfunkel tells us about reconciling with Paul Simon: “I burst into tears – and then there were hugs”

nme.com:

Art Garfunkel has opened up to NME about ending “years of detachment” from Paul Simon, recalled “the high point of [his] career” as part of the iconic duo, and discussed starting a new chapter with his recent collaborative album.Speaking on the promotional trail for ‘Father And Son’ – a covers record made with his son, Art Garfunkel Jr – the music legend reflected on the “wonderful moment” Simon & Garfunkel buried the hatchet and were reunited once more.“We ended years of estrangement with a lot of sweet candour,” Garfunkel recalled of his emotional meeting with Simon.The folk-rock duo are no strangers to fallouts during their lifelong friendship and professional partnership.

Although they have reconvened numerous times since the band originally split in 1970, relations between the two are notoriously volatile.

The latest feud followed a particularly razor-tongued 2015 interview Garfunkel gave to The Telegraph, where the singer labelled his former musical cohort a “jerk” and an “idiot” – an outburst he said he subsequently regretted.The ensuing silence gave the impression that the damage was irreparable.

That’s until a chance encounter between Garfunkel and Simon’s son, Harper, led to an unexpected meeting and, from that, a reconciliation.Referencing the lunch, Garfunkel told NME: “Paul said to me, ”Arty, it’s not that you spoke to the British press and that you didn’t do it well…[it’s that] I felt you wanted to hurt me.