Outside Lands Announces Paul Simon As 2019 Headliner

On Friday, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music Festival announced that their 2019 event will be headlined by iconic singer-songwriter Paul Simon. The festival’s organizers also revealed that the remainder of the lineup for the event, set for August 9–11, will be announced this coming Tuesday, March 26th.

While no longer touring following last year’s Homeward Bound — The Farewell Tour, Paul Simon has previously stated his commitment to perform the occasional concert in benefit of philanthropic organizations he supports, particularly those in the area of environmental protection and ecology. Outside Lands’ location in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, combined with the shared environmental initiatives of the festival producers provided Paul Simon this perfect opportunity. To this end, Simon will be donating the entire net proceeds from his Outside Lands performance to local environmental non-profit organization(s) to be announced shortly.

Outside Lands is committed to preserving Golden Gate Park and promoting sustainability in San Francisco and beyond. The festival hopes to motivate other events around the world to follow suit in their efforts to increase environmental consciousness, waste diversion rates, and earth-friendly programs.

As Paul Simon notes in a press release regarding his upcoming Outside Lands performance,

I’m looking forward with great anticipation to playing at Golden Gate Park this summer. This will be my first appearance there, and it’s an honor to join the long line of musicians who’ve given the park its sanctified musical heritage. I’m equally pleased to be playing in San Francisco with its well-deserved reputation for being in the forefront of environmental issues. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be of service to this vital cause.

Paul Simon is no stranger to concerts in—and benefitting—iconic parks. In 1981, Simon performed with Art Garfunkel in New York’s Central Park in front of 500,000 people. Proceeds went toward redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding. Simon returned to Central Park a decade later, in 1991, to play to a record-setting 750,000 people. In 2018, as the final stop on his Homeward Bound tour, Simon played a rare concert at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY, just a few minutes from where he grew up.

For more information on Outside Lands 2019, head to the festival website.