Iconic singer-songwriter Paul Simon has announced an extensive 2025 tour billed as A Quiet Celebration. The 32-date stretch will mark his first extended outing since his Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour back in 2018 as well as his first run of performances since experiencing severe hearing loss during the recording of his Grammy-nominated 2023 album, Seven Psalms. While Simon can fill much larger venues, he opted to book smaller theaters with optimal acoustics for A Quiet Celebration in order to best preserve his hearing [ticketing information].
Simon first reported in the 2023 documentary In Restless Dreams that he had only 6% hearing capacity remaining in his left ear, casting any potential future live shows into question. “I guess what I’m most apprehensive about would be if I can’t hear well enough to really enjoy the act of making music,” Simon said during the interview.
Paul Simon Discusses Hearing Loss (2024) – CBS Mornings
But Simon’s excitement about Seven Psalms, recorded on acoustic instruments and devised as a single piece of continuous music in seven movements, inspired him to figure out a way to make performing it live viable (he has often said that “the listener completes the song”). Together with the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss and his own production team, Simon redesigned his entire stage setup to make performing possible, including adding extra monitors surrounding him to help him hear what he’s playing.
“He’s learned to make adjustments,” CBS News noted. “He’s switched to larger speakers, placing them all around him when he’s playing so he can hear better. He’s also had to change how and what he plays.”
The 2025 Paul Simon A Quiet Celebration Tour will begin on April 4th and 5th at New Orleans, LA’s Saenger Theatre and make mostly multi-night stops around the U.S. and Canada before concluding at Seattle, WA’s Benaroya Hall on July 31st, August 2nd, and August 3rd. Other notable stops include a three-night stint at Nashville, TN’s Ryman Auditorium (5/11, 5/13, 5/14), a three-show run at Chicago, IL’s Symphony Center Orchestra Hall (5/21, 5/23, 5/24), a five-night stand at New York, NY’s Beacon Theatre (6/16, 6/18, 6/20, 6/21, 6/23), and more. The band will include Simon alongside Caleb Burhans (viola), Jamey Haddad (percussion), Gyan Riley (guitar), Mick Rossi (piano, keys), Andy Snitzer (saxophone), Nancy Stagnitta (flute), Mark Stewart (guitar), and Eugene Friesen (cello), while notable drummers Steve Gadd and Matt Chamberlin will alternate behind the kit.
Pre-sale tickets for the 2025 Paul Simon A Quiet Celebration Tour will be available beginning on Thursday, February 20th at 10:00 a.m. local venue time ahead of a general on-sale on Friday, February 21st at 10:00 a.m. local venue time.
Find complete ticketing details here. If you strike out on Ticketmaster, you can see what’s available on the secondary market here. Click below for a complete list of upcoming Paul Simon tour dates.
In other Paul Simon news, he recently appeared during the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special to perform a rendition of his classic song “Homeward Bound” alongside young pop hitmaker Sabrina Carpenter. “I sang this song with George Harrison on Saturday Night Live in 1976,” Simon said ahead of the performance. “I was not born then,” Carpenter riffed, “um, and neither were my parents.” Watch the “Homeward Bound” duet from SNL50 below.
Paul Simon & Sabrina Carpenter – “Homeward Bound” – SNL 50 – 2/16/25
