Paul Simon Reveals He's Lost Most of the Hearing in His Left Ear: 'I Thought It Would Pass'

The Grammy-winning singer, 81, said the hearing loss may cause him to step away from touring

Paul Simon revealed that he's lost most of the hearing in his left ear.

The Grammy-winning singer, 81, shared the news during an interview with The Times, explaining that he's not sure of the cause.

"Quite suddenly I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it," he told the outlet. "So everything became more difficult. My reaction to that was frustration and annoyance; not quite anger yet, because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself."

Simon said he lost his hearing while working on his new album, Seven Psalms, which dropped last week. Despite the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician assuming his hearing would repair itself, it hasn’t. Now, he said the hearing loss will likely impact his concerts, allowing him to step away from performing songs he's not a fan of.

"The songs of mine that I don't want to sing live, I don't sing them," he said. "Sometimes there are songs that I like and then at a certain point in a tour, I’ll say, 'What the f— are you doing, Paul?' Quite often that would come during 'You Can Call Me Al.' I'd think, 'What are you doing? You're like a Paul Simon cover band. You should get off the road, go home.'"

RELATED: 1 Billion Young People at Risk of Hearing Loss Through Listening to Music Too Loudly

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Simon admitted that he may not be able to go on tour again, thinking about the reality of aging and noting the recent deaths of fellow musicians Gordon Lightfoot and ​​Jeff Beck.

"My generation's time is up," the "Graceland" singer told the outlet.

However, Simon said he’s doing well and is not ready to go just yet, regardless of his hearing loss and recovery from a bad case of COVID.

"Boy, have I been beaten up in these last couple of years," he added. "But I look good, right?"

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