Paul Simon to end touring career in NY

Paul Simon has plans for a final concert in New York on Sept 22, but has not specified the location. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

LOS ANGELES •Folk rock legend Paul Simon has not forgotten his home town New York.

Fans were initially surprised when the 76-year-old last month announced a farewell tour that would take him across North America and Europe, but without a New York stopover.

But on Monday, Simon showed he was Homeward Bound, the Simon and Garfunkel hit in 1966. He announced plans to close out his touring career with a last series of concerts in New York.

Revealing new dates, he said he will play on Sept 15 in nearby Newark, New Jersey, where he was born and spent his first few years, before concerts on Sept 20 and 21 in New York.

He also has plans for a final concert in New York on Sept 22, although he did not immediately specify the location.

"I've often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I'd consider bringing my performing career to a natural end," he said in a statement. "Now I know: It feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating and something of a relief."

But another native New York son, Jay-Z, is set for further road adventures, with a Monday announcement of a joint tour with his wife Beyonce that starts on June 6 in the Welsh city of Cardiff.

The 36-date tour will cover Europe, before a North American leg that closes on Oct 2 in Vancouver.

Beyonce announced the tour in a series of posts to her 112 million Instagram followers, including a black-and-white photo in which the couple pose sensually astride a motorcycle, with an Old West-style bull's skull on the front.

Beyonce is set to return to the stage next month to headline Coachella, the biggest-name US music festival, in her first performance since giving birth to the couple's second and third children.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 14, 2018, with the headline Paul Simon to end touring career in NY. Subscribe