Paul Simon Announces ‘The Farewell Performance’
Paul Simon will close out London's British Summer Time Hyde Park 2018 festival on July 15, with opening sets by James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt. The concert is being billed Simon's "Farewell Performance."
“There is no finer way to close Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park 2018 than watching Paul Simon take London on a musical odyssey through one of the most remarkable songbooks in history," Senior Vice President of AEG Presents James King said in a press release. "Paul, James and Bonnie all together on the Great Oak Stage has to be the show of the summer and a truly unmissable event.”
There's no official statement from Simon yet about whether this will be his last-ever concert or just his final show on British soil. Two years ago, the 76-year-old singer-songwriter acknowledged that he was "coming toward the end,” adding, “Showbiz doesn’t hold any interest for me. None."
Simon's news comes on the heels of a pair of classic rockers preparing to say goodbye to the road. Lynyrd Skynyrd will spend the spring and summer on what they're calling the Last of the Street Survivors Farewell tour, and Elton John has revealed plans for a huge Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, where he's expected to play 300 shows around the world over the course of three years. Eric Clapton, who has been talking about retirement for a while now as a result of chronic health issues, is also scheduled to play Hyde Park this year. It's the only date on his concert calendar for 2018.