Simon, 84, opened up in an interview with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/a>, posted April 3, about how he first found fame. In 1964, he told Colbert, he moved to London and lived there for two years.<\/p>\n While in London, his music evolved. \u201cI love that music. Fell in love with that music,\u201d he said. He also \u201clearned a lot about guitar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI originally started out playing electric guitar, then I switched to acoustic and I learned how to finger pick,\u201d he remembered. \u201cI learned a lot and I was playing like that.\u201d He remembered that he would play shows at \u201cfolk clubs,\u201d which were \u201creally just rooms above a pub.\u201d<\/p>\n Art Garfunkel (left) and Paul Simon in 1966 \u201cSometimes they had a mic, sometimes they didn’t have a mic,\u201d he said, noting they helped \u201cmaybe\u201d 50 to 75 people. \u201cAnd I learned how to be an act, how to put together a set and talk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Colbert, 61, noted that Simon was overseas when \u201cThe Sound of Silence\u201d became a hit in America. The song, recorded by Simon and Art Garfunkel<\/a>, was originally released in 1964 and did not do well. A year later, in September 1965, it was released again, with a remix that included overdubbed electric instruments and drums.<\/p>\n Colbert asked how Simon knew the song was a hit since he didn\u2019t have any Internet. \u201cWell, there was a there a magazine called Cashbox,\u201d he explained. A music-industry trade magazine, it was published from 1942 to 1996. \u201cThey used to have the top 100 and then what they called bubbling under, which was 100 to 120,\u201d he remembered. \u201cAnd Arty says to me, \u2018You know, we’re like 111 on bubbling under.\u2019 I said, \u2018Really?\u2019 And then the next week we were 101.\u201d<\/p>\n The week after, Simon was heading to Denmark to play a show. \u201cI knew that that was [when] the new publication of Cashbox would come out,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I’m waiting around and waiting around till the publisher’s office opened, and I went in there, and I got the magazine, and I said, \u2018I just can’t bear to look at it.\u2019 Because I know if it comes in anywhere between 100 and 80, you’re not going to have a hit.\u201d<\/p>\n Art Garfunkel (left) and Paul Simon in 1966 He mimicked checking the bottom of the list. \u201cI just sort of quickly go, \u2018Good it’s not there.\u2019\u201d Then he checked between 80 and 70 and saw it wasn\u2019t there either. \u201cOkay, that could be good,\u201d Simon thought.<\/p>\n He slowly started looking at the list, one at a time. Finally, he saw it at 59.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, I never forget this, I said, \u2018My life is irrevocably changed.\u2019 It was,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Sound of Silence\u201d ultimately hit Cashbox\u2019s No. 1 spot on January 29, 1966. It also hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Simon & Garfunkel<\/a> continued to mix together folk and rock music, and had hits with songs like “Homeward Bound,\u201d “I Am a Rock,\u201d “Mrs. Robinson,\u201d “The Boxer,\u201d \u201cCecilia\u201d and \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Art](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/95b1ed1f4c134d3126671e334d10ce9b.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Hulton Archive\/Getty<\/p>\n![\"Art](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4c08e908468e3ffb9705f1319d5a2c99.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: CBS Photo Archive\/Getty<\/p>\n