(born 1941) Enduring, popular songwriter/performer since the early 1960s. Simon combined with Queens, New York schoolmate, Art Garfunkel, as Simon and Garfunkel, gaining recognition with the 1965 hit “The Sound of Silence.” The duo’s songs struck a chord with alienated adolescents from middle-class suburbs, an association intensified by their soundtrack for The Graduate (1967). Yet after even greater success with “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970), the two singers separated. Simon continued briefly as a successful solo performer with “There goes Rhymin’ Simon” (1973) and “Still Crazy after all these Years” (1975). Later, South African influences revitalized his career in “Graceland” (1986), for which he won his second Grammy. Initially criticized for breaking the boycott of South Africa, after the end of Apartheid, Simon came to be hailed as one of the founders of “World Music.”