EXCLUSIVE: Inside Paul Simon's Sad Last Days – How Iconic Music Star Sparked New Health Fears After Canceling Shows Due To Health Scares
Paul Simon sparks new health fears after canceling shows, raising concerns about his sad final days.
July 24 2025, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
Aged music icon Paul Simon has sparked new fears for his health after axing two upcoming shows over excruciating back pain – leaving insiders fearing that the Mrs. Robinson singer is headed for his last days, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Now sources fear the 83-year-old voice of multiple generations is coming to grips with heading toward the final curtain of his career – and life – as a growing raft of physical ills overwhelms him.
Agonizing Pain
Paul Simon is battling hearing loss and severe back pain.
The surprise show cancellations came as the Graceland maestro must undergo a "surgical procedure" to relieve "unmanageable" back agony.
As RadarOnline.com has reported, the condition is the latest in a string of health woes, including one that robbed the Sound of Silence singer of 96 percent of the hearing in his left ear in 2023.
The baffling and still undiagnosed hearing condition struck while Simon was working on his latest album, Seven Psalms, and kept him from touring and playing such famous hits as You Can Call Me Al.
"Quite suddenly I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it," Simon said.
Medical experts warned Simon's age makes recovery from illness increasingly unlikely.
"My reaction to that was frustration and annoyance – not quite anger yet – because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself."
But sources said only some of his hearing has returned, and that the impish 5-foot-3 singer, who rocketed to superstardom on a string of massive 1960s hits with then-partner Art Garfunkel, has become resigned to his approaching final curtain.
"It's just the age we're at," the musician noted. "Gordon Lightfoot just passed away, Jeff Beck too. My generation's time is up."
Medical experts told RadarOnline.com Paul's crippling issues are likely to grow worse – and that his adoring public should prepare for his retirement.
"At his age, hearing, nerve and joint damage are only likely to increase," said Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a Florida longevity specialist who has not treated Simon. "The older we are, the harder it is to bounce back from such serious ailments."
A music industry source said Simon seems to be having trouble accepting the inevitable, adding: "It must be total agony for him to come to terms with what is clearly a fast-approaching end."
Issues To Grow Worse
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Jeff Beck and Gordon Lightfoot's deaths have Paul Simon reflecting on his own mortality.
Medical experts told RadarOnline.com Paul's crippling issues are likely to grow worse – and that his adoring public should prepare for his retirement.
"At his age, hearing, nerve and joint damage are only likely to increase," said Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a Florida longevity specialist who has not treated Simon. "The older we are, the harder it is to bounce back from such serious ailments."
A music industry source said Simon seems to be having trouble accepting the inevitable, adding: "It must be total agony for him to come to terms with what is clearly a fast-approaching end."
