It has been a truly amazing year for Paul Simon. You're The One, his hrst studio release in more than a decade, has been lauded by critics as a brilliant album. A sold-out tour in Europe and the U.S. featuring Paul backed by his 11 piece band has been heralded from coast to coast as nothing short of spectacular. A PBS pledge special taped during his three-night stint in Paris began airing last week across the country, and Simon performed at numerous benefits including a concert for the Children's Health Fund in New York City which raised over a million dollars for the charity.
At the end of November 2000, Simon was named the Musicares (the charity event of NARAS and the Grammies) 2001 Person of the Year and will be honored at a special tribute dinner and concert in Los Angeles during Grammy week. Rolling Stone's special "People of the Year" issue included Simon with the heading Uthe return of the great songwriter." And now - the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"I am both pleased and flattered to be honored in this way," said Simon in regards to his upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, "It has been an unbelievably rich and satisfying year for me, a rare year in which I've seen my past and present work merge in a variety of moving ways."
The 16th annual induction ceremonies for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will take place March 19th at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City and will be televised live on VH1. Artists become eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first record, and criteria considered includes the influence and significance of the artist's contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. Simon has already been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one half of the duo Simon and Garfunkel.
A hypnotically beautiful and powerful album rich in emotion and energy, You're The One received four stars**** in Rolling Stone which cited the release as taking a "worthy place in Simon's esteemed body of work.n UNo one weds the conversational and cosmological-or acoustic pop and ethnological studies quite so gracefullyn claimed Entertainment Weekly, while Time Magazine praised You're The One as "Pure Simon and a reminder of what pop can be." Of his live shows, the New York Times proclaimed the evening "Full of translucent guitars and conversational vocals...its songs moving through ingenious accelerating tempos." And the Los Angeles Times said "Paul Simon remains in championship form. A songwriter whose music offers a rare blend of sophistication and warmth, commentary and wit, optimism and warning."
After a year like this, one can only wonder what's next for Simon.
2001 Entertainment Magazine/Warner Bros.