Paul Simon Cancels Concert Dates Due to Health Scare, Undergoes Surgery Amid Ongoing Tour

Music legend Paul Simon has canceled two highly anticipated concerts after suffering from what his team described as “chronic and intense back pain,” prompting immediate surgery. The 83-year-old icon was scheduled to perform at Philadelphia’s historic Academy of Music on June 28 and 29 as part of his ongoing “A Quiet Celebrations” tour. However, fans were notified just hours before the shows that both dates were being scrapped.

“Today it became unmanageable and demands immediate attention,” read a statement posted to Simon’s official Instagram page. “Regretfully, Paul Simon must cancel two shows tonight June 28 and tomorrow night June 29… Unfortunately, we have to cancel these shows at this time, as we don’t have the ability to reschedule them.”

According to the announcement, Simon is slated to undergo a “minor surgical procedure” in the coming days, with hopes that he will resume the remaining tour dates later this summer. The cancellation left concertgoers disappointed, though most seemed understanding given the artist’s age and health circumstances.

The tour, which kicked off in April and was set to wrap in Seattle by August, was a rare return to the stage for Simon, who announced his retirement from touring back in 2018. At the time, he cited the toll of travel and the strain of being away from his family as key reasons for stepping back from live performances. “It feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief,” he wrote then.

Despite stepping away from the touring circuit, Simon surprised fans earlier this year with the launch of his “A Quiet Celebrations” tour—an intimate series of concerts in acoustically refined venues to support his deeply personal album, Seven Psalms. The performances were intentionally designed to accommodate Simon’s own hearing challenges, after he revealed in 2023 that he had lost most of the hearing in his left ear while working on the record.

“Quite suddenly I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it,” Simon told The Times. “So, everything became more difficult. My reaction to that was frustration and annoyance; not quite anger yet, because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself.”

Still, the revered singer-songwriter pushed forward, creating Seven Psalms, a reflective and spiritual collection that explores themes of life, death, and redemption. The album even features a duet with his wife of over 30 years, singer Edie Brickell, in its final verses: “Heaven is beautiful / It’s almost like home / Children, get ready / It’s time to come home.”

The couple shares three children—Adrian Edward, Lulu, and Gabriel Elijah—and have often collaborated both musically and personally over the years.

Simon’s deeply introspective late-career work has only deepened the reverence fans feel for the man whose voice shaped generations. With hits like “The Sound of Silence,” “Graceland,” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” Paul Simon remains one of the most influential American songwriters of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Before marrying Brickell, Simon had a brief but widely publicized marriage to actress and writer Carrie Fisher. The couple wed in August 1983, but divorced just under a year later, maintaining an on-again-off-again relationship that would color both their lives for years.

As for the canceled Philadelphia concerts, ticket holders have been advised to contact local vendors for full refunds. No rescheduled dates have been announced, and representatives for Simon have not provided further comment.

The news serves as a sobering reminder of the physical toll that performance can take—even on seasoned veterans—and underscores the fragility of what may be one of Simon’s final tours. Still, fans remain hopeful that after his upcoming procedure, the iconic artist will return to the stage to complete what has been described as one of the most spiritually resonant tours of his career.

For now, all eyes remain on Simon’s recovery and the next steps in this remarkable chapter of a life that continues to evolve, create, and inspire.