Simon & Garfunkel

With Bookends (1968), the duo solidified their most polished sound, but it also marked the beginning of their creative tensions. The album includes Mrs. Robinson, a track that won the Grammy for Record of the Year and became a generational anthem. However, behind the scenes, the differences between Simon and Garfunkel became more evident. Success had united them, but it also distanced them: one sought to explore new musical horizons, while the other preferred to stay in the safe zone. That tension exploded in 1970 with Bridge over Troubled Water, their last studio album, which sold millions but sealed their separation. The titular track, with its sweeping piano and comforting lyrics, became one of the most covered songs in history.

After the breakup, each went their own way. Simon explored more global sounds in Graceland (1986), an album that blended folk with African rhythms and earned him another Grammy. Garfunkel, for his part, alternated between music—with hits like Bright Eyes, which topped the UK charts in 1979—and film, with roles in movies like Catch-22 (1970). Even so, their most memorable reunion was their concert in New York's Central Park in 1981, where over half a million people heard them play together for the first time in a decade. That day was immortalized as one of the most massive shows in history.

Amid awards and accolades—seven Grammys, four Hall of Fame inductions, and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990—what endures of Simon & Garfunkel is not just their numbers, but that unique way of making songs sound as if they had always existed. Their music remains the perfect bridge: between melancholy and hope, between the personal and the universal.