Daily SumUp

He’s still driving them crazy after all these years.

Paul Simon retired from touring in 2018, ending his farewell tour with a concert at Flushing Meadow Park in the New York borough of Queens, where he grew up.

Since then, the legendary singer-songwriter has rarely performed while coping with hearing loss in his left ear. But the 82-year-old icon stepped back onto the stage for a private, intimate performance on Monday night at the Soho Sessions loft space.

The star-studded event — drawing everyone from Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Bacon and Mariska Hargitay to Whoopi Goldberg, Amy Schumer and Jackson Browne — was all to benefit the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss.

“This is the type of room that is conducive for him to play in at this stage with his hearing, and I think there was just mutual trust,” said Greg Williamson, who produces and curates Soho Sessions with Nicole Rechter to benefit various causes. “And we approached him about it, and the team trusted us, and it all worked out.”

“It gave him a space to be able to play in an environment that worked for where he’s at with his hearing, as well as amplifying the cause that’s really important to him, that’s doing great work,” added Rechter, who with Williamson and designer John Varvatos, has also produced the annual Love Rocks NYC benefit for God’s Love We Deliver.

From the moment he stepped into the Soho Sessions loft — located at the former site of Chung King Studios — Simon felt right at home.

“I think when he walked in here initially, he was felt immediately at home because of the intimacy of the room,” said Williamson. “There’s kind of music and soulfulness in the DNA of the building. And I think he instantly saw all these pictures on the wall from our Love Rocks concerts … with so many artists that he knows and is friends with and respects.”