They met in elementary school in 1953, when they both



appeared in the school play Alice in Wonderland.They formed

the group Tom and Jerry in 1957, and had their first taste

of success with the minor hit "Hey Schoolgirl." The duo

split up, and Simon continued to struggle to make it in the

music business as a songwriter and occasional performer,

sometimes using the names of Jerry Landis or Tico & the

Triumphs.

When they re-teamed, it was as a folk duo, though Simon's

pop roots would serve the act well in their material's

synthesis of folk and pop influences. Signing to Columbia,

they recorded an initially unsuccessful acoustic debut (as

Simon and Garfunkel, not Tom and Jerry) in 1964, Wednesday

Morning, 3 A.M. They again went their separate ways, Simon

moving to England, where he played the folk circuit and

recorded an obscure solo album.

Then with the help of Tom Wilson they reunited and made a

serious go at a recording career, Simon returning from the

U.K. to the U.S. In 1966 and 1967 they were regular visitors

to the pop charts with some of the best folk-rock of the

era, including "Homeward Bound," "I Am a Rock," and "A

Hazy Shade of Winter."

Their final studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, was

an enormous hit, topping the charts for ten weeks, and

containing four hit singles (the title track, "The Boxer,"

"Cecilia," and "El Condor Pasa").A 1981 concert in New

York's Central Park attracted half a million fans, and was

commemorated with a live album; they also toured in the

early '80s, but a planned studio was canceled.

Simon and Garfunkel were among the most popular recording

artists of the 1960s, and are best known for their songs

"The Sound of

Mrs Robinson",[The Theme Song Of The

Graduate] "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "The Boxer."

They have received several Grammys and are inductees of the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Long Island Music Hall

of Fame (2007). In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Simon

and Garfunkel #40 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists

of All Time.