Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Simon & Garfunkel's 'Concert in Central Park'

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunited in front of a reported 500,000 fans for a free concert in New York's Central Park. Although the duo had performed together several times after their 1970 break up — The ConcertIn Central Park was Simon & Garfunkel's first, fully-fledged reunion show.

The Concert In Central Park with Simon & Garfunkel is one of the most famous concerts in music history and forty years later - it still gives us goosebumps.

They kicked off with "Mrs. Robinson" and 19 other songs then majestically followed, which included a handful of Simon's solo hits and one new number from each as a cherry on the top.

Read more: Special Edition release of 'Let It Be' by The Beatles 

Why is this concert so special to music lovers around the world? 

The duo did what nobody thought they would do again; they reunited in September 1981 for a free concert in New York City's legendary Central Park.

Celebrated for their intimately beautiful harmonies, but no stranger to the tragedy of many group's; Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel could barely stand the sight of each other by the time of 1970's Bridge Over Troubled Water trickled throughout the world. 

In 1971, they called it quits. So what brought them together 9 years later?

Their love for something a lot more special than their hate for each other..

When their hometown, New York City, asked them to reunite to raise funds to renovate Central Park, they decided to call an end to their feud and come together for an amazing cause. An estimated 500,000 people crammed into the park's Great Lawn for the event. The concert was recorded and released as a live album.

When we bring these stories together it's easy to understand why we're still celebrating this concert 40 years later.

Read more: Mama Mia, here we go again. ABBA reunion and new music after 40 years 

Take our poll below and tell us which Simon & Garfunke song is your favourite:

For loads of fantastic 60s, 70s and 80s classics, listen to East Coast Gold via the ECR app or here. 

We’re also on various other platforms, including Alexa (just enable the ‘East Coast Gold’ skill), MyTuner, Radio Garden, iono.fm, Radioline or OpenRadio.

Who's on-air when?

Gordon Graham, weekdays 6-10am and Sundays 2-6pm.
Jane Linley-Thomas, weekdays 10am-1 pm.
Damon Beard, weekdays 1-5pm.
Dave Guselli, weekdays 5-9pm and Saturdays, 2-6pm.
Guy McDonald, weekends 6-10am.
Alex Jay, Saturdays 10am – 2pm.
Jill Stewart, Sundays 10am - 2pm.

Main image attribution: Wikimedia Commons