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Music Legend, 84, Reveals the Secret to His 37-Year Marriage

Art Garfunkel offered a surprising twist on an age-old piece of marital advice.

Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

PublishedJun 26, 2026, 3:59 PM EDT

UpdatedJun 26, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT

Updated Jun 26, 2026, 4:00 PM EDTPublished Jun 26, 2026, 3:59 PM EDT

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Never go to bed angry. Don’t wait to apologize. Treat marriage as a team sport. This is the advice every engaged couple hears ahead of their nuptials. But for one half of legendary 1960s folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, some rules need not apply—or at least allow for some leeway.

Art Garfunkel, 84, revealed his unique relationship wisdom from 37 years with his wife in an interview with People published on Friday.

​The smooth-voiced singer-songwriter met his future wife, Kathryn “Kim” Garfunkel (nee Cermack), while filming the 1984 thriller-musical Good to Go.

The pair married four years later at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in New York City. The stunning institution is just a short drive from Queens, the borough where Art grew up and met his childhood friend and musical partner, Paul Simon.

Contrary to conventional marital guidance that instructs couples to avoid going to sleep while still upset, Art and Kim suggest cooling off before reconvening.

​“We never get into a fight that lasts,” Art told People.

He continued, “If we go to sleep and we’ve fought, we make it up the next morning, so it wouldn’t be two days in a row of turning our back on each other.”

Of course, it helps to have a partner who, even after nearly four decades, still talks about you the way the “Sound of Silence” crooner speaks of Kim.

“I’m crazy about my wife,” he said, adding, “We never let a fight last. I can’t live without my wife being in accord.”

Art has spent much of his life performing, including a sixth-grade production of Alice in Wonderland in which he played the Cheshire Cat while Simon played the White Rabbit.

Much of Paul Simon, 84, and Art Garfunkel’s most famous works were created as Simon & Garfunkel, including Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964), Sounds of Silence (1966), and Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970). Still, the pair had a notoriously tense relationship.

In contrast to his solid 37-plus years with Kim, Art and Simon frequently split up and reunited several times throughout their partnership, including a legendary 1981 Central Park performance.

​Though he was the other half of the Grammy-winning duo for years, Art said his partnership with Kim reflects his outlook on teamwork.

​He told People, “It all changed [when I met her]. That was the end of putting me in the center of my life. Now I’m giving to another. I’m one of two.”

Art has previously described Kim, a trained actress, model, and singer, as his “co-vocalist,” regularly bringing her onstage during performances.

​The couple’s two sons share their performative talents.

Arthur Garfunkel Jr., 35, followed in his father’s footsteps and pursued a career in singing. In 1997, the father-son pair duetted on Garfunkel’s solo album, Songs from a Parent to a Child, and went on to release a collaborative album, Father and Son, in 2024.

Their younger son, Beau Garfunkel, 20, born in 2005, is also a talented musician. The composer, performer, and harpist attends the Berklee College of Music and has performed with his family.

​“I come from a great family, and I always thought that’s a major part of life, to have a family. I experienced it in a wonderful way when I was a kid,” Art said.

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Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

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