INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Simon & Garfunkel Top The Charts With ‘The Sound Of Silence’ 52 Years After Release Thanks To Ben Affleck And Disturbed

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 23:50 PST, Apr 7, 2016

One of Simon & Garfunkel’s biggest songs from the 1960s is getting its second wind. The Simon & Garfunkel classic “The Sound of Silence” is charting high on music charts after two viral videos have people streaming and searching for it.

According to Billboard, “The Sound of Silence,” which was recorded by Simon & Garfunkel in 1964 and later featured on the soundtrack to The Graduate, is charting on the Hot Rock Songs chart and the Streaming Songs chart, at No. 6 and No. 2, respectively, 52 years after the folk-rock duo recorded it. The song has been downloaded more than 5,000 times and streamed more than 5.6 million times, mostly on YouTube, which marks a 582 percent jump from its usual numbers.

But why is the Simon & Garfunkel classic getting so much attention? Simon & Garfunkel can thank two unlikely suspects: Ben Affleck and heavy metal band Disturbed.

“The Sound of Silence” is featured in a “Sad Affleck” YouTube clip in which Ben Affleck looks sad while his Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice co-star Henry Cavill talks about the negative reviews of their movie. You can see the video below.

In addition, hard rock group Disturbed recently covered the Simon & Garfunkel song and performed it on Conan O’Brien’s late-night show last month, causing curious viewers to search for the original. You can see Disturbed’s version of the song below.

Simon & Garfunkel legend Paul Simon reportedly gave Disturbed’s version of his classic song a thumbs-up. Loudwire posted Simon’s response to Disturbed’s cover of the song in which he praised lead singer David Draiman for the band’s Conan performance. Simon called the cover a “really powerful performance,” and Draiman thanked Simon and said his band had “only hoped to pay homage and honor to the brilliance of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.”

Of course, “The Sound of Silence” was featured in one of the most iconic movie scenes of all times, when Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross hopped a bus at the end of the 1967 movie The Graduate. The soundtrack to the movie was a smash hit, making Simon & Garfunkel a household name.

But just four years later, at the height of their success, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel called it quits. There has been much speculation over the duo’s demise, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, Simon & Garfunkel called it quits after a falling out over a movie role in Mike Nichols’ 1970 movie Catch-22. The rift apparently occurred after both men were offered roles in the film, but Simon’s role was then cut.

A decade later, the pair reunited for their famous 1981 concert in New York’s Central Park. A planned 2010 tour was scrapped due to Garfunkel’s vocal cord paresis, but the singer blames Simon for their continued estrangement. In 2014, Art told Rolling Stone he’d gladly work with Paul again but that his old musical partner seems “too busy” to work with him.

“It takes two to tango. I don’t want to be the blushing bride waiting for Paul Simon to walk down the aisle…I know that audiences all over the world like Simon and Garfunkel. I’m with them. But I don’t think Paul Simon’s with them.”

For now, Paul Simon has a new album, Stranger to Stranger, due out June 3, while Art Garfunkel’s last studio release was the album Some Enchanted Evening in 2007. Still, who’d have thought this dynamic duo would chart a hit together 52 years after they recorded it?

[Photo by Central Press/Getty Images]

Share this article: Simon & Garfunkel Top The Charts With ‘The Sound Of Silence’ 52 Years After Release Thanks To Ben Affleck And Disturbed
Ben Affleck
More from Inquisitr