As the Grammys return as a big-scale live event this year, so is the tradition of filming a tribute to a superstar musician in the days following the awards show, with the 2022 honoree being Paul Simon, who’ll be saluted by an all-star cast at L.A.’s Pantages Theatre.
“Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon” will be filmed April 6, three days after the Grammys, with a CBS air date to be determined for later in the year. Ken Ehrlich is reprising the role he’s had in the past as the annual salute’s executive producer.
Among the performers booked for the tribute are Brandi Carlile, Dave Matthews, Rhiannon Giddens, Brad Paisley, Angélique Kidjo, Little Big Town, Billy Porter, Trombone Shorty, Shaggy, Take 6 and Irma Thomas.
Other names will be announced closer to the show date, including a handful of performers who will pre-tape their performances prior to the Pantages filming.
Tickets go on sale to the public this Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
Previous “Grammy Salute” specials have honored artists like Prince, Elton John, Whitney Houston, the Bee Gees and the Beatles.
“The other ones we’ve done, each time, wanting to do one for Paul was in the back of my mind,” Ehrlich says. “With the breadth of his catalog, I don’t know an artist I’ve ever talked to that has had anything other than utmost respect for him. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and ‘American Tune’ are two of my five most treasured songs,” he notes, while declining to name which artists he’s earmarked for which songs.
“I’ve known Paul for more than 40 years. I first met him when Paul and I did what I think was one of the first HBO music specials, in 1980,” Ehrlich notes. “Doing it this year really solidified the last time we worked together, which was on the Global Citizen special in Central Park last September, where he closed the show with ‘Sound of Silence.’ I knew we were thinking about doing the next one of these, and it was then it was clear it really needs to be Paul Simon.”
The honoree himself will perform at the Pantages taping. Simon retired from touring when he wrapped up his farewell tour in 2018, but as he made clear at the time, he was not quitting live performances altogether.
Simon has long been associated with the Grammys as a winner as well as performer, still holding the high mark for record of the year, and sharing the record (unless Taylor Swift were to break it this year) for three wins for album of the year.
