Paul Simon played surprise Newport Folk set with Nathaniel Rateliff & more (video)

While Paul Simon officially retired from touring in 2018, he's returned to the stage for the occasional performance since then — including at last year's Global Citizen Fest — and most recently at Newport Folk Festival, where he helped close out the day on Saturday (7/23). He appeared during Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats' "American Tune Review" tribute to Simon, which started out as a guest-filled collection of covers: "Mother and Child Reunion" (with Lucius), "Kodachrome," "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (with Lee Fields), "St. Judy's Comet" (with Midlake), "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" (with Natalie Merchant, Adia Victoria, and The Silk Road Ensemble), "Homeward Bound" (with Lukas Nelson), "Cecilia" (with Marcus Mumford and Natalie Merchant), "Slip Slidin' Away" (with Courtney Marie Andrews), and more.

Nathaniel welcomed Paul to the stage for "Graceland," and he played three more songs: "American Tune" with Rhiannon Giddens, a big group singalong of "The Boxer," and a solo acoustic rendition of "Sounds of Silence" to close out the day. Watch video from the set below.

Newport Folk has traditionally been a hotbed of surprise collaborations and other special sets; this year's edition started off on Friday with Courtney Barnett joining Dinosaur Jr. and Anaïs Mitchell, Cassandra Jenkins, Adia Victoria, and Hannah Georgas joining The National.

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