If you say Nick, you say Simon. But that will soon change if it is up to the Volendam duo. Although there is no definitive split yet, the singers want to focus more on solo projects. However, success together is no guarantee for a smashing solo career. That’s how it went for other artists who started their career as an iconic duo.
By Michiel Vos
A comparison with Nick & Simon’s own idols Simon & Garfunkel is easily made. The duo, consisting of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, experienced their heyday in the sixties with hits such as The Sound Of Silence, Mrs. Robinson in Bridge Over Troubled Water.
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With the creation of the last song and the accompanying fifth album in 1970, creative differences cause a rift. Tempers run so high that the two can barely breathe or see each other in the years that follow. Although there are still some reunion performances every now and then, the two never release new music together.
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Instead, they throw themselves into their solo careers, both with considerable success. Simon releases fourteen albums, of which Graceland from 1986 with sixteen million copies sold worldwide proves to be the most successful.
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Garfunkel is slightly less productive with ten albums and also achieves significantly less success in the United States. In the UK, however, he writes the number 1 hits I Only Have Eyes For You in Bright Eyes to his name, something Simon never managed to do.