Summary
- Howard Stern has transformed into one of the best celebrity interviewers.
- Stern has a love for Paul McCartney and The Beatles as well as Paul Simon.
- Stern and Paul Simon's relationship was complicated prior to their September 20th, 2023 interview.
Howard Stern may have once been best known as a shock jock eager to push every boundary known to humankind, but in recent years he's transformed. Without a doubt, the host of SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show has become one of the best celebrity interviewers of all time. So much so that even celebrities who he's once bashed, such as Demi Lovato, have come on his radio show.
Why? Not only do Stern's interviews spark tremendous press and market to a wealthy subscriber-based audience, but they're also enlightening. The self-proclaimed King of All Media and former America's Got Talent judge has a gift for getting famous people to open up, spill their secrets, and generally entertain. This is, without question, what happened during Stern's September 20th, 2023 interview with music legend Paul Simon.
Here's the truth about Howard Stern's relationship with the former Simon & Garfunkel frontman prior to the interview...
Howard Stern's Best Interviews With Musicians
Howard Stern has been incredibly vocal about his love for Paul McCartney and The Beatles. Therefore it makes sense why McCartney has become a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show. Not only does he receive adequate praise, but Stern is genuinely interested in McCartney's work and asks insightful questions.
On the flip side, Stern has admitted that he wasn't a big fan of Bruce Springsteen for the longest time. In fact, it took him watching his Broadway play to really fall in love with his work. Not long after, Springsteen appeared on The Stern Show, burying a past feud.
The October 2022 has gone down as one of Stern's best, according to The New York Post. It's arguably his greatest interview with a musician.
However, Stern has also had some stellar interviews with other musical talents, including Joe Walsh, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Snoop Dogg, Metallica, Dave Grohl and The Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, Pitbull, Kelly Clarkson, Steven Tyler, Pink, Ed Sheeran, Neil Young, Harry Styles, and Carrie Underwood. Many of these names have been included on lists of Stern's greatest interviews ever.
Without a doubt, Paul Simon has been added to this list following his September 20th appearance on The Howard Stern Show. The interview shed light on Simon's early years in the music industry as well as how he's acclimatized in his later years following his hearing loss. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
So, much of the success of Paul Simon's interview on The Stern Show comes down to the relationship between the two.
Howard Stern's Relationship With Paul Simon Before Their Interview On His Show
Howard Stern has certainly bashed a lot of celebrities only later to praise them during interviews. Paul Simon, however, is not one of them. Stern has always been a fan of Simon's contributions to the music industry. In fact, the music legend has come up on The Stern Show numerous times in the past. Albeit, not always in the most flattering ways.
One of the first signs of Stern's adoration of Simon came in the form of an early 1980s song parody. That would be "50 Ways To Rank Your Mother", which is a hilarious, absurd, politically incorrect, and downright crude parody of Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover".
The parody song was sung by Stern with help from his head writer, producer, and sound-effects wiz, Fred Norris.
"50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" was parodied on The Stern Show again decades later with a song about Caitlyn Jenner.
In 2007, Stern publicly praised Paul Simon's special on PBS. The program honored Simon's work and earned him the first-ever George Gershwin Award. The on-air discussion about the special then turned into one about Simon's height. Stenr's former co-host, Artie Lange, claimed that he had met Simon onc and was blown away by how short he was. With Stern listening, Lange said that Simon was "oddly small" almost like "a midget".
For the record, Paul Simon is 5'3, according to The Daily Mail.
It's unknown whether or not Howard Stern ever met Paul Simon before a chance encounter in a men's room in 2012. However, this appeared to be their first noteworthy interaction.
During a 2012 show, Stern revealed that he ran into Simon in a bathroom at Nobu in New York. Stern claimed to be genuinely starstruck, calling Simon one of his "heroes". Fortunately, meeting him didn't turn out to be a disappointment as Simon approached Stern and asked him how he was doing.
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“And I’m washing my hands. I said, ‘Doing great. Going to the Knick game,'" Stern said to his co-host Robin Quivers and his radio audience. The former shock jock then remarked that he totally understood why Simon's wife, Edie Brickell, was attracted to him.
Stern then took the opportunity to praise Simon for his contributions to the music industry. Stern claimed to told Simon he following:
"I want to thank you for some of the most incredible music in the world, and I know you’ve probably heard this a million times, but I want to tell you how much you mean to me and how much your music means."
The radio legend appeared to be extremely pleased with his chance encounter with Simon but then joked, "It was sad, because Art Garfunkel was also there, but he was busing tables."
Stern's joke about Art Garfunkel, Simon's former collaborator, continued in the days leading up to their 2023 interview. During this period, Stern shed a little more light on his relationship with Simon. As well as just how much Stern adores his music.
Paul Simon was someone Stern was eager to book on his show for years, but due to not having a close relationship, it took an extremely long time. Stern and his producer Gary Dell'Abate claimed that Simon may have also had some other concerns that prevented him from coming on air sooner.
But a phone call in the summer of 2023 changed everything. Stern claimed that he and Simon spoke at length on the phone. This eased the "Scarborough Fair" singer into the idea of sitting down with Stern. And the rest is history...
