Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were raised in late 1940s Queens New York. The duo met in the Key Gardens Hills public elementary schools, growing close from a shared love of music. Eventually, the due wrote their first song titled The Girl for Me during their time at Forest Hills High School in 1956, which garnered the attention of Sid Prosen, who signed them on to his independent label Big Records when they were 15.

Under the name “Tom and Jerry” Big Records helped release their first single Hey, School Girl, which hit the 49th spot on Billboard’s charts. Once the due graduated highschool, they briefly parted ways to separate colleges to continue their higher education, during which a brief spat left them creating music separately as solo artists.

After graduating, Simon and Garfunkel got back together and were eventually signed on to Colombia Records as Simon & Garfunkel, debuing their studio album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M in October 1964.

One of the duos most successful songs A Sound of Silence topped the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over one million copies by January 1966, gaining more popularity after the song was used in the 1967 Mike Nichols film The Graduate.

Simon & Garfunkel became one of the most influential American folk rock artists on the 1960s. Winning numerous awards including seven Grammys and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame spot, the duo are considered to be one of Rolling Stones greatest musical duos of all time, coming at the third spot on the list.