Graceland (album)

Graceland
Studio album by Paul Simon
Released	August 25, 1986 (1986-08-25)
Recorded	October 1985 – June 1986
Studio	The Hit Factory New York City, London, Los Angeles, Louisiana and South Africa
Genre	Worldbeat pop rock folk afropop[1][2]
Length	43:18
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Paul Simon
Paul Simon chronology
Hearts and Bones (1983) Graceland (1986) Negotiations and Love Songs (1988)
Singles from Graceland
"You Can Call Me Al" Released: July 1986[3] "Graceland" Released: November 1986 "The Boy in the Bubble" Released: February 17, 1987 "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" Released: April 1987 "Under African Skies" Released: August 1987

Graceland is the seventh solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee and released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records. It features an eclectic mixture of genres, including pop, rock, a cappella, zydeco, and Zulu ethnic music of South Africa.

In the early 1980s, Simon's relationship with his former musical partner Art Garfunkel had deteriorated, his marriage to the actress Carrie Fisher had collapsed, and his previous record, Hearts and Bones (1983), had been a commercial failure. In 1984, after a period of depression, Simon became fascinated by a bootleg cassette of ombaqanga, South African street music. He and Halee spent two weeks in Johannesburg recording with South African musicians. Further recordings were held in the US with American musicians including Linda Ronstadt, the Everly Brothers, Good Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters and Los Lobos. Simon toured with South African musicians, performing their music and songs from Graceland.

Organizations such as Artists United Against Apartheid criticized Simon for breaking the cultural boycott on South Africa imposed for its policy of apartheid. Simon responded that Graceland was a political statement that showcased collaboration between black and white people and raised international awareness of apartheid. Some praised him for helping popularize African music in the west, while others accused him of appropriating the music of another culture. (See below, Criticism from anti-apartheid movement.)

Graceland became Simon's most successful studio album and his highest-charting album in over a decade. It is estimated to have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. It received acclaim, won the 1987 Grammy for Album of the Year, and is frequently cited as one of the best albums of all time. In 2006, it was added to the US National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".