Graceland  by Paul Simon

In 1986, Paul Simon made a comeback in the recording industry with Graceland after a three-year absence, pleasantly surprising both critics and his audience. In fact, the 16,000,000 copies that the album managed to sell worldwide likely increased even further the fans of his music and songs.

Graceland impressed with its aesthetics, which on one hand was rooted in pop music, but on the other hand gained interest with the worldbeat and afrobeat musical elements that were scattered here and there, but in a balanced way. The album was produced by the artist himself. The first single from the album was "You Can Call Me Al," which became one of Paul Simon's greatest hits of his career, with the delightful music video monopolizing MTV broadcasts. In the video clip, we see Paul Simon and actor Chevy Chase singing together, or rather the actor mouthing the words.

Paul Simon's seventh album was destined to be the peak of his personal career. However, Graceland was also a point of contention between Paul Simon and the organization Artists United Against Apartheid, as there was a boycott by many artists against the South African regime at the time. The friction arose from Simon's decision to tour the country and present his new work there.