Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” is a powerful musical and vocal tour de force. It’s inspired countless covers in the half-century since it came out. Would you ever guess that one of the best would be sung by a gold miner?
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were just a couple of kids in Queens, New York when they became friends back in 1953. They learned quite a lot about music together in high school but then went their separate ways. Neither saw much success in his solo career and almost as if it was destined to be, they were a musical team again by the early 1960s. They specialized in folk rock with influences from gospel and Latin music. When Columbia Records signed them, the timing could not have been better: folk music was about to become massively popular. “The Sound of Silence,” which topped the charts in 1965 represented their real breakthrough, putting them on a path that saw them rack up an amazing 13 Grammy Awards. Behind the scenes, Simon and Garfunkel’s artistic temperaments often flared and while this tension did help with creativity, it sent them on their separate ways in 1970.
After getting several business ventures off the ground, Todd Hoffmann embarked on a career as a professional gold prospector. He ended up becoming one of the stars of the reality TV show “Gold Rush” which chronicles the sagas of several family-run gold mining companies. Listening to him sing “The Sound of Silence,” you would swear he’s not only a professional singer, but a very famous one, perhaps an opera star. As you’ll see (and hear) in the video posted below, Hoffmann’s has a powerful singing voice with tremendous range. Little wonder his performance has racked up over 7 million views.
Impressed by Todd Hoffmann’s golden voice? We’d love to see your review in the comments section below. Don’t forget to like and share!
