In 1996, Art Garfunkel held his New York fans smitten when he invited his wife, Kathryn “Kim” Cermak, and six-year-old son, James, on stage for a surprise family duet during his show at Ellis Island’s Registry Hall.
Now, more than thirty years later, fans still can’t get over how adorable this moment was, as the video goes viral all over again, racking up more than 3.8 million views to date. But for some viewers, it’s not Art’s deathless talent that’s snatching attention, but his son’s squeaky voice and a near-disaster faced by Kim as their family performance reached its peak. Music Man readers can watch it all unfold in the video below…
Singing “The 59th Street Bridge Song / Feelin’ Groovy,” Art starts his performance singing alone with his band. Between his flawless lyrics, Art looks over with anticipation to the stage wings, soon flashing a hand which sends six-year-old James running out to center stage for a father-son duet.
James’ pipsqueak voice is an unexpectedly perfect balance to Art’s deeper tones, his confidence making Art gleam with smiles and almost lose his cool mid-performance, unable to contain his pride and adoration.
However, as Simon & Garfunkel fans stumble across this YouTube clip, it’s not only James’ voice that is winning them over, but his uncanny resemblance to his famous father. From their candyfloss hairstyle to their spot-on facial features, James is a carbon copy of his old man, leading one top commenter to joke, “That kid is a work of Art!” and another to write, “The Garfunkel head. We won’t be needing a DNA thing here sir, thank you.”
But then, wife Kim almost levels the show when she comes close to an on-stage disaster. While Art and James are grooving in a picture-perfect moment, Kim awkwardly rushes out on stage mid-lyric and joins her family’s harmony, giving the hilarious impression that she’d missed her cue and had dashed into the spotlight at the very last moment. Nevertheless, Kim slides straight into place, her harmonies filling in the blank between Art and James’ vocal ranges as the family wraps up their performance as one.
This performance has held lifelong Garfunkel fans spellbound, with one even reckoning, “This is the best rendition of this song, ever. Adding the voice of his son and his wife at the end just put it up there as a very unique jewel of a feel-good song.”