Paul Simon made his Newport Folk Festival debut with a surprise appearance during Nathaniel Rateliff’s “American Tune Revue” set on Saturday. Rateliff and his band the Night Sweats dedicated their entire show to Simon, covering a bunch of his songs before Simon himself came out to sing “Graceland,” “American Tune,” “The Boxer,” and “Sounds Of Silence.” He was joined by Rhiannon Giddens on “American Tune,” and a whole bunch of performers came out for “The Boxer.” “What a joy working with Nathaniel and his incredible band. The atmosphere at the festival was nothing short of wonderful,” Simon said.

“It’s hard to put into words the joy we felt bringing the great American songwriter Paul Simon to the Newport Folk stage,” Rateliff said. “Thank you, Paul, for your songs, your voice and your presence.” Rateliff’s set also included guest appearances from Lucius, Lukas Nelson, Marcus Mumford, Courtney Marie Andrews, Phil Cook, Natalie Merchant, Adia Victoria, and more.

Paul Simon announced his retirement from touring in 2018, and has only appeared on stage a few times since then.

Watch video of Simon’s appearance below.