Paul Simon reflects on 'whirlwind' marriage with Carrie Fisher

Paul Simon reminisces about his brief marriage to Carrie Fisher, describing it as a "whirlwind" experience.

The 82-year-old singer-songwriter has spoken about their connection in various interviews, and this has been documented in a recently released documentary called In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.

In one interview, Simon recalls, "I got married in the middle of the reunion tour [with Art Garfunkel]. Carrie Fisher and I got married."

He goes on to explain a key difference between himself and Fisher, who was well-known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise.

“Carrie was much more show business-oriented," he said. "I went along with that — that’s the world that she grew up with; she was used to it. She was used to a lot of press and things like that. It wasn’t intimidating or anything. She knew how to manipulate it and make it work for her. She was really good at it, and I wasn’t.”

In an interview, Simon's longtime friend and best man at his 1983 marriage to Fisher, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, stated, “For the engagement, we went to Greece. Paul chartered a boat. I was seasick for three days — at the rail praying for death. Other than that, it was a really fun time, and for the honeymoon, we went up to Egypt, went up the Nile.”

He continued, “There were lots of things that were remarkable about the time, but also it was two people at career peaks, and that’s always complicated. All of it was kind of a whirlwind. Carrie was in a complete fame bubble because of Star Wars.”

The couple had first met in the late 1970s during the filming of the first Star Wars movie. However, they were divorced by July 1984. In a documentary interview after their divorce, Simon reveals that he was exhausted by the time they split.

In an old interview, Fisher was asked if she thought the marriage was a mistake, to which she responds with a simple "Yes." It's worth noting that Fisher passed away in 2016.