Simon and Garfunkel Tribute Draws All-Star Cast to New York's Central Park

"I never thought we did the best version," Art Garfunkel said of his and Paul Simon's hit songs to the audience gathered at New York's Central Park on Tuesday night. "I always thought we just did the first version."

More than 30 artists including Brendan Benson, Ben Gibbard, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole and Dean and Britta paid homage to Simon and Garfunkel, who both attended the night's performance, by reinterpreting some of the duo's best-known music. Aside from honoring the legendary duo, the event celebrated the 25th anniversary of SummerStage, a program that puts on live shows in the famed park every year.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg even made an appearance to give his thoughts about the "kings of Queens," especially Garfunkel. "He's one of the classiest and nicest guys even though he's a Phillies fan," the New York City mayor said.

Blues trio the Holmes Brothers covered "ode to cougar love," 'Mrs. Robinson,' while Marc Cohn and Jonatha Brooke made over 'Sounds of Silence' with a new funk vibe. Folk singer Loudon Wainwright III and his daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche sang 'Bleecker Street' and even enjoyed a little slow dance in the middle of it.

Gibbard, along with St. Vincent, performed 'Fakin' It,' and while both weren't even born when the song originally released in 1967, St. Vincent made sure to add her signature noise and distortion to give the song more of a modern twist. Looking like they did when they made it big in the '90s, contemporary rock artists Colvin and Cole performed 'America' with so much energy that it got one of loudest cheers that night.

As Dean and Britta came onstage to perform their version of 'Homeward Bound,' Dean Wareham took a second to dedicate the song Britta Phillips' father. "We'd like to dedicate this to Britta's dad, Peter, who gave piano lessons to Paul."

Perhaps one of the night's most loved performances was when singer-songwriters Alejandro Escovedo and Willie Nile took the stage to perform 'The Boxer.' Not only did they get a standing ovation for their rendition of the 1969 song, but they also had everyone in the VIP section dancing and singing along.

"Thanks, Paul, for writing such beautiful songs," Nile said.

The show ended with all the performers coming together onstage to perform Grammy-winning song 'Bridge Over Troubled Water.' Although it looked like the group didn't really rehearse the song together, Joan Osborne, Cohn and Colvin took charge of the verses and made a nice tribute that both Simon and Garfunkel enjoyed.