The Late Great Johnny Ace
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The Late Great Johnny Ace is a song by Paul Simon, which appears on his Hearts and Bones album. The song is partly about the rhythm and blues singer Johnny Ace, who shot himself in a game of russian roulette in 1954, and partly about Ex-Beatle John Lennon, who was shot dead in 1980 by Mark David Chapman.
The song was first performed live by Paul Simon during the Simon & Garfunkel reunion concert in Central Park in 1981. Near the end of the performance (possibly in response to Simon mentioning John Lennon's death), a fan ran onto the stage, threatening Simon away from the microphone. Despite this interruption, he managed to quickly finish the song soon after. The performance was included in the subsequent video release of the concert but was omitted from the live album.
On Late Night with David Letterman May 20, 1982 Simon discussed the Central Park experience with Letterman. Asked to sing the song and using a spontaneously loaned guitar, Paul performed from his chair instead of taking the stage. The director cut to a commercial before the end of the song, and Paul said he "will never do that one again."
The 2004 reissue of Hearts and Bones also contains a solo acoustic demo of the song.
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