Carrie Fisher And Paul Simon's 'Forgotten' Relationship Still Has Fans Asking Questions

For Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher, romance was one rollercoaster ride that'd scare off any adrenaline junkie. From euphoric highs to rock-bottom lows, the seminal songwriter and iconic actress spent 12 years trying to get it right, only to have everything fall apart in an instant. Though the two stars kept the intimate details of their relationship hidden in the years following their split, the love between Paul and Carrie was actually far deeper — and far more volatile — than anyone ever knew.

Chance Meeting

It all began in 1977. Paul was busy touring the world as one-half of the legendary folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, and Carrie was just about to wrap filming on her latest project, a little-known sci-fi flick called Star Wars. In the middle of it all, however, a chance meeting left both stars smitten — and it was more than just love at first sight.

Indescribable Connection

"Years ago there were tribes that roamed the earth, and every tribe had a magic person," Carrie explained in her 2008 memoir Wishful Drinking. "Well, now, as you know, all the tribes have dispersed, but every so often you meet a magic person, and every so often, you meet someone from your tribe. Which is how I felt when I met Paul Simon."

Reunited By Fate

The pair went their separate ways after that initial meeting, though fate brought them back together just a year later during Carrie's 1978 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Unable to deny their connection, it wasn't long before the two had shacked up in an apartment on New York’s Central Park West.

Infatuation

"Once they saw each other, no one else mattered to either of them," author Peter Ames Carlin wrote in Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon. "Carrie added velocity to [Paul’s] life, a kind of wild energy that often set him alight and sometimes made him scream."