“In many ways, Graceland was the most extraordinary experience in my entire career…. The insight into rhythm was the great gift that I received from making the trip to South Africa, and collaborating with African musicians.” — Paul Simon

The story of the making of Graceland and the controversy it created, is told in “Under African Skies,” a full-length documentary from two-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger. The film debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, kicking off the year-long celebration commemorating the 25th anniversary of Simon’s musical and cultural achievement with Graceland.

The universal appeal of the music of Graceland proved more powerful and enduring than the political hotbed attending its creation. In 1986, the album sold 14 million copies worldwide, and received universal praise from critics around the globe.

Paul Simon, a 12-time Grammy Award-winner, and composer of then two Grammy-awarded albums of the year (Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy After All These Years) traveled to South Africa to record with local artists. Simon and the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo subsequently performed on TV’s Saturday Night Live and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.

By January of 1987, “You Can Call Me Al” was everywhere and Graceland won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1987. Then, in an unprecedented carryover, the album garnered the Grammy for Song of the Year with its title track in 1988. The album generated three hit singles and kept Paul Simon and the Graceland tour on the road for five years.