Don McLean
"Game Over, I Win." After 40 years in the business. Don McLean's reaction to being elected to the Songwriters' Hall of Fame.
Famed for his perennial 1971 #1 classic “American Pie,” an elegiac eight-and-a-half minute folk-pop epic inspired by the tragic death of Buddy Holly, singer/songwriter Don McLean rose to fame through the folk clubs of New York City during the 60's. His follow-up to “American Pie,” “Vincent’” was also a smash success, and McLean even became the subject of the Roberta Flack hit “Killing Me Softly With His Song;” however, to his credit, he refused to let the success of “American Pie” straitjacket his career. McLean enjoyed a renaissance with the 1980’s “Chain Lightning,” a Top 30 album, which spawned a Top Ten smash with its cover of Roy Orbison's classic, “Crying,” and his original "Castles In The Air," reaching the Top 40.
"Don McLean his work, like the man himself is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem American Pie is a cultural phenomenon, and people are still trying to decode it after 35 years! He wrote other great songs like, And I Love You So, If We Try, Wonderful Baby, Winterwood, and my personal favorite Empty Chairs, which just kills me as a fan and a songwriter.” Garth Brooks' tribute as Don McLean is inaugurated into the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters' Hall of Fame. "The song American Pie was voted the 5th most influential song of the last 100 years."