Singer-songwriter Don McLean produced one of the biggest hits in music history.
He couldn’t hold back about the state of the industry.
And “American Pie” singer Don McLean gave Taylor Swift a reality check she never saw coming.
Don McLean is critical of the bad writing in current music
Folk singer Don McLean is best known for the 1971 hit “American Pie,” which topped the charts around the world and remains a phenomenon.
The 79-year-old began his musical career in the 1960s and has seen a lot of changes in the industry over the years.
McLean told Fox News that he was less than impressed with the songwriting in the music industry today on the red carpet of the Movieguide Awards.
He said the biggest change he’s seen since he started in music is “very bad lyric writing and no melodies. Two important things in a song, lyrics and melody.”
McLean’s career hasn’t slowed down.
The “American Pie” singer released the album American Boys last year and is still hitting the road touring.
“I got tons of stuff going on,” McLean said. “I took some time off, and I’ll start rolling sometime around this summer and then go, really go all through next year.”
The day the music died
One of the most memorable lines in “American Pie” is “the day the music died” which refers to the 1959 plane crash in Iowa that killed rock and roll icons Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens.
That crash is considered the end of the early era of rock and roll.
“American Pie” was partially inspired by the plane crash.
McLean marked the 66th anniversary of the death of those rock and roll icons.
He was surprised about how much people connected with “American Pie” and the song’s popularity.
“People chose the song ‘American Pie.’ It wasn’t something that was planned. The minute it came out, they started to play Buddy Holly, and there wasn’t any reference to him in the song,” McLean recalled.
“And a few years after that, all these radio stations started going to oldies, playing songs from the ‘50s and ’60s because they realized how much people missed this music,” McLean added. “They miss it more now, I’m sure.”
The creation and enduring popularity of “American Pie” was the topic of the 2022 documentary, The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie.
McLean’s song helped turn February 3, 1959, the day when the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, into an “unofficial holiday.”
“Then the whole ‘The Day the Music Died’ started about 10 years ago, I guess. It’s sort of an unofficial holiday commemorating this solemn occasion, and the song, of course, deified that moment in a certain way,” McLean stated.
He credited fans of the song for making it happen.
“I was trying to write a big song about America, and so that’s how that all happened, but again, it all happened from the people,” McLean said.
“American Pie” has become one of the timeless songs in rock and roll history that still captivates fans.
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