Don McLean Announces 50th Anniversary “American Pie” New Zealand Tour

Grammy-Award honouree, Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Don McLean will be bringing his American Pie 50th Anniversary Tour to New Zealand in 2023. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic songs and album ever this year, McLean will entertain fans across the country, proving that “bye-bye, Miss American Pie” will forever remain a classic staple in music.

“I am thrilled to be getting back to New Zealand with my band,” says Don McLean. “2022 marks the 50th anniversary from when American Pie landed at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard chart, and we will be celebrating. We’ll be performing songs from the American Pie album plus many of the other hits that fans will be expecting to hear.”

As tragic as the backstory behind the song "American Pie" is with the much too early death of the new rock’n’roll-hope Buddy Holly, the track is also magnificent and legendary. And “American Pie” still goes to heart as soon as originator Don McLean plays this classic at his concerts. Still, it’s worth remembering that the 76-year-old composer has written and sung numerous other melodic and harmonic successes in his decades-long career with “Vincent (Starry Starry Night),” “Castles in the Air,” “And I Love You So,” and “Cryin’,” all of which will be heard and reveled in along with newer pieces on the upcoming tour. Earlier this year in March, McLean celebrated the 50th Anniversary of ‘Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” by releasing an intimate performance that was recorded at the Immersive VanGogh Exhibit.

The eight-and-a-half-minute ballad “American Pie” has been making history since its release in 1971. Alongside songs by other icons such as Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Woody Guthrie, and Aretha Franklin, McLean’s composition was also voted “Song of the 20th Century”. Handwritten lyrics to the song were auctioned off for more than $1.2 million in 2015, and the composition was added to the Library Of Congress National Recording Registry two years later. Here, you’ll only find a few selected evergreens, such as “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. So much for the cultural significance of Don McLean and his 1971 stroke of genius!

Over the years, the song has been covered again and again by music icons like Madonna and Garth Brooks. Rapper Drake repeatedly sampled McLean tunes and hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur also cited him as an important influence.

Accordingly, the complete discography of the legendary and still active singer/songwriter is also significant. Among other things, Don McLean has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters’ Hall Of Fame in 2004.

And he never gets tired of writing new songs and new stories. In 2018, the sound senior released his 19th studio album, ‘Botanical Gardens’ which received rave reviews. Songs from it subsequently proved themselves live and will maybe even find their way into the setlist next year, alongside “American Pie” and all the other feats from this decades-spanning and unparalleled composition and performance career.

50TH ANNIVERSARY "AMERICAN PIE" NEW ZEALAND TOUR DATES 2023:

Tuesday 2 May - Trafalgar Centre, Nelson
Thursday 4 May - Civic Theatre, Invercargill
Friday 5 May - Town Hall, Christchurch
Sunday 7 May - Regent Theatre, Palmerston North
Tuesday 9 May - Town Hall, Auckland

Tickets on sale Friday 11 November at 9.00am local time
Tickets are available at:
oneworldentertainment.co.nz

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