40 Fun Facts About American Pie (Don McLean Song)

Which singer's ten-minute 2021 hit took the record for longest number-one single from 'American Pie'?

Taylor Swift sent Don McLean flowers and a handwritten note when 'All Too Well (10 Minute Version)' broke his record. He said that if he had to lose it, he was glad it went to another singer-songwriter.

Which country's leader sang 'American Pie' at a 2023 White House state dinner hosted by Joe Biden?

South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol took the microphone after the evening's musical performances, and Biden then presented him with a guitar autographed by Don McLean. The dinner marked 70 years of the two countries' alliance.

Which comedy act retold a Star Wars prequel to the tune of 'American Pie' in 'The Saga Begins'?

"Weird Al" Yankovic got Don McLean's blessing for the 1999 parody. McLean later admitted that his children played it so often he almost sang the Star Wars words on stage.

What was 13-year-old Don McLean doing when he learned of the 1959 plane crash that 'American Pie' mourns?

Delivering newspapers in New Rochelle, New York, he cut the twine on a bundle of the local Standard-Star and saw the story on the front page. The song's opening verse goes back to that morning.

How did Don McLean's record label fit the eight-and-a-half-minute 'American Pie' onto a 45 rpm single?

Split across both sides, the single carried the first 4:11 on the front and the last 4:31 on the flip. Radio stations began by playing part one alone, then switched to the full album cut to please listeners.

Which 2021 Marvel film makes 'American Pie' the favorite song of the assassin Yelena Belova?

Black Widow has Red Guardian sing it to Yelena later in the film to comfort her. The same year, Don McLean's eight-minute epic was also featured in the film Finch.

Which pop star took a shortened electronic version of 'American Pie' to number one in the UK in 2000?

Madonna kept only the start of the first verse plus the second and sixth, and Don McLean called her cover a gift from a goddess. NME was less kind, calling it sub-karaoke fluff.

Which singer, long taken to be the jester in 'American Pie', joked in 2017 that it must mean somebody else?

Bob Dylan listed some of his protest songs, 'Masters of War' among them, and told the interviewer to ask McLean. In a 2022 documentary McLean said the jester was not Dylan after all, though he welcomes other readings.

Which Van Gogh painting inspired 'Vincent', the other hit single from Don McLean's American Pie album?

The Starry Night was in front of him as a print while he read a biography of the painter, and he saw he could tell the artist's story through the canvas. The single reached number one in the UK.

To which rock and roll pioneer, killed in a 1959 plane crash, did Don McLean dedicate the American Pie album?

Buddy Holly was McLean's boyhood hero, and McLean has said that writing the first verse exorcised his long-running grief over the death. He was 13 when the plane went down.

Which month, named in the opening verse of 'American Pie', is when the 1959 plane crash took place?

February 3, 1959 is when the light aircraft came down just after takeoff, killing three touring stars and their pilot. They had chartered it to escape poorly heated tour buses that left performers with flu and frostbite.

Which Christian concept in the final verse of 'American Pie' is widely read as the three stars lost in 1959?

The Holy Trinity leaves town by rail in the closing verse, and Don McLean said in 2022 that the destination he had in mind was Los Angeles. His comment was that even God has been corrupted.

Which fruit did Don McLean cut from his original title phrase for 'American Pie'?

Apple was in his first draft of the chorus, echoing the saying that something is as American as apple pie, before he trimmed the word. Asked what the song meant, he once joked that it meant he never had to work again.

Which British band, makers of 'Sympathy for the Devil', is widely heard in the fifth verse of 'American Pie'?

The Rolling Stones were headlining a free concert in 1969 when violence broke out close to the stage, the scene the verse replays. Its imagery also borrows the title of their single 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'.

In which Midwestern state did the plane crash mourned in 'American Pie' happen, near the town of Clear Lake?

Iowa's Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake hosted the stars' last performances hours before the crash, and it still holds a memorial concert every year. Monuments also stand at the crash site.

Which singer's 1973 number one 'Killing Me Softly with His Song' was inspired by a Don McLean concert?

Roberta Flack heard the first recording by Lori Lieberman, who had scribbled notes on a napkin while watching McLean sing 'Empty Chairs' at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. 'American Pie' was rising in the charts at the time.

Which 17-year-old 'La Bamba' singer died in the 1959 plane crash that Don McLean's 'American Pie' mourns?

Ritchie Valens won his place on the plane with a coin toss against guitarist Tommy Allsup, although he was afraid of flying. The crash came just eight months after his breakthrough.

Which Texas disc jockey, famous for singing 'Chantilly Lace', died in the 1959 crash mourned in 'American Pie'?

The Big Bopper, born J. P. Richardson, had the flu and took another musician's seat on the plane. Two years earlier he had set a record by staying on the air for five days, two hours and eight minutes.

Which US institution added 'American Pie' to its National Recording Registry of treasured recordings in 2017?

Library of Congress curators named it an aural treasure, worthy of preservation as part of America's patrimony. That year it also climbed to number 6 on a Billboard digital sales chart, nearly 50 years after its release.

Which 1969 free concert, where a fan was stabbed to death near the stage, forms the climax of 'American Pie'?

Altamont drew about 300,000 people, some hoping for a Woodstock West, and ended with 18-year-old Meredith Hunter dead. Don McLean confirmed the link only in 2015, when he sold his songwriting notes.

Which California band's 1966 single 'Eight Miles High' is echoed in a verse of Don McLean's 'American Pie'?

The Byrds saw the single banned by US radio stations over supposed drug references, though they said it was mostly about a flight to London. Critics often call it the first true psychedelic rock song.

Which 1958 doo-wop hit by the Monotones is referenced in both 'American Pie' and Led Zeppelin's 'Rock and Roll'?

The Book of Love peaked at number five on the pop chart, and lead singer Charles Patrick said the idea came to him from a toothpaste commercial. McLean's narrator asks who wrote it.

Which country singer's 1957 hit about a white sport coat lends a flower to the lonely teenager in 'American Pie'?

Marty Robbins sang of a boy dressed for the prom whose date goes with someone else, and McLean's teenager wears the same flower. Decades later McLean recorded a whole album of Robbins songs.

Which folk singer and mentor to Don McLean is said to sing in the anonymous choir on 'American Pie'?

Pete Seeger was named by producer Ed Freeman as one voice in the West Forty Fourth Street Rhythm and Noise Choir, whose members were never officially listed. McLean had sailed the Hudson with him in 1969 to protest pollution.

Which cowboy hero of early television did Don McLean honor with a poem on the American Pie album's inner sleeve?

Hopalong Cassidy, played by William Boyd, was pictured in full regalia beside the free-verse tribute. The sleeve was dropped within a year, but the poem's words now appear on a plaque at the hospital where Boyd died.

Which Michigan city answered a magazine calling it dying with a lip dub of 'American Pie' that Roger Ebert adored?

Grand Rapids made the video after a Newsweek article said the city was dying, and Ebert called the result the greatest music video ever made. Licensing issues meant it used a later live recording, not the original.

Which major record label released 'American Pie' in 1971 after taking over Don McLean's first label, Mediarts?

United Artists inherited McLean when it took over Mediarts, the new label that had released his debut after a long run of rejections. Its promotion turned his second album into a number one.

Which instrument, played by late arrival Paul Griffin, finally made the 'American Pie' recording sessions click?

Piano was the missing piece: McLean and the session players had rehearsed for two weeks without getting the song right until Griffin joined at the last minute. The rhythm tracks were then mostly cut in one take.

Which auction house sold Don McLean's working manuscript of 'American Pie' for about $1.2 million in 2015?

Christie's in New York achieved the third highest auction price for an American literary manuscript. In the sale catalogue McLean called it a morality song in which life is becoming less idyllic.

Which Melanie single did 'American Pie' knock off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1972?

Brand New Key had held the top spot since the final chart of 1971. Don McLean's epic then began a run of nine straight chart-toppers by acts that had never been number one before.

Which music video game series made 'American Pie' its farewell downloadable track in 2013?

Rock Band maker Harmonix announced it as the last track it would release for the series. The farewell held until 2015, when a fourth game revived the downloads.

Which country superstar brought Don McLean out to sing 'American Pie' at a free Central Park concert in 1997?

Garth Brooks kept his special guests a rumor until the show, then brought out Billy Joel and McLean separately. The concert was broadcast live on HBO.

Which heavyweight boxing champion teamed up with Don McLean in 2022 to remake 'American Pie'?

Tyson Fury sang it with McLean for the opening of his fight against Whyte, and McLean won six Telly Awards for it.

Which future country star gave up his seat on the 1959 flight mourned in 'American Pie' to a tour mate with flu?

Waylon Jennings, the tour's bass player, joked to his bandleader before takeoff that he hoped the plane would crash, and lived with survivor guilt for years afterwards.

Which 2000 film starring Rupert Everett featured a chart-topping cover of 'American Pie' on its soundtrack?

The Next Best Thing got the cover after Everett talked his co-star into recording it, and he sings backing vocals on the track. The film was a box-office bomb, but the single was an international hit.

Which title, also used by Carole King in 1971, did Don McLean give the debut album that preceded American Pie?

Tapestry was recorded in Berkeley in 1969 during the student riots and came out in October 1970, four months before King's blockbuster. Its song 'And I Love You So' later became a hit for Perry Como.

Whose ballad 'Crying' did Don McLean, the singer of 'American Pie', take to number one in the UK in 1980?

Roy Orbison thought the cover was the finest interpretation he had ever heard of one of his songs, and worked elements of McLean's version into his own later re-recording.

Which John Wayne western did Don McLean credit for the fateful closing line of the 'American Pie' chorus?

The Searchers has Wayne repeat a dismissive catchphrase that became the title of the Crickets' 1957 hit 'That'll Be the Day', and McLean's chorus echoes it in turn.

At which Philadelphia college does Don McLean say he first performed 'American Pie', opening for Laura Nyro in 1971?

Temple University is the venue McLean insists on, on March 14, 1971, although a 2022 documentary gives the debut to nearby Saint Joseph's. He says he wrote part of the song in Philadelphia too.

Which upstate New York spa city has a bar with a plaque claiming 'American Pie' was written at one of its tables?

Saratoga Springs has two rival claims: the Tin & Lint bar marks its table with a plaque, and staff at Caffè Lena say he began the song there. McLean says he wrote it only in Cold Spring and Philadelphia.