Don McLean

40th Anniversary of American Pie

American singer-songwriter Don McLean has confirmed dates for his 40th Anniversary of 'American Pie' European Tour. Initial dates for the UK leg of the tour have been confirmed for October 2012.

Don McLean's signature song, 'American Pie', was recorded and released on the album of the same name in 1971. The Grammy Hall of Fame single was a number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972 and is a recounting of "The Day the Music Died" — the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.) — and the aftermath.

A reissue of 'American Pie' saw Don Mclean return to the UK Top 20 in 1991. Ten years later, 2001 saw 'American Pie' voted Number Five in a poll of the '365 Songs of the Century' compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.