\nDon McLean\u2019s model girlfriend is 48 years his junior and they\u2019ve been together for five years…She was 22 when they started dating.\n
It is incredible how much impact a single song can have on someone\u2019s career and the music industry overall. When American Pie was born, musician Don McLean raised to stardom. All of a sudden, everyone was obsessed with the song as they were trying to understand the meaning behind the lyrics. McLean himself refused to decode the verses and said that the music piece was so special not because of the words but because of its structure.\n
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Many believe it was dedicated to musician Buddy Holly who passed away alongside rock n\u2019 roll stars Ritchie Valens and J.p \u201cthe Big Bopper\u201d Richardson when their plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa. Holly was McLean\u2019s favorite musician, and the part about \u201cthe day the music died\u201d is believed to be associated with Holly\u2019s death.\n
Two years later, at the age of 15, the musician lost his father whom he considered the most important person in his life. He revealed that he spent two years crying as he had a hard time accepting the loss.\n
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McLean wrote American Pie at the age of just 24. This year, the song marks its 50th anniversary and is still considered one of the greatest of all time. The song nabbed fifth place in a poll of the Top 365 Songs of the 20th Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. The rest of the top 5 songs were Respect, This Land Is Your Land, White Christmas, and Over the Rainbow.\n
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Speaking of how it was created, McLean explained, \u201cThe opening part of the song was born in one piece. I wrote it remembering how it was the day I saw the newspaper, and the article that said my favorite artist had been killed. That got me started.\u201d\n
It was part of his second album, American Pie, which was released on May 26, 1971.\n
\u201cI was conscious of the fact that I was trying to create a rock\u2019n\u2019roll dream sequence,\u201d McLean explained the concept of American Pie. \u201cBut it was way more than rock\u2019n\u2019roll. It was about an America that was coming apart at the seams.\n
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\u201cI was trying to create this American song, but not like This Land Is Your Land or America The Beautiful. I wanted to connect with the parts of America that mattered to me, starting with Buddy Holly. Buddy didn\u2019t matter to anybody when I wrote this song, I have to tell you.\u201d\n
\n\u201cAmerican Pie has had its own history, its own biography, and each time it\u2019s reflected on my own ability as a singer and songwriter. And it\u2019s popularity has given me the opportunity to [showcase] my other songs,\u201d McLean told Songwriter Universe.\n
\u201cSo people got to know my songs like Crossroads, Winterwood, Castles in the Air, Wonderful Baby, Dreidel and If We Try. Of course, American Pie was far bigger than all of those songs, but they still know many of my other songs. So that was always a wonderful benefit [from the success of American Pie].\u201d\n
The star was married twice and has a daughter and a son from his two marriages. While he\u2019s in good terms with his son, his relationship with his daughter isn\u2019t the greatest. In fact, speaking to Daily Mail, he revealed that he disinherited his daughter and cut her off financially.\n
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