Musician Don McLean is best known for his hit song, America Pie.
asserted
McLean → know → song
Here, the 81-year-old talks about how that song changed his life, how his paternal grandmother sparked his love of music, and the joy of meeting his life partner 11 years ago.
asserted
grandmother → talk → partner
My maternal grandmother, Angela, was born in Italy and came to the US with my grandfather.
asserted
grandmother → bear → grandfather
Theirs was an arranged marriage; they had nine children, including my mother.
asserted
they → have → mother
Angela didn’t speak English, so I never got to talk with her in-depth, but she was a powerful force in the family.
asserted
she → speak → family
My paternal grandmother, who I called Nana Olive McLean, loved to play music.
asserted
I → call → music
She would sit in front of the record player and listen to Elvis Presley and say, “Hey, Donnie, those boys in the background behind Elvis, they can harmonise.”
asserted
they → sit → Elvis
I didn’t know what she meant, so I asked her to show me.
asserted
I → know → me
That’s when my love of music began.
asserted
love → ’ → music
My mother, Elizabeth, had my sister, Betty Anne, 15 years before me, so I was raised like an only child.
asserted
I → have → child
Mom was a fan of Italian opera singer [Enrico] Caruso, who had a massive, haunting voice.
asserted
who → have → voice
It was also why I started to think about singing in a “bel canto” style and trained in it many years later.
asserted
I → start → it
My father died when I was 15, and it threw the family in a tailspin.
asserted
it → die → tailspin
My mother had never worked.
asserted
mother → work → ?
That is something I had to deal with.
asserted
I → have → ?
My sister had an alcohol problem; people didn’t talk about it back then.
asserted
people → have → it
She was a dear person who wanted to please the people she loved.
asserted
she → want → people
When she was in her 40s, I got her into college; it’s what she’d always dreamed of doing.
asserted
she → get → what
She graduated with honours and became a therapist, helping recovering alcoholics, for the rest of her life.
asserted
She → graduate → life
I’d struck a music publishing deal by 1970 and was being paid $US300 a week.
asserted
I → strike → US300
My first album, Tapestry, came out, and it was around that time my sister, who’d had a baby boy and then got divorced, moved back in with Mom.
asserted
who → come → Mom
I told Mom I’d help with the money I made from being on the road and ended up putting them all in the family home.
asserted
I → tell → home
It restored their lives.
asserted
It → restore → lives
I became a music star and had women running after me from a very young age.
asserted
women → become → age
It all became very confusing.
asserted
It → become → ?
The music business is corrupting and the experience should be avoided!
asserted
experience → corrupt → ?
But you can’t help it.
asserted
you → help → it
Between 1971 and 1975 I really experienced fame, and had more hits in the 1980s.
asserted
I → experience → 1980s
I had a lot of girlfriends, but I was so involved in my music – making records and writing and being on the road 175 days a year – that I was mostly exhausted and life became a bit of a mess.
asserted
life → have → mess
I was in my mid-20s when American Pie came out.
asserted
Pie → come → mid-20s
My world went crazy.
asserted
world → go → ?
The song was eight minutes long and was cut to three for radio.
asserted
song → cut → radio
It changed my life and brought a lot of attention my way.
asserted
It → change → attention
Related Article
I’ve been married twice, but my marriages are off the table [for discussion] by order of the court.
asserted
marriages → marry → court
I always thought I would get married, and I did.
asserted
I → think → ?
I met my life partner, Paris, 11 years ago.
asserted
I → meet → partner
She is funny, extremely smart and goes everywhere with us on tour.
asserted
She → go → tour
She is Mexican, and one of the most caring and understanding people I know.
asserted
I → know → people
In 2024, I wrote a song for her called Mexicali Gal.
asserted
I → write → her
A young American singer, Jessie Murph, asked if I’d like to sing American Pie with her last year, and got me on stage at her LA show.
asserted
I → ask → show
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
