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Award-winning singer-songwriter Don McLean is bringing his American Pie 50th Anniversary World Tour to Salina this summer.
McLean is scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. July 14 in the Stiefel Theatre, 151 S. Santa Fe Avenue.
Tickets start at $55 and go on sale at noon on Friday. Buy online at www.stiefeltheatre.org, by calling the Stiefel at 785-827-1998, or in person at the Stiefel box office. The box office is open for phone or walk-up sales from noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic songs and album ever this year, McLean will entertain fans across the continent throughout nearly 30 cities from Honolulu to Toronto and everything improving that "bye-bye, Miss American Pie" will forever remain a classic staple in American music.
"After spending the past 18 months at home, I am thrilled to be getting back on the road with my band," McLean said. "2022 marks the 50th anniversary from when American Pie landed at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard chart and we will be celebrating on tour all year long. We will be performing all the 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 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.
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 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, 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.