Atlanta audiences will get to join in honoring the day the music died this spring.
Grammy Award honoree, Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Don McLean is set to embark on his 2022 American Pie 50th Anniversary Tour with 20 additional cities throughout the United States and Canada. On Friday, May 13, 2022, the tour will make a stop by Atlanta Symphony Hall. As of this morning, tickets are now on sale and available for purchase.
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 in between.
“After spending the past 18 months at home, I am thrilled to be getting back on the road with my band,” says Don McLean. “2022 marks the 50th anniversary from when American Pie landed at the #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.”
About “American Pie”
As tragic as the backstory behind the eight-and-a-half-minute ballad “American Pie” is with the much too early death of the new rock’n’roll-hope Buddy Holly, the 1971 track is also legendary. 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.”
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.
About Don McLean
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. Accordingly, the complete discography of the legendary and still active singer/songwriter is also significant. Among other things, Don 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.
About Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE
Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE concerts feature world-renowned musicians and entertainers, several of which will be joined on-stage by the GRAMMY® award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Highlighting genres across the entertainment gamut, guests can enjoy concerts and events ranging from pop, rock, country, R&B, jazz, comedy, podcasts, book tours and everything in between. Symphony Hall continues to present a diverse array of artists throughout the year, bringing unique visual and audial experiences to the Atlanta community through the magic of live performances.
Atlanta Symphony Hall has implemented a mandatory vaccine policy for audiences. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to performance, as well as matching photo ID, will be required upon arrival to Atlanta Symphony Hall.
For more information about these shows and more, please visit aso.org/live.
