Thanks For The Music

Grammy-award honoree, Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Don McLean has released his latest Christmas album, Christmas Memories: Remixed & Remastered today. Full of Christmas classics and all-time favorite holiday standards, McLean offers a unique spin like never before. The album, which boasts twelve tracks, was released and distributed by BFD/Orchard with McLean’s versions of “Blue Christmas,” “Let It Snow,” “Silent Night,” “The Burgundeon Carol,” “White Christmas,” and more! Autographed copies of Christmas Memories: Remixed & Remastered are available on vinyl and CD at DonMcLean.com.

To purchase/stream, visit: orcd.co/DonMcLeanChristmasMemories

“The holidays are a time for families to come together,” shares McLean. “I remember as a kid sitting around the record player and listening to music with my family. We all had our favorites, which we played over and over again. All the greats from Bing Crosby to Gene Autry influenced me, so I have included my version of their classics on ‘Christmas Memories: Remixed & Remastered,’ which I hope you enjoy.”

Christmas Memories: Remixed & Remastered Track Listing:

Blue Christmas

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

Let It Snow

Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem

Rudolph

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Silent Night

The Burgundeon Carol

The Christmas Waltz

White Christmas

Winter Wonderland

Don McLean continues to bring his 50th Anniversary Tour to a city near you! In 2022, McLean celebrated the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic songs in history “American Pie,” and now in 2023, off that same album 50 years ago came “Vincent” (Starry, Starry Night). McLean is set to entertain fans from coast-to-coast proving that “bye-bye, Miss American Pie” will forever remain a classic staple in music.

Still, it’s worth remembering that the 78-year-old composer has written and sung numerous other melodic and harmonic successes in his decades-long career with “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.

Upcoming Fall Tour Dates include:

Sat, Dec 02 - Honolulu, Hawaii - Blue Note Hawaii

Sun, Dec 03 - Honolulu, Hawaii - Blue Note Hawaii

Don McLean along with three-time GRAMMY Award-winner Darius Rucker; rock and roll guitarist Duane Eddy; and former record-label executive Joe Galante, was recently inducted by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp into the Music City Walk of Fame. They were the 101st, 102nd, 103rd, and 104th stars on the Music City Walk of Fame and they were recognized for their significant work of preserving the musical heritage of Nashville and for contributing to the world through song. McLean was inducted by Connie Valens, the sister of the late Ritchie Valens whose death was immortalized in “American Pie.”

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 Don 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's tunes and hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur also cited him as an important influence.

The legendary and still active singer/songwriter has had a significant career selling over 50 million albums worldwide. Among other things, Don McLean has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was a 2022 inductee into the Musicians Hall of Fame, received a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame, and was recently the focus of a Paramount+ documentary The Day The Music Died. There's no slowing down for this troubadour!

About Don McLean: Don McLean is a GRAMMY Award honoree, a Songwriter Hall of Fame member, and a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. His smash hit “American Pie” resides in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry and was named a Top 5 song of the 20th Century by the Recording Industry of America (RIAA). A New York native, Don McLean is one of the most revered and respected songwriters in American history. After paying his dues in the New York club scene in the late 1960s, he went on to score mega-hits like “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night),” “Castles in the Air” and many more. His catalog of songs has been recorded by Madonna, Garth Brooks, Josh Groban, Drake, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and countless others. In 2015, McLean’s handwritten manuscript of the lyrics to “American Pie” was auctioned by Christies, selling for just over $1.2 Million. 2019 honored Don with a star on the Las Vegas Walkway of Stars and his song “And I Love You So” was the theme for Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding. Don landed a new recording contract with Time Life in 2020, with whom he released a catalog of recordings, as well as a new album Still Playin’ Favorites. In 2021, Don’s “American Pie” was featured in the Avengers’ Black Widow and the Tom Hanks movie Finch. McLean received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, celebrated the 50th anniversary of “American Pie,” and recorded a version of the song with a cappella group Home Free. In 2022, McLean received six Telly Awards for his collaboration with international heavyweight Tyson Fury, released American Pie: A Fable children’s book, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. Now in 2023, the Telly award-winning documentary The Day The Music Died was released on DVD and Blu-Ray. In unexpected news, President Yoon of South Korea sang “American Pie” for an elated audience of White House guests in Washington D.C. McLean was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame during a public ceremony along with Darius Rucker, Joe Galante, and Duane Eddy in Nashville, Tennessee. For more information, visit donmclean.com.