Why did Don McLean write the song American Pie?ĭon McLean wrote the song American Pie as a tribute to Buddy Holly. McLean’s sentimental disillusionment aside, it was an objectively bad day for rock/pop music now that these three were gone, who was left? On February 3, 1959, a plane crash took the lives of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Richie Valenz. When did Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper die?

Musician Don McLean’s recollection of the day (as a paperboy) he cut open a stack of newspapers to find that rock-n-roll pioneer Buddy Holly had died led him to coin the term “the day the music died” to describe 3 February 1959: the date on which a plane crash took the lives of Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. When did Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens die? Miss American Pie is “as American as apple pie, so the saying goes,” he argues. Why did Buddy Holly name his plane American Pie?īuddy Holly’s death was a “personal tragedy” for the 12-year-old McLean Contrary to popular rumour, “American Pie” was not the name of the plane that rock and roll legend Buddy Holly died in, says Jim Fann, author of Understanding American Pie. Who is the American Pie song about?ĭon McLean’s ex-wife Patrisha McLean slammed the folk-rock legend as “disgusting” and “merciless” for cutting their daughter, Jackie - who recently went public with allegations of abuse against him - off finically. Why do they call it the day the music died?ĭon McLean, a fan of Buddy Holly, later addressed the accident in his song “American Pie” (1971), dubbing it “the Day the Music Died”, which for McLean symbolized the “loss of innocence” of the early rock-and-roll generation.

1 hit “American Pie,” which refers to Februas “the day the music died.” Singer Don McLean memorialized Holly, Valens and Richardson in the 1972 No. Who is the song the day the music died about? However the overall theme of the song goes beyond its superficial semblance of mourning McLean’s childhood music heroes, and reflects the deep cultural changes and profound disillusionment and loss of innocence of his entire generation – the early rock and roll generation – that took place between the 1959 plane crash … Is the song American Pie about a plane crash?

Who was the song american pie about