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Singer Don McLean, 81, recalls earning 300 dollars a week before American Pie became a hit and how the song transformed his family's life, in a new interview about his grandmother, his partner Paris and Judy Collins.
Don McLean was earning just 300 dollars a week before American Pie became a hit, and the song changed his family's life. In a new interview, 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.
Paternal Grandmother Sparked Music Love
My maternal grandmother, Angela, was born in Italy and came to the US with my grandfather. Theirs was an arranged marriage; they had nine children, including my mother. Angela did not speak English, so I never got to talk with her in-depth, but she was a powerful force in the family. My paternal grandmother, who I called Nana Olive McLean, loved to play 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. I did not know what she meant, so I asked her to show me. That is when my love of music began. My mother, Elizabeth, had my sister, Betty Anne, 15 years before me, so I was raised like an only child.
My sister was out of the house by the time I was six years old. Mom was a fan of Italian opera singer Enrico Caruso, who had a massive, haunting voice. It was also why I started to think about singing in a bel canto style and trained in it many years later. My father died when I was 15, and it threw the family in a tailspin.
My mother had never worked. She had been on housewife duties and without her husband she was bereft and inconsolable. That is something I had to deal with. My sister had an alcohol problem; people did not talk about it back then.
Music Publishing Deal Changed Family Life
She was a dear person who wanted to please the people she loved. When she was in her 40s, I got her into college; it is what she had always dreamed of doing. She graduated with honours and became a therapist, helping recovering alcoholics, for the rest of her life. I had struck a music publishing deal.
Tapestry came out, and it was around that time my sister, who had had a baby boy and then got divorced, moved back in with Mom. I told Mom I would help with the money I made from being on the road and ended up putting them all in the family home. It restored their lives. I became a music star and had women running after me from a very young age.
It all became very confusing. The music business is corrupting and the experience should be avoided! But you cannot help it. Between 1971 and 1975 I really experienced fame, and had more hits in the 1980s.
Young women were my predominant audience back then. 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. American Pie came out. My world went crazy.
American Pie Song Changed Family Life
The song was eight minutes long and was cut to three for radio. It changed my life and brought a lot of attention my way. Before that, I was making 300 dollars a week, and the song changed my family's life. My marriages are off the table by order of the court.
I always thought I would get married, and I did. I met my life partner, Paris, 11 years ago. She is the love of my life. She is funny, extremely smart and goes everywhere with us on tour.
Meeting Life Partner Paris 11 Years Ago
She is Mexican, and one of the most caring and understanding people I know. In 2024, I wrote a song for her called American Pie with her last year, and got me on stage at her LA show. Seeing young people embrace songs from the past is wonderful. We pulled it off beautifully.
I have always looked up to singer Judy Collins. I was in love with her music back in the 1960s. I met her when I was 18, and she did not pay me no mind whatsoever. But as the years went by, we crossed paths.
I got to work with her in 2015 on her album. There were so many stereotypes about being an only child. But it gave me this power. Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living's Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.
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brisbanetimes:Before American Pie, Don McLean made $300 a week. The hit song changed his family’s life 
theage:Before American Pie, Don McLean made $300 a week. The hit song changed his family’s lifeThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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