TOP SONGS

American Pie

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This article is about the Don McLean song. For other uses, see American Pie (disambiguation).

"American Pie"
Single by Don McLean
from the album American Pie
B-side	Empty Chairs (promo) American Pie part 2 (first release) Vincent (re-release, cassette version) Vincent, Castles in the Air (re-release, CD version)
Released	October 1971 (first release) November 1991 (reissue)
Format	vinyl record (original) CD, cassette, vinyl (reissue)
Recorded	May 26, 1971
Genre	Folk rock
Length	8:33 (LP), 4:11 (Single Part 1), 4:31 (Single Part 2)
Label	United Artists
Writer(s)	Don McLean
Producer	Ed Freeman for The Rainbow Collection, Ltd.
Don McLean singles chronology
"American Pie" (1971) "Vincent" (1972)

"American Pie" is a folk rock song by singer-songwriter Don McLean.
Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. A re-release in 1991 did not chart in the U.S., but reached number 12 in the UK. The song is an abstract story surrounding "The Day the Music Died" — the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.). The importance of "American Pie" to America's musical and cultural heritage was recognized by the Songs of the Century education project which listed the song as the number five song of the twentieth century. Some Top 40 stations initially played only side two of the single, but the song's popularity eventually forced stations to play the entire piece.