Brighton date for American Pie singer Don McLean: "I am so fortunate to be remembered for the best song I wrote"

He will be at the Bournemouth Pavilion on Sunday, September 18 and Brighton Dome on Tuesday, September 20 – his first time in the UK since 2018/2019.

“I'm sure we would have come back earlier if it hadn't been for the pandemic happening and sadly I suspect that a few of the older fans will have passed away in the meantime,” he laments.

“But it's good to be back. The first year of the lockdown I loved because I didn't have to catch planes, go anywhere. I just had the best time. I got to sleep late and I could just do what I wanted but then when it started getting boring I started putting in place some of the things that are happening now. There's a documentary (The Day the Music Died/American Pie) that came out about a month ago and is streaming. That’s something I had always wanted to do. And I made a deal for a Broadway show which will happen in the next two years and I made a deal for a children's book and then there is this whole tour which had to be rescheduled.”

Plenty of things happening, then, to celebrate a truly remarkable song: “It was a 10-year process to write that song and it is still the greatest thing that I ever did. A lot of people are remembered for the worst song that they ever did. I am so fortunate to be remembered for the best.”

But can he explain why it became the song it did? “I just don't know. It is worldwide. I had done the Tapestry album and And I Love You So and I was playing the night clubs in the small theatres and then when this song broke I became an international attraction.

“It was quite a lot to absorb and to learn to deal with. I dealt with it quite badly. I didn't do well. It was not a happy time but it's how these things go. But I was very happy to be able to give something to people. I'm a bit of a stoic. I didn't lead my life for me and for pleasure all the time. I'd much rather sacrifice things for other people even though I was doing 200 one-nighters a year and having to travel everywhere. It took a long time (to adjust to the success). I had to get used to working really hard. I had to get used to travelling. I had to get used to stage fright and fear of flying.”

And now it's the 50th anniversary: “I was just thinking about it. When young people hear the term ‘time flies’, they just don't get it but when you are 77, as I'm going to be, you realise that time really does fly but really I've been very fortunate in my life.

“I remember doing my first English interview in 1971 and I didn't know anyone who was English and there I was doing interviews in Spain and France and Australia and I knew that I was going to be going to those countries. I do remember the first time I came to the UK I had a driver who wore a cap and had a proper outfit and was a proper chauffeur who drove an Austin Princess, a lovely car. It was all very formal.

“I think I would say that I've been on about 20 tours now to this particular region. The UK has always been one of my favourite places to come to. Most people who had big hits in the old days didn't go on world tours but I immediately started touring the world. I had a good audience and hopefully I will also have an audience when I get to the Brighton Dome!”