Don McLean after “American Pie”
“American Pie” brought him fame, but McLean continued to record songs in the years to come. He released his third album, “Don McLean,” in 1972, which peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. One of the songs on the album, “The Pride Parade,” is about the overwhelming feelings the singer had to deal with as a result of his fulminant success. He released his fourth album, “Playin’ Favorites,” in 1973, which included McLean’s cover of Buddy Holly’s “Every day.”
Don McLean performs at the 2014 Stagecoach Country Music Festival – Day 2 at the Empire Polo Club on April 26, 2014, in Indio, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/WireImage)
McLean’s final studio recording for United Artists was the 1974 album “Homeless Brother,” the title of which was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s book Lonesome Traveler . Moving briefly to Arista Records, McLean released his “Prime Time” album in 1978. After a disagreement with Clive Davis, the Arista chief, McLean no longer had a record contract in the United States but released his single “Chain Lightning” with Festival Records in Australia and EMI in Europe. Gaining international success, the singer consequently signed a new deal in the United States with Millennium Records in 1981.
Further chart success followed in the 1980s with the singles “ Since I Don’t Have You ” and “ It’s Just the Sun. ” Released in 1992, the “ Don McLean Classics ” album featured new studio recordings of “ Vincent ” and “ American Pie .” The singer continued to record and released his latest album, “ Botanical Gardens ,” in 2018.