Discover the story of the song > American Pie – Don McLean

The song "American Pie" was recorded and released in 1971 by the American singer and songwriter Don McLean. It is taken from his album of the same name. After only eight weeks on the U.S. Billboard charts, the single reached number one for four weeks in 1972, starting on January 15. The song also topped the charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In the UK, the single reached number two and stayed there for three weeks on its original release in 1971. A 1991 re-release reached #12.

The song was ranked #5 on the RIAA "songs of the century" project. Due to its exceptional length (8 minutes and 42 seconds), the song was first released as a two-sided single. The song also held the record for the longest song to reach #1 for nearly 50 years before Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" broke the record in 2021.

"American Pie" has been described as "one of the most successful and controversial songs of the 20th century." A truncated version of the song was covered by Madonna in 2000 and reached number one in at least 15 countries, including the UK, Canada and Australia. McLean's combined version is the sixth longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100.