Marking his 60th year as a performer, and kicking off his 2024 U.S. tour, Don McLean will make his Grand Ole Opry debut on Saturday, March 9, 2024.
“I have always been a fan of the Grand Ole Opry and country and western music,” said McLean in a statement. “Growing up, I would watch cowboy movies and listen to Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. My career has taken me all over the world, and now, it is taking me to the Grand Ole Opry.”
McLean’s performance may pull from a career highlighted by top 20 hits, including “Castles In The Air,” “Cryin’,” “And I Love You So,” “Wonderful Baby,” “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night),” “Since I Don’t Have You,” “It’s Just The Sun,” and “If We Try,” along with his classic “American Pie” from 1971.
Joining McLean on March 9 are Opry members The Oak Ridge Boys, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Gary Mule Deer, along with Adam Wainwright, and more.
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Following his Opry debut, McLean is set to release his new album American Boys, out May 17, featuring a collection of 13 new songs including “The Ballad of George Floyd,” which centers around the murder of Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2020.
Much like McLean’s American Pie and its nostalgic shift of music from the ’50s through the ’60s, along with his subsequent releases confronting other socio-political flaws within America, American Boys also examines the severedness within the country, its injustices, inequality, and more.
“I’m a songwriter, and I don’t just write about love,” McLean told American Songwriter in 2023. “I write about poverty, ‘Orphans of Wealth.’ I write songs about cities, ‘Magdalene Lane,’ and people like George Reeves [‘Superman’s Ghost]’ and war in ‘1967.’ I like to write about important things that are happening to people rather than just be an entertainer, which I also am, but I want to mix it all up.”
McLean adds “I don’t want to be some pain in the ass with a million opinions who gets on stage and philosophizes, but I will say a little something then sing a tune or two. Part of what I like to do is add to that dimension.”
In 2023, McLean also released his third holiday album, Christmas Memories: Remixed and Remastered, a collection of 12 previously recorded songs with new arrangements.
This spring, McLean will kick off a year-long tour throughout the U.S. starting with a week-long run on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise in Miami, Florida, from March 14 through 21 and crossing the country before wrapping up on Honolulu, Hawaii on December 20.
Don McLean 2024 Tour Dates:
March
9 – The Grand Ole Opry / Nashville, Tenn.
14 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
15 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
16 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
17 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
18 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
19 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
20 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
21 – 70’s Rock and Romance Cruise / Miami, Fla.
April
6 – Rivers Casino Des Plaines / Des Plaines, Ill.
27 – Riviera Theatre / North Tonawanda, N.Y.
May
4 – Pollak Theatre / West Long Branch, N.J.
11 – Bilheimer Capitol Theatre / Clearwater, Fla.
18 – T. Furth Center for the Performing Arts / Angola, Ind.
June
9 – Tower Theatre / Bend, Ore.
14 – Boot Barn Hall of Bourbon Brothers / Colorado Springs, Colo.
29 – Vienna Freedom Festival / Vienna, Va.
July
13 – American Bank Center Selena Auditorium / Corpus Christi, Texas
20 – Boot Barn Hall / Gainesville, Ga.
28 – Belly Up / Solana Beach, Calif.
August
9 – The Canyon / Montclair, Calif.
10 – Libbey Bowl / Ojai, Calif.
September
4 – Wachholz College Center / Kalispell, MT
November
1 – Grand Theater / Wausau, Wisc.
9 – Silver Creek Event Center at Four Winds Casino / New Buffalo, Mich.
30 – The Parker / Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
December
6 – Tarrytown Music Hall / Tarrytown, N.Y.
7 – Landsdowne Theater / Lansdowne, Pa.
13 – The Birchmere / Alexandria, Va.
20 – Hawaii Theatre / Honolulu, Hawaii
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Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
