Don McLean performs ‘American Pie’ in ‘magical’ duet with Alabama’s Jessie Murph

Don McLean’s most famous song received an unexpected twist on Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles. The classic rock icon, 79, appeared on stage with pop-rock phenom Jessie Murph, singing “American Pie” as a duet.

Murph, 21, a rising star in the music world, name-checked McLean as one of her inspirations in a July interview with Rolling Stone. But it was still a surprise when McLean performed “American Pie” with Murph as part of her “Sex Hysteria Tour.”

“American Pie,” a hit single for McLean in 1972, has been a staple at his concerts for decades. However, the veteran singer-songwriter rarely performs it as a duet. According to Murph’s publicist, McLean has played “American Pie” with only two other artists: Garth Brooks in 1997 and Home Free in 2021.

Now, Murph is No. 3. And the duet with McLean evidently was a big moment for her.

“I have so much gratitude in my heart today,“ Murph posted on Sunday via her Instagram stories. “Last night was so magical and incredible and sparkling, I feel like the luckiest girl on earth.”

The duet came about three-quarters of the way into Murph’s setlist on Saturday, providing a nostalgic interlude amid contemporary tunes such as “Dirty,” “Gucci Mane,” “Wild Ones,” “Sip,” “I Hope it Hurts,” “I Like How I Look,” “A Little Too Drunk” and more.

Murph, who grew up in Athens, Alabama, has two studio albums to her credit, 2024’s ″That Ain’t No Man That’s the Devil” and 2025’s “Sex Hysteria.” Her genre-hopping music has been influenced by country, R&B, rap and more. Fans probably don’t think of her as a balladeer, but that could change in the future.

“I want to make something that is completely and utterly timeless, like it could have been made 50 years ago,” Murph told Rolling Stone. “I’m very inspired by Elton John, Don McLean, Adele, stuff like that … I’m having fun and experiencing life, but eventually I want to drop a very serious (record). Not that this new one isn’t serious, but I feel like I have a lot to show the world that people haven’t seen yet. I think it’ll come with time.”

McLean, a folk-rock troubadour, has released more than 20 studio albums since his debut in 1970. But the “American Pie” record, released in 1971, remains his signature work and a cultural touchstone. It includes the single “Vincent,” as well as “American Pie,” both of which hit the Billboard charts in 1972.

The “American Pie” single, nearly nine minutes long, reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary lists that year. McLean also earned four Grammy nominations for the “American Pie” album and single.

American Songwriter calls the storytelling tune “both intimately autobiographical and broadly allegorical,” and “a classic in every sense of the word.” Its lyrics have inspired discussion and debate over the years, as listeners attempted to define McLean’s poetic and political messages.

(Watch a lyric video for “American Pie” here.)

“‘American Pie’ presents an abstract story of McLean’s life from the mid-1950s until the end of the 1960s, and at the same time it represents the evolution of popular music and politics over these years, from the lightness of the 1950s to the darkness of the late 1960s, but metaphorically the song continues to evolve to the present time,” McLean’s website says.

“For McLean, the transition from the light innocence of childhood to the dark realities of adulthood began with the deaths of his father and Buddy Holly and culminated with the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, which was the start of a more difficult time for America.”

In 2001, “American Pie” took the No. 5 spot on a “Songs of the Century” list compiled by the Recording Industry of America and National Endowment for the Arts. Its goal was to pinpoint songs that were widely influential and significant in the 20th century.

McLean talked about “American Pie,” its genesis and more in a 2022 documentary, “The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie.” He’s a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.