Don McLean has chosen Glasgow to begin his final UK and Ireland tour as the American Pie singer prepares to bring more than five decades of touring here to an end.
The 80-year-old singer-songwriter will open The Farewell Tour at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Tuesday 11 May 2027 before travelling to Belfast, Dublin, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Gateshead.
The eight-date run will end at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 22 May, with McLean saying the concerts will be his final performances in the UK and Ireland.
The tour will deliberately begin in Glasgow, with promotional material for the farewell shows highlighting McLean’s Scottish ancestry.
The New York-born musician’s father and grandfather were both named Donald McLean, with the family name originating in Scotland.
McLean’s first headline show in Glasgow was in the city’s legendary Apollo in 1973, shortly after American Pie had established him as one of the world’s best-known singer-songwriters.
McLean said: “I love these audiences. They have kept me going for 55 years and given me a career I could not have had anywhere else.
“A troubadour has to make his farewells somewhere, and I would rather choose the place myself.
“The Albert Hall was the first room that ever felt like it belonged to me, and it seems right that it should be the last.”
McLean released American Pie in 1971, with its title track becoming one of the defining songs of its era. Vincent subsequently reached number one in the UK, while the American Pie album spent seven weeks at the top of the UK album chart.
His catalogue also includes And I Love You So, Castles in the Air and Crying, while his most recent studio album, American Boys, was released in 2024.
The farewell concerts will draw on music from across his 22 studio albums.
The Glasgow show gives Scottish fans what is expected to be their final opportunity to see McLean perform here and comes 54 years after his first headline appearance at the Glasgow Apollo.
Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday 18 September, priced from £45.74 including fees through Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.