Singer Don McLean Busted For Domestic Violence

Don McLean

Singer-songwriter Don McLean was arrested near Portland ME early Monday and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence assault.

The 70-year-old McLean, best known for his song “American Pie,” was arrested after police responded to a 911 call at his Camden home shortly before 2 a.m.  McLean was released from jail after posting $10,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 22.

An arrest affidavit wasn’t available Monday and it wasn’t clear if McLean’s wife, Patrisha, or two children were at home at the time of his arrest.

The Press-Herald reports McLean was fined $400 in 2013 for driving 43 mph through a school zone when the speed limit was 15 mph. The singer contested the charge, saying the school zone warning lights weren’t flashing.

McLean, 70, began to gain international fame in 1971 with the release of “American Pie.” The song reached No. 1 on the record charts and went on to be one of the best-known songs in rock music history. The eight-minute song’s dream-like lyrics were based on the 1959 death in a plane crash of early rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, known as “The Big Bopper.” McLean famously labeled it “the day the music died.”

In 2015, McLean sold his original draft of the lyrics, some 16 pages, at auction for $1.2 million.