Credit: Keith PerryDon McLean will be presented with a prestigious honor for his career musical contributions by UCLA’s Student Alumni Association.
The “American Pie” singer/songwriter will receive the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at the university’s 2019 Spring Sing event, taking place May 17 at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The award is given out annually to an artist or artists who have made lasting contributions to the world of music, in the spirit of the famed sibling songwriting team of George and Ira Gershwin, who in 1936 adapted their composition “Strike Up the Band” for the UCLA Bruins’ fight song.
The Spring Sing is an annual musical competition during which students perform as solo artists, duos, with bands and in a cappella groups in front of an audience of thousands.
“I am such a great lover and admirer of the work of the Gershwin’s that to receive this award is a thrill,” says McLean, who plans to attend the event. “In popular music the modernism of their music put them in a class by themselves.”
The award’s director, Isabella Dohil, praises Don for writing “poetic lyrics [that] have transcended time and remain a staple of American culture.”
In other news, McLean has 17 confirmed U.S. concerts on his 2019 schedule. Among the concerts is a June 15 show at The Soundstage at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, which will be part of Graceland’s Father’s Day Weekend Celebration.
Don says that during his Graceland gig, he’ll perform his ballad “And I Love You So,” which Elvis Presley also sang and recorded.
Here are all of McLean’s U.S. concerts:
5/10 — East Greenwich, RI, The Greenwich Odeum
5/11 — Peekskill, NY, Paramount Hudson Valley Theater
6/7 — South Orange, NJ, South Orange Performing Arts Center
6/15 — Memphis, TN, Graceland LIVE
6/29 — Wilmington, NC, Cape Fear Community College
7/3 — Catoosa, OK, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa
7/20 — Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
7/27 — The Woodlands, TX, Dosey Doe
8/2 — Pasadena, CA, The Rose
8/3 — Montclair, CA, The Canyon
8/16 — Ojai, CA, Ojai Libbey Bowl
8/17 — Valencia, CA, Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center
9/8 — Annapolis, MD, Rams Head On Stage
9/20 — Beverly, MA, The Cabot
9/21 — Derry, NH, Tupelo Music Hall
10/4 — Las Vegas, NV, Golden Nugget Casino
10/6 — San Juan Capristrano, CA, Coach House Concert Hall
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