Entertainment | Don McLean Bye-Bye, 'American Pie': Manuscript Sold for $1.2M Don McLean manuscript and notes scooped up at Christie's auction By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Apr 7, 2015 12:23 PM CDT Copied In this Juy 3, 2012, file photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Don McLean performs in Las Vegas. (Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Darrin Bush) Singer-songwriter Don McLean's original manuscript and notes to "American Pie" have been sold at auction for $1.2 million. McLean offered the wistful anthem that asks, "Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?" at Christie's today; the 16 pages included the original working manuscript and typed drafts of the song. The name of the buyer was not released. The eight-minute-long "American Pie" was released in 1971 and was a No. 1 US hit for four weeks in 1972. "The day the music died" refers to the Feb. 3, 1959, deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and JP "Big Bopper" Richardson in a plane crash. McLean, a longtime Maine resident, says writing the song was "a mystical trip into his past." Read These Next Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Rubio says the fate of Iran's conversion facility is what matters. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Report an error