Bye-Bye, 'American Pie': Manuscript Sold for $1.2M

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."