A Don McLean Statue is Coming to Iowa's Surf Ballroom

If you have not had the opportunity to venture to Clear Lake, IA to see the Surf Ballroom & Museum, I highly recommend you do. It's a remarkable venue bursting with invaluable music history and memorabilia. Regardless of who is playing, a show at the ballroom is excellent too, for the acoustics and amenities are top-notch. If you get a candlelit booth to watch a concert, you feel like you're sitting in the middle of a scene in Goodfellas.

Also nearby the Surf Ballroom is a sobering memorial of music history: where Buddy Holly, along with Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson perished in a plane crash back in February 1959. Now, the Surf Ballroom & Museum will honor the man who put those overwhelming emotions and complicated period in history to words in one of the most iconic songs in American history.

Steve Pulaski

Don McLean is Getting a Statue in Clear Lake, IA:

This week, it was announced that Don McLean, best known for his iconic song "American Pie," will be getting a statue that will stand tall outside the Surf Ballroom & Museum. The life-size bronze statue will be unveiled sometime in 2027. It is unknown at this time whether or not McLean himself will be on-sight for its reveal, but the opportunity for him to make an appearance, and perhaps even perform at the Surf that evening, seems like one that's too good to pass up for both parties.

A work from renowned sculptor Zenos Frudakis, the statue will commemorate McLean's contribution to music history. Fudakis has created works depicting notable historical figures like Muhammad Ali and Nina Simone, per KWWL.

Steve Pulaski

I had the pleasure of interviewing Don McLean a couple years ago, where we got to chat about his then-new album (American Boys), his friendship with "Weird Al" Yankovic, and his favorite cover of "American Pie." You can find that interview below!

Read more about the Surf Ballroom & Museum honoring Don McLean with a statue on KWWL's website.