Singer-songwriter Don McLean, best known for his 1971 hit "American Pie," was arrested in the US on Monday and charged with domestic violence, a jail spokesman said.
Don McLean Photo: AFP
McLean, 70, was arrested in Camden, on the Maine coast, and booked into the Knox County Jail at about 3:30am. He was released about an hour later after posting $US10,000 bail, Corporal Bradley Woll said.
Mr Woll said McLean was charged with domestic violence, a Class D misdemeanor. He gave no details on what led to the arrest.
"It's not every day that we get a celebrity, that's for sure," Woll said.
McLean and his wife Patrisha, a photographer, live in Camden. McLean is scheduled to tour Australia in March.
His eight-minute hit "American Pie" was released in 1971 and reached No. 1 on the US charts. Its six verses reflect US social upheavals in the 1960s and early 1970s.
"American Pie" was named a Song of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
McLean's original working manuscript was auctioned for $US1.2 million last year.
- Reuters
