Don Mclean is to be honoured at the Bbc Radio 2 Folk Awards, the 'American Pie' singer gaining recognition for a career that's stretched over 40 years. The awards will be held on February 8th 2012, with legendary Irish country band The Dubliners also set to be honoured; both will be receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards.
The announcements were made on Bbc Radio 2, with Mike Harding paying tribute to both. Of MCLean he said, "The truly great songwriters, who create works of such quality that they become standards across genres, are owed a debt of gratitude by the music world and I think it's fantastic that we're presenting Don MCLean with this award." MCLean has released well over 20 studio and live albums but it's the US Number One 'American Pie' - released in 1971 - that'll go down as his greatest moment; indeed the musician hasn't reached the US charts since 1981's 'Believers' went in at 156 on the US Billboard 200.
For The Dubliners meanwhile, Harding commented "When The Dubliners virtually invented the Dublin pub music scene 50 years ago, they changed the face of Irish music forever. They were exciting and different, with a real whiff of danger about them." The Dubliners released their first studio album back in 1964 and have been prolific ever since with regular sell out UK tours.
