Taylor Swift leaves music legend concerned as he issues warning to chart-topper

Legendary music star Don McLean admits he fears for the happiness of fellow music icon Taylor Swift.

The 78-year-old American Pie hitmaker has a shared history with 34-year-old Taylor as she claimed his crown in 2021 when her 10 minute track All Too Well topped the charts in the USA. This gave Taylor the title of having the longest running number one single - a record Don previously held thanks to his eight minute track, American Pie (Parts I & II).

Don was only too happy to pass the baton to Taylor - and was impressed when she sent him flowers and a note stating “Standing on the shoulders of giants” after she took his chart breaking spot. Now Don is looking out for the Purple Haze singer and notes his hope that she will find happiness among her astronomical fame.

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He said: “She is a person who is an example of what talent and really hard work can accomplish. A lot of people think showbusiness is just something ‘oh you’re so wonderful, you should be a star’ well, by the way, Taylor Swift was a star for 15 years before she became a monster star, the size of the galaxy for god sake.”

Taylor has been enjoying phenomenal success with her Eras tour
(Image: Getty Images)

He continued to the Evening Standard: “She’s working all of the time and she does everything that she does better than everybody else, whether it’s a video or a performance or songwriting or records or what ever, she does it all, just way better than everybody else and it’s really interesting because all of those other acts are suddenly old fashioned.”

Offering advice to the singer, he said: “The only thing is that she stays happy. Showbusiness and Fame – as Elvis said ‘fame and fortune’ – and I’m very fortunate that I’ve had that. I know how to do that. I have a lot of interests and they sustain me. I don’t go around thinking ‘man, why don’t I have this?’ or ‘Why don’t I have that?’ that is the quickest way to be unhappy I can think of.”

Taylor has amassed a huge fortune in the years since she broke into the music world. The star is worth a reported $1.3 billion (£1 billion), has released eleven albums, 61 singles, and has won 14 Grammy Awards.

She is currently on her mammoth The Eras Tour which has taken her around the world and on the road since March 2023 and will keep her on the road until mid-December. The European leg of the tour concludes in London on Tuesday with her eight sold-out Wembley Arena show.

She is then due to head back to North America and Canada for her final string of shows from October 18 until December 8. Planned dates in Vienna, Austria, earlier this month were cancelled after police uncovered a plot by terrorists who planned to attack the shows at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion.

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