McLean said the concerts would be his last performances in the UK and Ireland.
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He has been a well-known figure on Scottish stages for over five decades, dating back to his headlining appearance at the Apollo in Glasgow in 1973.
McLean, who will be 81 when the tour begins, has long acknowledged his Scottish roots: his father and grandfather, both named Donald McLean, are descended from Scottish ancestors.
The Royal Albert Hall’s closing date also brings its British history full circle. McLean first performed at the iconic London venue in 1972, on the heels of the global success of American Pie, which topped the UK singles chart and the album spent seven weeks at number one. Fifty-five years later he would return to the same stage in what he said would be his final bow.
McLean’s first UK appearances came during the folk and rock boom of the early 1970s, including appearances at the Great Western Express Festival in Lincolnshire alongside The Beach Boys, Joe Cocker, Genesis and Slade.
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By the mid-1970s, his live performances featured not only popular songs such as “American Pie” and “Castles in the Air” but also his own interpretations of traditional songs, including the Scottish folk tune Mactavish Is Dead.
The singer achieved his biggest commercial success this side of the Atlantic. Vincent became a UK hit in 1972, and his recording of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” reached number one in the UK in the early 1980s.
In 1975, he reportedly attracted 100,000 people to a concert in Hyde Park, one of the largest crowds ever seen there at the time.
McLean remained a prominent live performer in the UK throughout his subsequent career, performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2011 and receiving the Award of Excellence at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards the following year.
The farewell concerts are expected to feature songs from McLean’s extensive catalog, from early classics including And I Love You So and Castles in the Air to songs from his latest studio album, American Boys, released in 2024.
In announcing the tour, McLean paid tribute to the audiences who have helped support his career.
He said: “I love this crowd. They have supported me for 55 years and given me a career I couldn’t have had anywhere else.”
“The troubadour must say goodbye somewhere, and I would prefer to choose this place myself. The Albert Hall was the first room that ever felt like it belonged to me, and it feels right that it should be the last.”
For Glasgow, the premiere will be a fitting farewell to an artist whose connections to Scotland run deeper than his touring schedule, and will bring a career-long relationship with Scottish audiences back to the city where the final chapter begins.
