Don McLean 'Disinherited' Daughter Who's a Mother Yet Provides for His Son & Younger Girlfriend

• Don McLean "disinherited" his daughter for authoring a tell-all book, which revealed how bad of a father the singer was.
• At the same time, McLean's son, who was raised with his sister in the same house with the same father, said the singer is a great dad.
• At 77, McLean has started a new chapter in his life, which includes a younger woman he fell in love with and calls "baby."

Don McLean is a successful singer-songwriter of his time and a Grammy Award nominee. He is well-known for his hit song "American Pie."

The singer's other famous songs are "Wonderful Baby," "Since I don't Have You," I Love You So," "Vincent," and a cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying."

McLean's talent was recognized in 2004 when he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. By 2018, his song "American Pie" had reached five million airplays while "Vincent" was at 3 million airplays.

The singer, whose full name is Donald McLean III, was born on October 2, 1945, to his father, Donald McLean Jr, and mother, Elizabeth Bucci.

McLean revealed that he was raised in a physically abusive home: "I was hurt a lot by my mother, my father, and my sister. I was hit a lot." His childhood was made worse when he lost his father at 15.

The songwriter achieved success in his music career in his mid-20s, but before that, he had to fend for himself, noting his family split after his father's death:

"Everything changed when my dad died. There was no family anymore. My sister had left, and my mother was a basket case who was talking of moving back to her father's place. I didn't want to do that, so really, I was on my own at 15."

The burden of his pain and grief in childhood followed McLean to his adult life and motivated him to write and sing "American Pie." It was widely accepted that the song was about him mourning Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash in 1959, but the singer revealed there was more to it.

McLean said Holly was his childhood musical idol, but when asked if the song could also be about his father, he replied:

"I mean, that's exactly right. That's why I don't like speaking about the lyrics, as I wanted to capture and say something that was almost unspeakable. It's indescribable. American Pie is a biographical song."

The singer added that when his father died, he "cried for two years" and blamed himself for his death. McLean revealed he and his dad had been talking about the death of his grandfather. His dad also spoke of his feelings about his own death, saying, "I'm nearing the end of the high-dive. Know what I mean?"

McLean moved on from childhood and created his family in his mid-20s when he married his first wife, Carol Sauvion in 1969. They divorced in 1972.

The singer's second marriage was to Patrisha Shnier in 1987, but the pair divorced in 2016. Shnier already had a daughter, Jackie McLean, and together with her husband, they had a boy, Wyatt McLean. The singer confessed that his marriages were hard as he was still learning:

"I was nervous, I was uptight, I yelled sometimes, I was tense. But I did my best. I was trying to build an empire for everybody. Control was something that I had to have because nobody else was in control."

However, McLean insisted he was completely committed to his marriage: "I was a faithful husband and devoted father, and clearly, my efforts were for nothing."

McLean may have been faithful, but he was once arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence when married to his second wife. Shnier wrote in her police statement that she was scared of him:

"Don terrorized me for four hours until the 911 call. I think the call might have saved my life. He was scaring me with the intensity of his rage and the craziness in his eyes."

After he was arrested, the singer pleaded guilty to four of six charges as part of a plea agreement and did not receive any jail time. He eventually defended himself, saying he could never abuse anyone, having grown up in an abusive household:

"I decided I would never do any of the things that my parents did to me, so I never raised a hand to anybody. It makes you feel so small and scared and terrible."

McLean later claimed that it was he who experienced physical attacks from Shnier in their marriage, which he endured in silence because he was a man who did not go around crying about his problems. He added that after a while, he couldn't do it anymore:

"I said, I can't do this for the rest of my life. My children are gone, it's just me and her, and I just don't want to do it. I want to do something else with this last chapter of my life."

In his new chapter of life, McLean took another chance at love and started dating his social media manager, Paris Dylan, who is way younger than him. The new stage also involved the singer opening up about his relationship with his son and daughter.

His Attempts to Be a Good Father

McLean has spoken about his relationships with his son and daughter, which he admitted, are from opposite poles. While he gets along with his son, he is not on good terms with his daughter.

McLean's relationship with Jackie suffered when she accused him of emotional and mental abuse. She claimed that as much as she and her mother did not experience physical abuse when living with McLean, they feared for their safety and survival in the house.

The songwriter also admitted that he had thoughts of marrying Dylan because he felt good with her and was in love with the model.

Jackie noted that her experience was so traumatic that years later, she still has physical responses when she recalls the memories:

"If I talk about my experiences, my teeth chatter, and I get cold and sweaty even if I hear his name. I have vomited and been rendered immobile from interactions with my father. At times, I dissociate in order to cope."

However, the "Empty Chairs" singer dismissed his daughter's claims and said she was just raising these issues to make her songs known:

"It's just so disappointing because it was all for the most trashy reason, which is to try to promote her new record."

The singer pointed out that his daughter's and ex-wife's statements conflicted. "Even she, who is hostile towards me at the moment, always says there was absolutely no violence, so she's made a monkey out of her own mother," he added in defense.

McLean also noted that his son, who grew up with his daughter in the same house, never complained of a similar traumatic experience. Thus, he made a decision to stop supporting his daughter because she was talking ill about him. He explained:

"I stopped supporting my daughter last year. I have a son, you know, who grew up the same way, who thinks I'm a great father, and who has none of these complaints. But I said to my daughter, if you speak out about me and trash me, I'm going to disinherit you."

Jackie countered her father's claims accusing him of using the promise of money to control her. The fissures in the father-daughter relationship didn't show any sign of mending as Jackie kept accusing his father of abuse.

True to his word, McLean said he had "automatically disinherited" his daughter when Jackie talked negatively about him again. He disclosed how much he had always given her and what she would lose:

"That's almost a $3 million trust fund that went down the tubes. I've always supported my daughter with $30,000, $40,000, and $50,000 a year, doubling her husband's salary. I wanted to make sure the grandkids had everything they wanted."

The songwriter said he was happy not to leave any money behind for his ex-wife and daughter, who he said do not like him and referred to as ungrateful. "The truth has consequences. If my daughter and ex-wife feel this way, then good. Goodbye. I'm done," he concluded.

His Lavish Life with Younger Girlfriend

McLean and his once-social media manager Dylan are in an unconventional relationship considering their age gap. The former Playboy model is 48 years younger than the singer, yet the couple has been together for seven years.

The songwriter recently revealed that he had plans to retire, retreat from the public eye, and spend the next chapter of his life on his rural property with his girlfriend. "I have an overwhelming desire to retire to my farm in Maine and not talk to anyone," he disclosed.

He said he would move after completing the promotion and tour of his new album "American Boys". When asked about Dylan, he answered, "Oh, she'll be with me. I'll have horses too. I like animals. I like them a lot more than people in many ways."

The "Wonderful Baby" singer doesn't shy away from showing off his girlfriend on social media and talking about how wonderful she is. He said:

"Now I'm with a great girl. She's different from me, I'm different from her, and we give each other a lot of room. I really haven't changed at all. I'm the same guy I always was. I guess when it comes down to it, I'm just a loner."

The singer added that he was not a people person because he connected to ideas and observations. He wouldn't recommend having heroes as he had no heroes too. However, he concluded that he loved being honest with his audience and truthful about how he felt.

McLean opened up further about his girlfriend, who he sweetly calls "baby," and said she doesn't drink or smoke. He defended her, saying she was completely the opposite of what people thought of her:

"She doesn't do drugs and doesn't party…Yes, she loves to wear bikinis, but I think she's the greatest pin-up girl in America, and I tell her that all the time. Of course, it drives my ex-wife and my daughter bananas, but I don't care because they don't care about me."

The songwriter also admitted that he had thoughts of marrying Dylan because he felt good with her and was in love with the model:

"I love her, and she's the one for me. I just want to make sure that everything is good with my health because I don't want her to marry a dead man!"

McLean and the girl he loves enjoy a lavish life of working, traveling, shopping, and having dinner in exotic places. The singer shared their trips on his Instagram. In one post, the two looked stunning together in Florence, Italy.

The songwriter was dressed in grey shorts and a black shirt and had shades on to complete the vacation look. On the other hand, Dylan wore a striped tank top, black trousers, Gucci sneakers, and shades, which rested on her flowy black hair.

The couple not only travels together but also has fun. In a video shared on Instagram, the lovers danced to a lively tune playing in the background. The video was captioned, "What we're doing at home..."

The singer sported a cowboy look dressed in a black cowboy hat, brown cowboy jacket, and jeans with dark shades on. Dylan, who seemed excited to dance with her man, was in ripped jeans and a red tank top.

The duo also loves visiting restaurants together. On August 14, 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, McLean and his girlfriend went out to eat a sumptuous meal of pasta.

In a post shared on social media, they were all smiles as they were happy to be outside. The photos were captioned, "Coronavirus be damned! - we're having a good time!"

Despite their age gap, McLean and Dylan evidently enjoy spending time with each other and are in love. The singer even joked about their age difference when he once said he and Dylan were celebrating a sold-out Father's Day show in Graceland, Memphis.

McLean and his girlfriend have visited unique places, including the iconic Eiffel Tower. The couple is a perfect match as the singer said he is happy with their relationship while Dylan shared that she liked her man rich and smooth.