Which artist wrote the song “Vincent”, a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 painting, ‘The Starry Night’?

“Vincent” is a song written and recorded by Don McLean (born 1945). He is an American singer-songwriter who wrote folk, folk rock and rock music as his main genres. In addition to vocals, his songs are often accompanied by his playing a guitar. He has been active since 1964.

McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of Van Gogh. His written explanation and narrative about the genesis of the song begins: “In the autumn of 1970 I had a job singing in the school system playing my guitar in classrooms. I was sitting on the veranda one morning, reading a biography of Van Gogh, and suddenly I knew I had to write a song arguing that he wasn’t crazy. He had an illness and so did his brother Theo. This makes it different, in my mind, to the garden variety of ‘crazy’- because he was rejected by a woman (as was commonly thought). So I sat down with a print of ‘Starry Night’ and wrote the lyrics out on a paper bag.”

In 2004, McLean was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In January 2018, his songs “American Pie and “Vincent” were certified to have reached five million and three million airplays respectively.

The original handwritten lyrics on the paper bag went up for sale for $1.5 million USD in July 2020.