Why does Tyson Fury sing American Pie?
WORLD Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury is a man of many talents.As well as being a master of the art of boxing, the Gypsy King has also been known to belt out a song or two.
Tyson Fury celebrates victory over Christian Hammer by singing Elvis at the O2 Arena in 2015Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Why does Tyson Fury sing American Pie?
Tyson Fury likes to sing American Pie because the song’s verses “perfectly articulate Fury’s comeback story”, according to NME.
In October 2016, with an anti-doping case hanging over his head in relation to his use of cocaine and nandrolone, Fury vacated his WBA, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles and admitted he came close to ending his life.
He has since made a remarkable comeback, going on to become a two-time world heavyweight champion by defeating Deontay Wilder for his WBC belt and defending it on three occasions.
Speaking about his fightback in 2018, Fury said: “If I can come back from the brink of defeat, I can do anything.
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“I’ve shown what life is like on the other side of having no hope, nothing.
“But I know now it’s about being in a good place and the good is so much better than the bad.
“I’m sat here in a great frame of mind, and that’s worth anything that money can buy.
“At one stage I thought I would end up in a padded room never mind boxing, I didn’t think I was going to survive, I was on the verge of committing suicide.”
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When did Tyson Fury first sing American Pie?
Tyson first sang American Pie at a press conference in the build-up to his first fight against Wilder.
Following that match-up with the Brown Bomber in December 2018, which ended in a controversial draw, Fury celebrated his performance by singing McLean’s song again at the post-fight press conference.
The heavyweight world champion has previous experience duetting with a singer too, appearing on Robbie William’s song Bad Sharon in 2019.
In 2019 Fury sang American Pie twice more — at a Nordoff Robbins charity event and during a Q&A style event in Glasgow.
Naturally, the Brit also sang American Pie when he reclaimed the world title by beating Wilder in 2020.
He has gone on to sing it a great many times, including on stage with Towie star Arg in Marbella, at a wild party in Las Vegas, while training on a beach in his hometown of Morecambe, after knocking out WWE start Austin Theory, and also at a glitzy charity event — to name but a few.
Have Tyson Fury and Don McLean collaborated on the song in the past?
Ahead of defending his heavyweight title against Dillian White in April 2022, Tyson joined forces with legendary singer-songwriter Don McLean to record a version of American Pie.
McLean’s famous hit, which has nearly 500million listens on Spotify, had a new spin put on it with Fury joining in on the chorus.
His duet with McLean concided with the 50th anniversary of the song and first aired on BT Sport — it was shown live at Wembley ahead of his successful title defence against Whyte.
What other songs is Tyson Fury known to sing?
Although his crooning may not be at the level of his pugilism, Fury doesn’t limit his repertoire to American Pie.
The other song he is most famous for singing is Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, which Tyson even released as a charity single to raise money for a mental health charity.
The heavyweight champ sang Aerosmith tune I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing to wife Paris beating Tom Schwarz in 2019, belted out Oasis’ Don’t Look Back In Anger with a busker, serenaded promoter Bob Arum with Happy Birthday, sang with Robbie Williams on a festive duet, and performed We Are The Champions with a busker in Latvia.
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He even sang an X-rated song to taunt Anthony Joshua in 2021.
But he did spark outrage by singing the N-word while rapping along to Notorious B.I.G’s Juicy at his 32nd birthday party in 2020. More