Back before ten-minute songs became the norm for John Mayer in Dead & Company, the guitarist turned in a performance of Don McLean‘s epic “American Pie” on The Late Show with David Letterman, seen in a new clip from 2015. The video recently dug up by the show’s prodigiously active YouTube account comes from April 17th, 2015, when Letterman was winding down his storied run hosting The Late Show.
While the sight of a fresh-faced Letterman is certainly a jarring in 2022, seeing pop star John Mayer controlling the stage is still a common occurrence. The only things missing are his Dead & Company bandmates, with whom Mayer would begin touring later that year on the band’s inaugural outing. This performance came the night before Mayer helped induct the late Stevie Ray Vaughan into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The final shows of David Letterman’s 33-year run as host of The Late Show were a star-studded affair that witnessed performances by Bob Dylan, Eddie Vedder, Dave Matthews Band, John Fogerty, The Avett Brothers and Brandi Carlile, Elvis Costello, and many more. For Mayer’s appearance, Letterman requested he perform McLean’s anthemic 1971 song that is the subject of a new Paramount+ documentary released earlier this year.
This is far from the only musical request Dave made during his career, as he asked Warren Zevon to perform “Desperados Under The Eaves” during what turned out to be the singer-songwriter’s final television appearance before dying of mesothelioma on September 7th, 2003. Though Dave never got to hear Zevon perform the song on his stage, Dawes obliged the request with an emotional performance on the show later that month.
Watch John Mayer perform “American Pie” on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2015. He will hit the road one more time with Dead & Company next summer for The Final Tour. For tickets and a full list of dates head here.
John Mayer – “American Pie” (Don McLean) – 4/17/15