Biography of Dion

Doo-wop was just as seductive a musical force in the Bronx as it was in Harlem, and young Dion DiMucci fell under its spell as a lad. With his pompadoured good looks and clear, powerful pipes, he was a natural for rock & roll stardom. Dion and his vocal group, The Belmonts, joined the fledgling Laurie label in 1958 and immediately hit with the upbeat "I Wonder Why." After scoring two major pop smashes with "A Teenager in Love" and the pop standard "Where or When," Dion and the Belmonts went their separate ways. Vocal group harmonies remained integral to Dion's sound even after going solo, from his initial 1960 hit, "Lonely Teenager," through his swaggering macho classics "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer" (still two of the most requested items on any oldies playlist). Moving to Columbia in 1963, Dion's output took on a distinctly bluesier tone with remakes of The Drifters' "Ruby Baby" and "Drip Drop" before a recurring problem with heroin forced him to take an extended hiatus from show biz. America was rocked to its foundations by a series of tragic political assassinations in 1968, and Dick Holler's moving tribute "Abraham, Martin and John" inspired Dion to mount a comeback with the folk-style song. Since then, he's made several more acclaimed returns to action as a rocker between stints as a contemporary Christian performer, and now fittingly enjoys the status of a revered rock legend. ~ Bill Dahl