It ' s a private chat of the admins that was leak which shows them discussing ways to shutdown rthedonald <| sep |> Dion artist picimg 2 . akamaized . netiu 252 e 90 bearrna 98 cbc 29 ec 9815111 . png Dion Francis DiMucci b July 18 , 1939 , better known as Dion , is an ItalianAmerican singersongwriter now widely recognized as one of the top vocalists of his era , blending the best elements of doowop , traditional pop , and rnb styles , as well as a forerunner in the development of rock and roll . Early years Dion was born to an ItalianAmerican family in the Bronx borough of New York City . As a child , he used to accompany his father , a vaudeville entertainer , on tour , and developed a love of country music particularly Hank Williams and the blues and doowop stars he heard in local bars and on the radio . His singing abilities were honed on the street corners of Crotona Avenue , where he rounded up other local singers inventing acapella licks , and in local clubs . In early 1957 he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz , who had just formed Mohawk Records . They recorded him with a vocal group , The Timberlanes , and released a single The Chosen Few , arranged by Hugo Montenegro , which became a minor regional hit . With the Belmonts , 19571960 Schwartz also signed up Dion ' s friends , The Belmonts , named after nearby Belmont Avenue . Their breakthrough together came in early 1958 , when I Wonder Why made # 22 on the national US charts , followed up with No One Knows and Don ' t Pity Me which were also chart hits . This success won Dion and the Belmonts a place on the Winter Dance Party tour with Buddy Holly , Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper . On 2 February 1959 , after playing at Clear Lake , Iowa , Dion decided that he could not afford the $ 36 cost of a flight to the next venue . The plane crashed , and Holly and the other stars were killed . In March 1959 , Dion and the Belmonts ' next single , A Teenager In Love , was released , making # 5 in the US pop charts and # 28 in the UK . Their biggest hit , Where or When , was released in November 1959 , and reached # 3 on the US charts . However , in early 1960 , Dion checked in to hospital for heroin addiction , a problem he had had since his midteens . Further single releases for the group that year were less successful , there were musical and financial differences between Dion and members of the Belmonts , and in October 1960 Dion decided to quit for a solo career . Solo stardom , 19601964 1961 album coverBy the end of 1960 , Dion had recorded and released his first solo album , Alone With Dion , and the single Lonely Teenager , which rose to # 12 in the US charts . Followups Havin ' Fun and Kissin ' Game had less success , and the signs were that Dion would drift onto the cabaret circuit . However , he then recorded , with new vocal group the DelSatins , an uptempo number cowritten with Ernie Maresca . The record , Runaround Sue , stormed up the charts , reaching # 1 in the US charts in September 1961 , and # 11 in the UK , where he also toured . For the next single , the record company promoted the Aside , The Majestic , but it was the Bside , Maresca ' s song The Wanderer , which received the radio plays and again rose swiftly up the charts , reaching # 2 in the US charts in December 1961 and # 10 in the UK . As a classic oldie , it made the UK top twenty again in 1976 . By the end of 1961 , Dion was a major star , with a worldwide touring schedule , and he followed up with a string of hit singles Lovers Who Wander # 3 , Little Diane # 8 , Love Came To Me # 10 and Ruby Baby # 2 all making the top ten in 1962 . Several of these were written or cowritten by Dion . He also had successful albums with Runaround Sue and Lovers Who Wander . At the end of 1962 , Dion moved from Laurie to Columbia Records , the first rock and roll artist ever signed to that label . Although the first single , Leiber and Stoller ' s Ruby Baby , was a big hit , reaching # 2 , several followups were less so , although Donna the Prima Donna and Drip Drop both reached # 6 in the charts in late 1963 . Nevertheless , problems with his addiction and changing public tastes did cause him to enter a period of commercial decline . Changing fortunes , 19641968 Following a European tour , Dion returned to the USA and was introduced to classic blues music by Columbia ' s John Hammond . To the consternation of his management , he began recording more bluesoriented material , including Willie Dixon ' s Hoochie Coochie Man and Spoonful , but these releases some produced by Tom Wilson , with Al Kooper on keyboards were not commercially successful . In 1966 , Dion briefly reunited with the Belmonts for the album Together Again on ABC Records . Again , this bombed , despite one classic selfpenned song , My Girl The Month Of May . Although by this stage Dion ' s career appeared to be nearing an end , he retained enough credibility to be , along with Bob Dylan , the only pop artist featured on the album cover of The Beatles ' Sgt . Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967 . In April 1968 , Dion had a powerful religious experience . After getting clean from drug use , he approached Laurie Records for a new contract , and they agreed on condition that he record the song Abraham , Martin and John , written by Dick Holler also the writer of The Royal Guardsmen ' s Snoopy Vs . The Red Baron in response to the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy during the summer of 1968 . The success of this song later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye which reached # 4 in the US charts , resuscitated Dion ' s career . The mature period , 19681986 Born To Be With You , 1975 For the next few years , Dion ' s music became radically different , moving to more contemplative and mature material . He released several albums essentially as a singersongwriter , to critical acclaim but moderate sales , moving to the Warner Brothers label in 1969 . There followed a oneoff live reunion show with the Belmonts at Madison Square Garden in 1972 , released on album . This was followed in 1975 by the album Born To Be With You , eccentrically produced by Phil Spector . The album was a commercial failure , but has been subsequently praised by such artists as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Pete Townshend of The Who . In 1978 Dion released an album drawing on many of his teenage influences , Return of the Wanderer , another critical success and commercial failure . In December 1979 he experienced a lifechanging religious experience , documented in this article . Thereafter , his recordings for several years were in a contemporary Christian music vein , in which he released a number of albums on the Dayspring label reflecting his religious convictions . Recent workIn 1987 Dion agreed to do a concert of his old hits at Radio City Music Hall in New York . This helped free him to celebrate both his past and his future , and led to a series of special appearances , including a fundraiser for homeless medical relief . There he shared the stage with fans such as Bruce Springsteen , Paul Simon and Lou Reed , all of whom cited Dion as one of their prime influences . In 1988 Dion ' s autobiography coauthored by Davin Seay titled The Wanderer Dion ' s Story was published . In the following year , he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , the induction speech being given by Lou Reed . In 1989 he returned to secular rock music with the album Yo Frankie , and since then has released several albums with contemporary rock artists . His Dj Nu album in 2000 found him covering Bruce Springsteen , a major follower over the years . He joined Scott Kempner of the DelLords and Mike Mesaros of The Smithereens in a shortlived band called Little Kings . A live album was later released , but not widely circulated or promoted . In January 2006 he released Bronx in Blue , an album of blues and country standards , which was critically acclaimed and nominated for a Grammy . As a practicing Catholic , Dion pursues prison ministry and reaches out to men going through addiction recovery . www . diondimucci . comNote There are two artists named Dion , one is Dion Francis DiMucci , the other is John Kerssies , a dutch hiphop producer . Read more on Last . fm . 269 , 602 listeners , 1 , 714 , 750 plays tags oldies , 60 s , doo wop , rock n roll Please downvote if incorrect ! Selfdeletes if score is 0 .