DION DIMUCCI
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
- Dion DiMucci was born July 18, 1939 in the Bronx, New York City
- at age of 12 received a second-hand guitar
- influenced by country (Hank Williams), rock and roll, R&B, blues and doo-wop
- as a teen he sang and played at school dances
- formed the group Dion and the Belmonts and landed a
contract, recording "I Wonder Why"
- followed with hit records, concerts, appearances on tv shows and movies
- did worldwide tours with Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison and others.
- a millionaire by the age of 21
- avoided tragedy in 1959 by not taking flight with Buddy Holly,
Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper
- after successful recordings (9 hits in two years)
such as
Teenager in Love and
Where or When the group broke up.
- In the early sixties he recorded #1 hits
Lovers Who Wander, The Wanderer
and Runaround Sue
- Ruby Baby and Donna the Prima Donna were in top 5
- then drug addiction kept him away from the music scene
- after a spiritual renewal in 1968, he released
Abraham, Martin and John
- followed with a series of gospel albums
- inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 (or 1989?)
- has recorded in different musical styles - doo-wap, rock'n'roll,
folk, gospel,
SOME OF HIS HITS
- 1959 A Teenager in Love (with the Belmonts)
- 1960 Lonely Teenager
- 1961 Runaround Sue, The Wanderer
- 1962 Lovers Who Wander
- 1963 Ruby Baby / Donna the Prima Donna
- 1968 Abraham, Martin and John
LINKS
Official website of Dion DiMucci
Dion and the Belmonts at the History of Rock
Dion in the
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
http://musictoons.tripod.com