Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939) is an American singer, composer, and guitarist better known as Dion. His music is influenced by doo-wop, pop, rock, R&B, folk, and blues. Dion began his solo career as the lead vocalist of the singing group Dion and the Belmonts, and he became one of the most notable rock & roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had 39 Top 40 hits as a solo performer or with the Belmonts and the Del-Satins. He is well known for his distinctive hit tunes, which include “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer,” “Ruby Baby,” and “Lovers Who Wander,” among others.
Dion’s fame decreased in the mid-1960s, and at the end of the decade he modified his style with more mature and contemplative songs, such as “Abraham, Martin and John”. From the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, he remained popular and continued to make music. Dion also produced several Christian music albums during the 1980s, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. In the late 1980s, he returned to secular music with Yo Frankie (1989). Dion released six chart-topping blues albums between the mid-2000s and 2021. Reviewers who disregarded his early work, labeling him an adolescent idol, lauded his subsequent work and acknowledged his effect on other musicians.
Dion, a Grammy nominee, has recorded nearly 40 albums and has eleven Top 10 successes on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (including one with the Belmonts). In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 for her song “Runaround Sue.” Recent album nominations include Favorite Blues Album for New York is My Home (2016), Favorite Compilations and Reissues for Kickin Child: Lost Columbia Album 1965 (2017), and Favorite Blues Album for Blues with Friends (2020).