Cheers to Dion Francis DiMucci’s 85th birthday! 🎂 He became well-known in the late 1950s and early 1960s as Dion’s lead singer and…..
At the age of 13, or maybe 14, Dion DiMucci began performing for pay in clubs, which coincided with the onset of a 15-year heroin addiction. Once he finished belting out three Hank Williams songs—Cold, Cold Heart, Jambalaya, and Hey Good Lookin’—the owners, Yodi and Bart, handed him $20 apiece, which was more than the rent my parents, who were in constant dispute over, paid each day. I only sang a few songs, and that was the entire month’s rent.
Dion, though, has never given up. He has sang rock & roll, folk rock, Christian music, MOR music, and everything in between in addition to the doo-wop. He has also been a blues singer for the last fifteen years, singing with a voice that has hardly aged. Currently 80 years old, he is releasing Blues With Friends, a collection of 14 original songs, including a reimagining of Kickin’ Child, including assistance from a wide range of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Billy Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, and more, with sleevenotes by Bob Dylan. He claims that throughout their 57 years of marriage, Morrison’s presence was the first to truly impress his wife, Susan. “I sang with Van Morrison, which is why I am so in with my wife.” Her automobile is filled with twelve CDs by Van Morrison. I am in now, then!
