Dion: The Rock and Roll Philosopher

Dion DiMucci rose to Rock and Roll fame in the late 1950s with three top-forty hits as the lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer,” and “A Teenager in Love.” Later embarking on a solo career, his anthem “Abraham, Martin, and John” once again topped the charts in 1968, one of Dion’s twelve gold hit records. In the 1970s and 1980s he turned to folk, blues, and gospel, earning a grammy nomination in 1985. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 along with the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and the Temptations. In subsequent albums he has collaborated with the likes of Paul Simon, Lou Reed, KD Lang, Eric Clapton, and Mark Knopfler, garnering another Grammy nomination in 2006. In this collection of conversations with close friend Adam Jablin, Dion recalls his childhood growing up in the Bronx, his early rise to fame, overcoming heroin addiction, his sixty-year marriage, and, of course, the artists who have had a profound influence on his music, among them Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, and BB King. Illustrated with over 200 color and black and white photos, this book not only tells the story of a remarkable career in music but will also be a look back over sixty years of rock and roll history.