Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Dion will be at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury on Friday, Aug. 16.
A singer, songwriter, and performer of extraordinary versatility and range, Dion is making music as relevant today as in the 1950s when along with a handful of other innovators, he defined rock ‘n’ roll for a generation.
R&B, blues, doo-wop, rock ‘n’ roll and country all influenced Dion’s approach to music.
In 1957, “I Wonder Why,” was Dion’s first hit with The Belmonts, and over the next two years the group earned a reputation for topping the charts and making the best doo-wop music on the American scene.
With songs such as “A Teenager In Love” and “Where Or When,” Dion & The Belmonts earned their place in the history books. They toured extensively and were featured artists on the star-crossed Winter Dance Party, the tour that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P “the Big Bopper” Richardson. Dion was in fact scheduled to fly in the fateful plane that went down “the day the music died.”
But the music carried on when Dion, venturing out as a solo artist in 1960, racked up a string of No. 1 hits that many still consider to be the best of that, or any era.
Over a four year run, Dion cut one quintessential rock classics such as, “Runaround Sue,” “Lovers Who Wander,” and “The Wanderer.”
In 1999, Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for “Runaround Sue.”
The show is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39.50 to $49.50 plus applicable service charges and are available now online at www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800-745-3000 or at the Westbury box office. For more information, visit: www.thetheatreatwestbury.com.
