In the winter of 1959, Dion and the Belmonts were on the Winter Dance Party, the same tour that proved to be the last for Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper.
Holly, Valens and the Bopper died when their plane went down, but not Dion. He was spared because didn’t take the plane, thinking the $36 price for the trip was just too high.
"Talk about luck or fate stepping in. Next year will be fifty years since that happened, so today you’re talking to somebody who is very, very grateful," he said. "I have been married for many years, have three wonderful daughters who are all married and successful, so I have a lot to be grateful and happy for."
Dion — born Dion DiMucci in the Bronx in 1939 — teamed with his friends, the Belmonts, to create several hits, including Runaround Sue and Teenager in Love, when they were just teens themselves. But they separated after just a couple of short years together.
Dion, who will be performing at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City on April 25-26, headed out on his own career path but noted there were no hard feelings when they split.
"It’s just that, like most groups, we had a lot of internal struggles. They wanted one thing, I wanted another," he said. "They wanted to sing more songs with sounds like The Four Aces, The Four Lads, whatever. And I wanted to rock out a little bit more. So, it was because we had musical differences that we eventually split."
Out on his own, Dion had a string of Top 19 hits, including The Wanderer. And in the turbulent era of the 1960s, he moved into a new phase with the folk-tinged hit single Abraham, Martin and John, an ode to three fallen historical heroes.
Acknowledging that he always loved music and "taking people on a wonderful trip with a song," Dion said, "I found a secret, and that was that you could write a three-minute song and resolve conflict, express your fears, loves and joys. And instead of letting all your emotions go inside, it was a way of bringing them all out for yourself and the enjoyment of others."
As he was creating his own brand of music, Dion said, he first and foremost was influenced greatly by the legendary country singer Hank Williams. "Then there was Jimmy Reed on the blues side. Because back when I started, if you put country and blues together, what you had was what we called rock ’n’ roll," he explained.
And the music he loved and created has stayed with generations of fans and is still going strong. Why?
"Well, for me, there are only two decades when musical giants walked the Earth — and that’s the fifities and sixties," he said. "All the rest of it is just a kind of spin-off. It was all laid down then, and a lot of people who came after us just kept repeating what they heard."
The lucky ones kept hearing Dion through the years as he blended the best elements of doo wop, teen idol and R&B styles. In January 2006, he released Bronx in Blue, an album of blues and country tunes that was critically acclaimed and nominated for a Grammy award. Last November he released a follow-up in a similar vein, Son of Skip James. Today, this music man said, it is more difficult to get into the business. "It is definitely getting more complicated so you have to have the heart, soul and spirit to tap into your talent and not let anybody get you off course," he said. "If you confuse approval with love or art, then you’re lost. You’ll be seeking approval all your life, and you don’t want to do that. There will always be people who pierce you and try to bend you. So you have to stay connected and always get back to who and what you are — no matter what." •• For times and ticket information, call Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420.