Dion was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx , New York . As a child , he accompanied his father , Pasquale DiMucci , a vaudeville entertainer , on tour , and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams . He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio . His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx , where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs . In early 1957 , he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz , who had just formed Mohawk Records . They recorded Dion singing lead on a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and pre-recorded with everything but the lead vocals . The backing vocals were by a group called " The Timberlanes " , whom Dion had never met . The resulting single , " The Chosen Few , " was released under the name '' Dion and the Timberlanes , '' and became a minor regional hit . Writing about this experience later , in his autobiography , '' The Wanderer , '' Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and did n't even know who they were . " The vocal group was so white bread , I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys – three guys – and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts . " Bob and Gene Schwartz also signed Dion 's friends , the Belmonts , ( Carlo Mastrangelo , Fred Milano , and Angelo D'Aleo ) , a vocal group named for the neighborhood itself , known as " Belmont " , and teamed them , with Dion singing lead . The new group 's breakthrough came in early 1958 , when " I Wonder Why " ( on their newly formed Laurie Records ) made No. 22 on the U.S. charts . Dion said of the Belmonts ; " I 'd give 'em sounds . I 'd give 'em parts and stuff . That 's what ' I Wonder Why ' was about . We kind of invented this percussive rhythmic sound . If you listen to that song , everybody was doing something different . There 's four guys , one guy was doing bass , I was singing lead , one guy 's going ' ooh wah ooh , ' and another guy 's doing tenor . It was totally amazing . When I listen to it today , oftentimes I think , ' man , those kids are talented . ' " Their initial hit was followed by " No One Knows " and " Do n't Pity Me " , which also charted the Billboard Top 100 . This success won a place for Dion and the Belmonts on the ill-fated " The Winter Dance Party " tour with Buddy Holly , Ritchie Valens , the Big Bopper ( J.P. Richardson ) , Frankie Sardo , and other performers . On February 3 , 1959 , after a concert stop in Clear Lake , Iowa , Holly and others decided to charter a flight to the next venue rather than travel on the tour bus . Dion was invited to accompany the group but decided that he did not want to spend $ 36 for the flight , as it was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment and he could n't justify the indulgence . The plane crashed , killing all on board : Holly , Valens , Richardson , and the pilot Roger Peterson . Dion and the Belmonts continued on the tour , along with Frankie Sardo , while Bobby Vee , then an unknown artist , performed in Holly 's place at the very next concert . Later , Jimmy Clanton , Frankie Avalon , and Fabian were added to replace the other now-deceased headliners
The plane crashed
The Day the Music Died
Dion DiMucci