Births on July 18

Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter whose music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, rock, R&B and blues. Initially as lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, and then in his solo career, he was one of the most popular American rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, with the Belmonts or with the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for the singles "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among other hits.Dion's commercial popularity waned in the mid-1960s, and toward the end of the decade he shifted his style with more mature and contemplative songs, such as "Abraham, Martin and John". He remained popular in the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, and continued making music. During the 1980s, Dion produced several Christian albums, winning a GMA Dove Award in 1984 for the album I Put Away My Idols. He returned to secular music in the late 1980s with Yo Frankie (1989). Between the mid-2000s and 2021, Dion released six chart-topping blues albums. Critics who had dismissed his early work, labeling him as a teen idol, praised his later work and noted the influence he has had on other musicians.A Grammy-nominated artist, Dion has released over 40 albums, and scored eleven Top 10 hits (including with the Belmonts) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2002, Dion was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "Runaround Sue".