Dion DiMucci

The Belmonts were on the Winter Dance Party tour in the winter of 1959, the same tour that proved to be the last for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka The Big Bopper), when they died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. Dion was touring with them but did not take the plane because he thought the $36 price for the trip was too high. He recently said that the fare was equal to the monthly rent for his family's apartment in The Bronx.