“I’m not a scholar,” the voice — that voice, older and husky now, but still recognizable — explained to The Post in a brief phone interview earlier this month. “I’m a guy from The Bronx.” Over his 85 ...

Dion, a former teen idol, was deeply influenced by blues and country music. He had his first hit, "I Wonder Why," in 1958, with the doo-wop group The Belmonts. Originally broadcast in 2000.

Dion had his first hit, "I Wonder Why," in 1958, with the doo-wop group the Belmonts, named after Belmont Avenue in the Bronx neighborhood in which they lived. Dion's other hits included "A Teenager ...