Dion had talent. He also had a storming drug problem that derailed his career.
No doubt about that, TB, but he whupped it. He was one of the first rock and rollers to acknowledge his addiction (in his case, heroin). And this was in the mid '60s, when drug and alcohol problems were widely considered character flaws and not real problems. In other words, no "Celebrity Rehab" for Dion, so I give him credit. His career was never the same, but his life got a whole lot better.
And yeah, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, even Roy Orbison (who was his contemporary), revered him.
