Dion has a seven-decade career, equivalent to the careers of at least seven recording artists.

There's Dion of Dion and the Belmonts of doo-wop fame and the hits "A Teenager In Love," hitting No. 5 on the charts, and "Where Or When," hitting No. 3, both in 1959.

There's Dion the solo pop star, with "Runaround Sue," No. 1 in 1961; "The Wanderer" and "Ruby Baby," both hitting No. 2 in 1962, and "Donna The Prima Donna," No. 6 in 1963.

There's Dion the icon, the only rock star other than Bob Dylan whose image is on the album cover of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967).

There's Dion the socially-conscious singer, with "Abraham, Martin & John," No. 4 in 1968.

There's Dion the born-again Christian, with the album, "I Put Away My Idols," receiving a Gospel Music Association Dove Award and Grammy Best Gospel Vocal Performance Male nomination, both in 1984.

There's Dion the author, whose autobiography, "The Wanderer: Dion's Story," was published in 1988.

There's Dion of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, inducted by the late Lou Reed in 1989.

There's Dion the recording artist, whose recent albums include "Déjà Nu" (2000), "Bronx In Blue" (2006, a Grammy nominee) and "Heroes: Giants Of Early Guitar Rock" (2008).

There's Dion the playwright, with the musical, "The Wanderer: The Life And Music of Dion," workshopped in 2011 for a hoped-for Broadway debut.

There's Dion the blues singer with "Tank Full Of Blues" (2012).

There's Dion the practicing Roman Catholic who has a prison ministry.

And, of course, there's Dion the entertainer. Music greats Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and Lou Reed have paid homage by bringing him onstage to perform with them.

Dion and his band present a concert at 7 p.m. July 12, State Theatre Center for the Arts, Easton.

In a recent phone interview, Dion Francis DiMucci, born July 18, 1939, was asked if he'd like for the State Theatre audience to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. "I'll hold for, like, four days," he quips.

Dion says he's gonna tear it up at the State Theatre. "We rock out," he says of his musicians on drums, bass, guitar, piano and saxophone.

It's his fifth concert at the State Theatre (1997, 2003, 2004, 2010). "I love it up there," Dion says of Easton. "It's a great town. I love to walk around.

"I visit the Martin Guitar place. Friends from Martin Guitar come down. Dick Boak," Dion says, referring to the C.F. Martin & Co. guitar factory in Nazareth where Boak is Director of Museum & Archives.

Dion was one of the first pop stars who, as with Elvis, fans felt they were on a first-name basis with.

"We were doing a lot of stuff by instinct. We were kind of inventing this stuff," Dion says of rock 'n' roll. "We didn't have a lot of role models," he says, pausing a beat to add with a laugh, "or speakers or monitors."

Dion and the Belmonts embodied an image not unlike that of The Jets in the musical and movie "West Side Story" (1957,1961, respectively). "Runaround Sue," with honkin' sax, a rasp in Dion's voice, doo-wop backing and handclaps, influenced jilted lover story songs and rockers all the way to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, symbolized by the sound of sax player Clarence "The Big Man" Clemons.

Dion's voice was Sinatra with a switchblade. Listen to "The Wanderer" and you'll hear the original OG (Old Gangster), a lady's man braggadocio who'd make even Chuck Berry blush. Dion's look and hipster cool opened the doors for other young singers: Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell and Fabian.

The Belmonts (named after Belmont Avenue in Dion's hometown, the Bronx), was the ultimate doo-wop group. "I Wonder Why," their 1958 hit, was performed with choreographed steps. The dance of the falsettos.

"Donna The Prima Donna" was the original more clave song, with a wise-guy inflection in Dion's vocals that would inform Bobby Darin, Freddie "Boom Boom" Cannon, Gary Lewis of Gary Lewis and the Playboys and so many more.

The clean-cut, matching jackets look of Dion and the Belmonts would influence Beatles manager Brian Epstein to have the four Lads from Liverpool toss their leather and grease into the trash can for mop tops, ties and collarless suits.

Dion, with "Abraham, Martin & John," along with Bobby Darin, "If I Were A Carpenter," and John Lennon, ""Working Class Hero," made the transition from pop idol status to singer-songwriter genre.

"In my innermost being, I don't think I ever started out thinking I wanted to be a pop star. It was always, like, about the music. Taking the people on a musical trip," Dion says in a recent phone interview.

Dion continues traveling musical highways and byways. "I just finished an album with Jimmy Vivino of the Conan O'Brien band." Vivino is guitarist, keyboard player, singer, producer and leader of the Basic Cable Band, house band for O'Brien's late-night talk show, "Conan."

The project is dubbed Dion and the Black Italians. "Doing this new album, I feel more creative and relevant than I did back then."

The music road has been a continuum for Dion. "I was always one connected to the music, interested in the creative aspect.

"When I was in high school and I came out on stage for the prom, you hit the guitar chord and you stake your stance. I don't think that's ever changed.

"There's something about the rock and roll aspect that I love. It's just that connection to the audience, to take people on a trip. It's not, like, 'Are you going to enjoy yourself?' It's, like, 'Come on. You're going to enjoy yourself,'" he emphasizes.

"The thing about rock and roll, there's a lot of raw expression in it. You look at a Salvador Dali painting ... he's almost like a draftsman. And then you have a Van Gogh ... he just can't wait to get the paint on the canvas. Rock and roll is more of an expression. Free abandon. And my father brought me up on that. We'd go to the museums and he'd explain things to me." Dion's dad was a vaudeville entertainer.

"I've always liked music that you could feel the person behind the music, whether it's Joan Baez or Tom Waits or Hank Williams or Miles Davis. You could tell they're the person behind the music. You have the music. And then you have them. They're like the fifth verse."

In recent years, in addition to gospel, Dion has explored the blues. Perhaps it's in appreciation of making it through so many decades of personal and professional changes.

Dion dodged at least two major bullets in his life. He was on the "Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, but not the plane flight that took their lives in 1959, immortalized in Don McLean's song, "The Day The Music Died" (1971). And Dion overcame a heroin addiction.

Of heroin, Dion says, "That was, like, you think you find heaven and you step into hell. When people don't have God in their life, they have to fill up on something. It's either wealth, pleasure, power or honor.

"I didn't have a clue that you could have a connection to God. I met somebody. I got on my knees and I haven't had a drug or drink since 1968.

"Frankie Lymon [of Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (1956)] had died. He was a good friend of mine. He used to come to my house. We used to take drugs together. He died of an overdose, like, in February [1968]. I said that prayer and I never looked back.

"I read myself into the church. You're seeking truth. I wrote a book about it ['The Wanderer Talks the Truth' (2011)].

"It's almost like I didn't have to give up anything. "I stepped into a cloud of witnesses. Seeing it in the spirit, it's, like, eternal spirit. Catholics believe that He's present. If I want to visit Jesus, I go down the street every day [to the church he attends].

"It's a mystery. I have low expectations of human beings, but I know what the Lord did for us."

There's Dion the believer.

Tickets: State Theatre Box Office, 453 Northampton St., Easton; statetheatre.org, 1-800-999-STATE, 610-252-3132