Cass Dillon (May 3, 1986) is a singer-songwriter from

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...

, whose first release is a song written by Billy Joel titled "Christmas in Fallujah".

Career

Dillon's first major release was written by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the " Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

and titled " Christmas in Fallujah". Joel wrote the song after receiving many letters from military service members serving in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

but chose not to perform it because he "thought it should be somebody young, about a soldier's age." Dillon came to Joel's attention through his longtime musical director

Tommy Byrnes Thomas Patrick Byrnes (February 19, 1923 – January 9, 1981) was an American professional basketball player. He played collegiately for Seton Hall University. He began his professional career playing for the New York Knicks of the Basketball Asso ...

and artist manager Stefano DiBenedetto with whom Dillon had worked. The song was released to the public on iTunes on December 4, 2007, the day after being previewed on ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

''. Proceeds from the song were donated to Homes For Our Troops, which builds homes for severely wounded veterans of the

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

wars. From 2010 until 2012, Dillon was in a relationship with Joel's daughter,

Alexa Ray Joel Alexa Ray Joel (born December 29, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Her parents are singer-songwriter Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley. Joel released an Extended play, EP ''Sketches'' (2006) and several singles on indep ...

. The pair met when Dillon was hired to play guitar on Alexa Ray Joel's upcoming album on which he co-wrote "Say Something". Dillon provided vocals for the opening theme

Hyper Drive Hyper may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hyper'' (2016 film), 2016 Indian Telugu film * ''Hyper'' (2018 film), 2018 Indian Kannada film * ''Hyper'' (magazine), an Australian video game magazine *Hyper (TV channel), a Filipino sports channe ...

for the English dub of ''

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's is the second main spin-off of the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise, succeeding ''Yu-Gi-Oh! GX'', in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump and the 15th anniversary of V Jump. The series aired in Japan from April 2, 2008 to Ma ...

''. Dillon has opened for artists

Gavin DeGraw Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song " I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album ''Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB drama series ''One Tree ...

and

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cel ...

, and has performed on several network TV shows, including Katie Couric, FOX and Friends Morning Show, The Early Show News, The Second Cup Cafe, The View, and Good Morning America. One of his songs was included in the 2014 romantic comedy

My Man is a Loser ''My Man Is a Loser'' is a 2014 comedy film written and directed by comedian Mike Young. Filming began in New York City in June 2012. The film received a video on demand and limited theatrical release on July 25, 2014, by Lionsgate Films. Synopsi ...

. ''Billboard'' magazine included Dillon as one of their favorite unsigned songwriters. Alongside singing, Dillon is also a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and budding actor, having starred in a supporting role in the 2014 film

Song One ''Song One'' is a 2014 American romantic drama film written and directed by Kate Barker-Froyland in her directorial debut. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, Ben Rosenfield, and Mary Steenburgen. In the film, Franny Ellis returns home ...

, starring

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 20 ...

. Cass Dillon released a new single "I Love You" The single, inspired by the passing of his longtime manager's father, "has the charm of raw Americana folk, a warm intimate indie production presence, and the melodic and lyrical hook of a hit pop song. Its immediate release has been pulling the heartstrings and capturing the eyes and ears of listeners, quickly catching the attention of local and national radio". Cass Dillon released his EP "Oregon Road" in 2016 on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Cass Living people Songwriters from New York (state) People from Long Island 1986 births Singers from New York City 21st-century American singers