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

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, whose first release is a song written by

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

titled " Christmas in Fallujah".

Career

Dillon's first major release was written by

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

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

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 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 radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

''. 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, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

wars. From 2010 until 2012, Dillon was in a relationship with Joel's daughter, Alexa Ray Joel. 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 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 Shōnen Jump'' and the 15th anniversary of '' V Jump''. The series aired from April 2008 to March ...

''. 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 (album), Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB/The CW, ...

and

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...

, 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. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' 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'', starring

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime ...

. 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.

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