In February 1960, the song "Teen Angel", written by his sister Jean (Eugenia) and her husband Red Surrey,[2] reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Dinning was born in Manchester, Oklahoma, the youngest of nine children, and was raised on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee, after his family relocated from Kansas.
The lyrics, which told of the death of a teenage girl, were deemed by British radio stations to be too morbid to be aired, but it reached number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.
Dinning had an alcohol addiction, which restricted his performances, and caused promoters to stop booking him as he faded from public view.
[6] Dinning continued performing until his death from a heart attack in Jefferson City, Missouri, at the age of 52 on March 22, 1986.