Tony Orlando and when the song became an international number-one hit, he began to use his name in the group becoming "Dawn featuring Tony Orlando" and then "Tony Orlando and Dawn". The group had 19 other top 40 hits, including "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree", the top-selling hit of 1973 and one of the biggest selling singles of all time. The group also had a hit variety program, "The Tony Orlando and Dawn Show" on CBS from 1973 to 1977. They then broke up in 1978. In 1993 he opened the Tony Orlando Yellow Ribbon Music Theatre in
Tony Orlando and Dawn through the 1960s, he also became a producer and a successful music executive with Columbia Records and Columbia/CBS music. While working as a music executive, Orlando received "Candida," a song other producers and singers had turned down. Originally, Orlando could not lend his name to the song, as he was working for April-Blackwood and recording under his name would be a professional conflict of interest. After producer Hank Medress insisted Orlando dub his voice over the male vocals on the original track, Bell Records released the single as being performed by the band "Dawn" to protect Orlando's position. The background