In April 1968, Dion experienced what he identified as a powerful religious experience. After getting clean once again from heroin addiction, an experience he documented in his 1970 song "Your Own Backyard", he approached Laurie Records for a new contract. They agreed on condition that he record the song "Abraham, Martin &amp; John", written by Dick Holler (also the writer of the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron") in response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, and those of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy during the spring of 1968. The success of this song – released by Dion in August 1968 and later recorded by many others including Marvin Gaye – which reached No. 4 in the US charts and No. 1 in Canada, resuscitated Dion's career. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.