Dillon's first major release was written by Billy Joel and titled "Christmas in Fallujah". Joel wrote the song after receiving many letters from military service members serving in 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 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". Proceeds from the song were donated to Homes For Our Troops, which builds homes for severely wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.