Peter J. Arnone, a singer and instrumentalist who entertained in nightclubs and at special events for more than 70 years, died Monday in his Buffalo home. He was 98. Born in Rochester, he grew up in Pittston, Pa., where he tap-danced and played harmonica for nickels and dimes as a boy. When he was 10, he was a Pennsylvania harmonica champion. After an uncle gave him a mandolin, he taught himself to play it.

“He was a natural,” his son, Peter Jr., said. “He practiced and practiced and drove everyone crazy.” An honor student in high school, he went to work as a coal miner after graduation and played music at night and on weekends, adopting the stage name of Peter Gramercy, taken from New York City’s Gramercy Park. When the coal mines closed, he moved to Buffalo’s West Side in 1942. He was a charter member of the Pittston Social Club here.