Carleton Anthony "Carl" Dixon is a Canadian rock singer, keyboard player and guitarist. He has been a member of the bands Coney Hatch,

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...

and

The Guess Who The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, wit ...

Early life and education

Dixon was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and grew up listening to rock music in the 1970s. He graduated from Barrie North Collegiate Institute in 1977.

Career

Dixon moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1979 to perform with a band called Firefly. In 1981, he left Firefly, moving to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where he answered an advertisement from the band Coney Hatch, becoming its lead singer. While with Coney Hatch, he wrote and co-wrote many of their hits, such as "Hey Operator" and "Devil's Deck". He spent most of the 1980s touring with Coney Hatch, opening for Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind Tour across North America, and Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance tour 1982. In the 1990s, he pursued his solo career writing for Rondor Publishing (now Universal) and oversaw the production of Coney Hatch's ''Best Of'' compilation album. Throughout his career, Dixon also toured with heavy metal icons such Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Triumph, Ted Nugent, Accept and Krokus. During his songwriting deal with Rondor Music, he wrote the song "Taste of Love" with Brett Walker for Jimi Jamison. That version was used on an episode of ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...

'' titled "Life Guards Can't Jump". In 1989, his demo song "Fool's Paradise" was heard in the 1989 horror film ''Freakshow''. His music was also used in ''Heaven Before I Die'', a feature film with

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif (, ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub ; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s. He is bes ...

. "Feel the Feeling Again", written by Dixon,, was used on an episode of television series '' Degrassi High''. Dixon toured with

, playing keyboard, guitar and backing vocals from 2001 to 2004. He performed on the ''April Wine Greatest Hits Live'' album in 2003. In 1997, Dixon was invited to join The Guess Who as lead singer. He performed and recorded with the band until spring 2000, and again from early 2004 until 2008. In April 2008, he was critically injured in a car accident in Australia. He remained hospitalised in Melbourne, Australia, for five months. Unable to play and sing, he was replaced in the Guess Who by Derek Sharp. Dixon made a guest appearance with The Guess Who as lead singer for two shows in January 2016 in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Albuquerque, New Mexico His youngest daughter, Lauren Dixon, is most publicly known for her role as Stevie Lake on the 2008 series reboot of '' The Saddle Club''. Dixon wrote the song "Just Because" for ''The Saddle Club'' season 3 CD "Best Friends". 28 years after the release of its last album, Coney Hatch regrouped, keeping a promise by Andy Curran made to Dixon while he was in his coma, that if he survived they would release a new album. ''Coney Hatch Four'' was released by the European label Frontiers Records in 2013 and was voted into the top 50 rock albums of 2013 by the UK's ''Classic Rock'' magazine but the album received little airplay in Canada. Dixon wrote an autobiography about being a singer and musician during the height of Canadian rock, and about redefining his life after the car accident. His book, ''Strange Way To Live'', was published in January 2015 by

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Hum ...

and received favourable reviews including from ''CBC'' Despite ongoing injuries and the effects of severe head trauma, Dixon continues to perform as a musician and singer. ''Unbroken'', his eighth solo album, was released in Europe and Asia by AOR Heaven and Rubicon Music. It was awarded number 22 in the top 30 Rock Albums of 2019 by the ''Melodic Rock'' website. Dixon has an increasing presence as an inspirational speaker sharing his comeback story and music at corporate and safety events. He is signed to Anthem Entertainment, Toronto, and The National Speakers Bureau, Canada.

Personal

Dixon is married to film producer Helen Parker, an Australian. They met in Canada through mutual friends. He has two adult daughters and three adult stepchildren.

References

External links

The Guess Who website

Personal websiteCarl Dixon – National Speakers Bureau
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Carl Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian rock singers Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian rock keyboardists Musicians from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Singers from Toronto Canadian lead guitarists Atlantic Records artists April Wine members The Guess Who members 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian keyboardists 21st-century Canadian keyboardists 20th-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers Coney Hatch members