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A versatile Christian rocker with a soaring voice, Colton Dixon topped the Billboard Christian albums chart with his debut album, 2013's A Messenger, following an appearance as a finalist on American Idol. Combining rock and electro-pop, he landed on the dance/electronic albums chart for the first time in 2015 with the remix EP Storm. Following three Christian number one albums, his major-label debut took the form of the more pop-oriented Colton Dixon EP in 2020. The Canvas EP, which featured the massive CCM hit "Build a Boat," appeared in 2023.

Born on October 19, 1991, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, singer and songwriter Colton Dixon first caught the public's attention on 2012's season 11 of American Idol. The guitar-playing, golden-maned Dixon's theatrical vocals and upfront spirituality connected with audiences enough to secure a seventh place finish, and it didn't take long for the charismatic rocker to land a record deal. The resulting A Messenger, his debut for Sparrow Records, was released in 2013 and quickly rose to number 15 on the Billboard Top 200 and number one on the Christian albums chart. With newly raised stakes, he fared similarly well with his 2014 follow-up, Anchor, which also topped the Christian chart behind the hit single "More of You." Tours with major artists like TobyMac, Third Day, and Casting Crowns helped increase his profile as a popular concert act. In 2015, Dixon released The Calm Before the Storm, which combined two previously released EPs: the all-acoustic Calm and a set of remixes called Storm. His third proper studio album, Identity, followed on Sparrow early in 2017 and returned him to the number one spot on the Christian albums chart.

The Tennessee-based Dixon then signed with Atlantic Records and took part in writing sessions in Los Angeles for his major-label debut. Producers including Robopop (Lana Del Rey, Andy Grammer) and Busbee (P!nk, Adam Lambert) were among the contributors to the EP Colton Dixon, which arrived in 2020. 2022 saw the release of "Build a Boat," which soared to the top of multiple CCM charts and spawned a duet with country star Gabby Barrett. The life-affirming "My Light" arrived in early 2023. Both songs appeared on Dixon's Canvas EP, which came later that April. ~ James Christopher Monger & Marcy Donelson