Sandy Dillon

Sandra Ann Dillon was born on May 19, 1960, near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and died on August 4, 2022, in London. An American singer-songwriter, she described her music as "jazz-punk western blues" and built a career that spanned Broadway, recording, and collaboration with a wide range of artists.

Dillon began studying piano at age six and later enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied Orchestral Composition. She subsequently relocated to New York City, taking up residence at the Chelsea Hotel. In 1982, she appeared on Broadway in Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years, in which she portrayed Janis Joplin. That performance brought her to the attention of Tony DeFries, the manager who had previously worked with both David Bowie and Iggy Pop. DeFries connected her with Elektra Records, for whom she recorded two albums that were not released at the time: Candy From A Stranger, produced by Man Parrish, and Flowers, co-produced by Mick Ronson and Dieter Meier. Material from those sessions was previewed at a performance at Ronnie Scott's, with Ronson appearing on guitar. Elektra ultimately released her third set of recordings as her official debut album, Dancing on the Freeway, in 1995. A second album, Skating, followed in 1996 on Bonjour.

After moving to London, Dillon met her husband Steve Bywaters, a member of the Churchfitters, also known in an alternate form as the Blue Lighthouse Brigade, alongside Pete Brown on bass and saxophone, Geoff Coombs on mandolin, whistles, and vocals, and Angus Wallace on guitar and vocals. Bywaters went on to produce several of her subsequent albums. She signed to One Little Indian and recorded Electric Chair, released in 1999. The following year she released Las Vegas Is Cursed, a collaboration with Hector Zazou and East Overshoe, on Crammed Discs. In 2001, Steve Bywaters died following a heart attack. That same year, One Little Indian released East Overshoe.

Dillon continued recording and released Nobody's Sweetheart in 2003 on One Little Indian, produced by Julius from Kinobe and featuring guest vocals from Heather Nova. The album received its US release in 2004, marking the first of her records to be distributed there. Pull the Strings followed in 2006, also on One Little Indian. Her 2008 album Living in Dreams was recorded in Germany with her second husband, Ray Majors, known for his work with Mott the Hoople and The Yardbirds, and was produced by David Coulter. Dillon and Majors also contributed vocals and guitar to Sisters Euclid's album 96 Tears, a collection of cover versions. She additionally worked with Ensemble Modern and Man Parrish over the course of her career. Two further albums, Flowers and Shipwrecked, both appeared in 2013.

Dillon died in London in August 2022, within hours of the death of her husband Ray Majors.