Cara Dillon

Cara Elizabeth Dillon (born 21 July 1975, in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish folk singer. In 1995, she joined the folk supergroup Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. After leaving the group, she collaborated with Sam Lakeman under the name Polar Star. In 2001, she released her first solo album, Cara Dillon, which featured traditional songs and two original Dillon/Lakeman compositions. The album was an unexpected hit in the folk world, with Dillon receiving four nominations at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Dillon's second album, Sweet Liberty (2003), entered the Irish album charts and UK Indie album charts. In 2004, Dillon received the Meteor Irish Music Award for Best Irish Female. Her third album, After the Morning, was released in 2006. The album's opening track “Never in a Million Years” gained Radio 2 Airplay, while other tracks featured the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Paul Brady. Also in 2006, Dillon sang at the opening of the Ryder Cup in Ireland. In 2009, Dillon released her fourth album, the award-winning Hill of Thieves. The record marked a return to Dillon's traditional roots with a purer production and arrangement style. The titular track “Hill of Thieves”, a Dillon\Lakeman original, was voted by BBC listeners as one of the “Top 10” original songs to have come out of Northern Ireland. The album also won 'Folk Album of the Year' at the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Dillon's fifth solo album, A Thousand Hearts, was released in 2014. Prior to the album's release, Dillon discovered that her music enjoyed a dedicated following in China, where her first album featured in English curriculums. She has since embarked on several popular Chinese tours. Her next release was the Christmas themed album, Upon a Winter's Night which was followed in 2017 by Wanderer. Despite her relatively low profile in the world of mainstream music, Dillon’s voice has been acclaimed by notable artists such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding. As of 2023, Dillon continues to tour regularly and work with her husband, Sam Lakeman, who backs her on piano and guitar. Dillon is the sister of fellow folk singer Mary Dillon, formerly of Déanta. In 2024, Dillon released a new album, Coming Home, that "[blurs] the lines between spoken word and song, featuring her original poetry and music, inspired by the daily lives of the people, places and ancestry she holds closest to her heart".