Carolyn Dawn Johnson

Carolyn Dawn Johnson (born April 30, 1971) is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter. Johnson co-wrote Chely Wright's 1999 single, "Single White Female," which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in September 1999. Johnson was signed, in 2000, to record label Arista Nashville.

In 2001, Johnson released her debut album Room with a View. The album's first single "Georgia" reached No. 4 on the RPM Canadian Country Singles Chart for the week of November 6, 2000. "Complicated" was a Top Five hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Her next single ("I Don't Want You to Go") was a Top Ten hit in the U.S. .

Biography

Early life and music Carolyn Dawn Johnson was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta to John Johnson, a farmer and operator of a seed-cleaning business, and Loretta Johnson, a supervisor of a home for senior citizens. Johnson was raised on a farm in Deadwood, Alberta with two brothers, late older brother Derwin, who died due to an undisclosed illness on Christmas Eve in 1998, and brother Greg.

Johnson was passionate about music from a young age and even asked her mother how anyone could live without it. She sang at a church and started playing the piano at the age of five, learning from her pastor's wife, Evangeline Thiessen. Her parents played country music records by Jim Reeves and Don Williams at home and as she got older, her musical interests diversified as she listened to artists like ABBA, Charley Pride, Fleetwood Mac and Marty Stuart among others. The family later moved to Westlock, Alberta and Johnson attended RF Staples High School there. During her high school years, she learned to play the clarinet, flute and saxophone. She kept up her piano lessons largely in part due to Thiessan sending books and encouraging letters to her.

After graduating high school, believing that she could not make a living as a musician, Johnson attended Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia studying biology and a year later she was in Edmonton, Alberta studying education. and realizing that her true calling was in music, she went to Vancouver, British Columbia and there she attended Columbia Academy and learned the technical aspects of the music industry. Johnson focussed on songwriting in her spare time and ordered a video featuring songwriters from Nashville to learn more about songwriting and through this video, she joined the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The album was well-received as it sold a little less than 18,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 8 on the US country sales chart. It became Arista Nashville's highest debuting album by a new artist since SoundScan was used to track record sales.

The first two singles from the album, "Georgia" and "Complicated", were both hits in the United States, with the latter reaching No. 5 on the country charts. The year ended with Johnson receiving a record-breaking 10 nominations from the Canadian Country Music Association, with "Georgia" and "Complicated" competing against each other for "Single of the Year", "Song of the Year" and "Video of the Year". Johnson went on to win five awards, including her first "Female Artist of the Year" award.

Johnson went on tour with Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney in 2002. Her next single, "I Don't Want You to Go", was a top 10 hit in both Canada and the US. Subsequent singles did well on the Canadian charts but not on the American charts. Johnson was nominated for five CCMA awards that year and won three, including her second consecutive "Female Artist of the Year". She also won a Juno Award for "Best Country Artist" and an Academy of Country Music award for "Top New Female Artist" that year.

In 2003, Johnson went on her first co-headlining tour with Keith Urban. While on tour, she was once again writing songs, this time for her second album. Urban provided his voice for a song on that album.

Dress Rehearsal In 2004, Johnson released her second album, Dress Rehearsal, in which she co-produced and wrote 11 of the 12 songs. The album debuted at number nine on Billboard's top country albums charts. The first single from the album, "Simple Life", did well on both the Canadian and the American country charts. This was the only song on the album that she did not write. The second single, "Die of a Broken Heart", also did well on the Canadian country charts but not on the American charts. Later that year, she received seven CCMA award nominations and won five awards.

Johnson left Arista Nashville in 2005 because "what they wanted her to do wasn't her."

Love and Negotiation Love & Negotiation, Johnson's 3rd album, was released in Canada under the Angeline Entertainment label in 2006. As with her first album, she wrote all 12 songs, but this time she produced the entire album by herself. The album was originally scheduled to be released in the United States in mid-2007 by Equity Music Group but was delayed and Johnson exited Equity in 2008. In September 2007, Johnson was named Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2007 CCMA Awards. Love & Negotiation was eventually released in the United States digitally through Dancing Lily Music on October 13, 2009, with different artwork.

Love Rules In 2010, Johnson released the first single from her upcoming studio album. The single, "Let Me Introduce Myself", is included on her fourth studio album, Love Rules, which was released digitally in the United States on July 21, 2010, and in Canada on August 10, 2010, via Dancing Lily Music. The album is produced by Johnson and Frank Rogers and features 12 new songs. 'Love Rules' was nominated for Country Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards

Personal life Johnson married Matt Fisher in 2003: they divorced in 2019. They have two children, Abigail and Bennett .

Discography Studio albums Title Details Peak chartpositions Certifications US Country US Room with a View Release date: August 7, 2001 Label: Arista Nashville Formats: CD, cassette 8 87 MC: Gold Dress Rehearsal Release date: May 4, 2004 Label: Arista Nashville Formats: CD, music download 9 65 Love & Negotiation Release date: June 6, 2006 Label: Angeline/Equity Music Group Formats: CD, music download — — Love Rules Release date: August 10, 2010 Label: Dancing Lily Music Formats: CD, music download — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

As featured artist Year Single Peak positions Certifications Album CAN Country CAN US Country 2001 "America the Beautiful" — — 58 2012 "Baby I Know It" 3 76 — Fire It Up 2016 "I Didn't Fall in Love with Your Hair" 16 88 — MC: Gold Pick Me Up "—" denotes releases that did not chart"*" denotes releases where no chart existed

Other charted songs Year Single Peak positions Album CAN Country 2008 "I Wouldn't Want Christmas (Any Other Way)" 47 Country Heat Christmas 3

Music videos Year Video Director 2000 "Georgia" Brent Hedgecock2001 "America the Beautiful" Marc Ball "Complicated" Lisa Mann 2002 "I Don't Want You to Go" "You Are" 2004 "Simple Life" Steven Goldmann 2005 "Dress Rehearsal" Margaret Malandruccolo 2006 "Crybaby" Margaret Malandruccolo 2007 "Into You" "I Wouldn't Want Christmas (Any Other Way)" 2010 "The Whole Thing" 2011 "Stop for Me" Steve J Murphy 2012 "Baby I Know It"

Singles written by Johnson Year Title Artist(s)1999"I'm Yours"Linda Davis"Single White Female"Chely Wright"After a Kiss"Pam Tillis"Squeezin' the Love Outta You"Redmon and Vale2001"Downtime"Jo Dee Messina

Awards and nominations Year Organization Category Result 2001 Academy of Country Music Top New Female Vocalist Juno Award Best Country Female Artist Canadian Country Music Association TELUS Mobility Fans' Choice Award Female Artist of the Year SOCAN Song of the Year ("Complicated") SOCAN Song of the Year ("Georgia") Single of the Year ("Complicated") Single of the Year ("Georgia") Album of the Year (Room with a View) Video of the Year ("Complicated") Video of the Year ("Georgia") Chevy Trucks Rising Star Award 2002 Academy of Country Music Top New Female Vocalist Country Music Association Horizon Award Juno Award Best Country Artist/Group Canadian Country Music Association Fans' Choice Award Female Artist of the Year SOCAN Song of the Year ("I Don't Want You to Go") Single of the Year ("I Don't Want You to Go") CMT Video of the Year ("I Don't Want You to Go") 2003 Kraft Cheez Whiz Fans' Choice Award Female Artist of the Year American Music Awards Favorite Country New Artist 2004 Canadian Country Music Association Kraft Cheez Whiz Fans' Choice Award Female Artist of the Year SOCAN Song of the Year ("Die of a Broken Heart") Single of the Year ("Simple Life") Album of the Year (Dress Rehearsal) CMT Video of the Year ("Simple Life") 2005 Juno Award Country Recording of the Year (Dress Rehearsal) Canadian Country Music Association Kraft Cheez Whiz Fans' Choice Award Female Artist of the Year SOCAN Song of the Year ("Dress Rehearsal") Single of the Year ("Die of a Broken Heart") 2006 Female Artist of the Year SOCAN Song of the Year ("Crybaby") 2007 Juno Award Country Recording of the Year (Love & Negotiation) Canadian Country Music Association Kraft Cheez Whiz Fans' Choice Award Female Artist of the Year SOCAN Songwriter of the Year ("Taking Back My Brave") Album of the Year (Love & Negotiation) 2008 Female Artist of the Year 2010 Female Artist of the Year 2011 Female Artist of the Year Album of the Year (Love Rules) Juno Award Country Album of the Year (Love Rules) 2012 Canadian Country Music Association Female Artist of the Year 2013 Female Artist of the Year