For most of Arthur “Butch” Dixon’s life, music was at the center of his world. His father was the late blues legend Willie Dixon.
Early Monday morning, Dixon, 45, died after a van he was traveling in with Twista crashed on Interstate 90 near Erie, Pa.
Dixon, an accomplished pianist who just months ago played with Chuck Berry at a Chicago concert, had served in recent years as a bodyguard for Twista and R. Kelly, relatives said.
“He loved music,” said blues singer Koko Taylor, who had known Dixon since he was a baby. “That’s the reason he was in the [van].”
Dixon’s mother, Marie, said her son grew up on Chicago’s South Side surrounded by blues legends. Taylor was a neighbor to the Dixon family home in the 7600 block of South Throop Street, and members of his father’s band, the Chicago Blues All Stars, were constantly nearby.
Arthur Dixon was known by friends and family as “Butch” or, in some cases, “Big Butch”–a nickname given by saxophonist Harold Ashby.
Marie Dixon said her son dreamed of being a football player, but her husband insisted all of his children learn an instrument. Butch Dixon chose piano and was trained by pianist Lafayette Leake, then a member of Willie Dixon’s band.
When he was old enough, Butch Dixon began touring with his father, hitting blues clubs throughout North America and Europe. He continued until 1990, when his father semi-retired from the business, Marie Dixon said.
“He enjoyed it,” she said. “Once he traveled with his father and learned different cities and states that they went to, he seriously enjoyed being out there and playing the piano.”
Marie Dixon said her son worked briefly as a Cook County sheriff’s deputy after Willie Dixon died in 1992. In the years since, Butch Dixon had continued playing the piano and occasionally the drums. As recently as June, he played with Berry at an Academy of Achievement Conference at the Field Museum, friends said.
In recent years, Dixon spent the bulk of his time helping his family’s non-profit organization, the Blues Heaven Foundation, and working as a bodyguard for Twista and other artists.
Barry Dolins, coordinator of the Chicago Blues Festival, said he had seen Butch Dixon on Thursday during a chance meeting in the Loop and had tried to call him later, but Dixon was already out of town.
“It’s just an untimely death,” Dolins said. “I think he had a lot of great ideas and plans still ahead of him.”
Marie Dixon said her son was married and had three children. Funeral arrangements were pending.
