Official Soundcloud page for Dion Wardle

Born and raised in London, England, Dion (Chord Lord) Wardle grew up in a musical family. With his mum on guitar and his brother bass, it wasn’t long before this talented pianist found his place. Greatly influenced by his eclectic taste, Dion quickly mastered Gospel, Neo Soul, Soul, Jazz, Funk, Country, Folk, Hip Hop and R&B. At the age of 14, Dion joined his church band, where drums and bass were soon added to his repertoire of skills.

By the age of 16 he was the musical director of that band, his reign ending in 2012. Passionate about music, after studying Performing Arts and Musical Technology at college, Dion started working in music production at the age of 22, joining a production team called Parker & James as their in-house pianist in November 2009. Since then he has collaborated with artists such as Chipmunk, N-Dubz, Angel, Conor Maynard, Kylie Minogue, Rita Ora, K Koke, Giggs, Sneakbo and many more over a 3 year period. In 2012 Dion co produced Angel’s debut album ‘About Time’ and co-wrote his second single ‘Wonderful’, which peaked at number nine in the UK charts. He also co produced Conor Maynard’s second single ‘Vegas Girl’ from his debut album ‘Contrast’ which peaked at number 4 in the UK Charts and number 1 in the US Billboard charts. 

In 2012, Dion went on to strike up a production partnership with Parker Ighile who is currently signed to Nicki Minaj as the first official artist to her label. Since then Dion has co-produced Parker’s first single ‘So Beautiful’ which was released digitally; and branching into international live performance, Dion had the privilege of working with world-renowned record producer and composer Quincy Jones. Dion co-wrote ‘Hope You Understand’ on Grace Sewell’s debut album ‘FMA’ and undertook UK tv and radio tours to promote her first single, ‘You Don’t Own Me’. More recently, he worked with Fraser T Smith in collaborating with Stormzy on his debut album ‘Gang Signs and Prayer’, co-writing on ‘Cigarettes and Cush’ and ‘Blinded By Your Grace, Pt 1’ and adding production on ’21 Gun Salute’ and ‘Blinded By Your Grace, Pt 2’. Dion has also been credited as a co-producer on tracks from artists such as Rebecca Ferguson, Shan Smile, Tamera Foster and Callum Scott, as well as accompanying Sarah Evelyn live with his exemplary piano playing.

Major Key Music