[2] Cox spent his early life in Carshalton, south London and moved to Brighton in his late teens.

[8] He eventually became known as one of the founders of that sound and was part of the emerging British rave scene,[9] and became renowned for the uncommon practice of three-deck mixing.

[citation needed] In the early 1990s he released his debut single for Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto label, "I Want You (Forever)".

[13] He ran Ultimate Base at the now defunct Velvet Underground club on Charing Cross Road, London in the mid-to late 1990s.

[14] Cox also played the Millennium on New Year's Eve 1999, by performing in Sydney, Australia, and again in Hawaii after flying back over the International Date Line.

[24] Artists who joined Cox on his final night included tINI, Popof, Nic Fanciulli and DJ Sneak.

[28] The stage is popular with festival goers, and has featured artists like Laurent Garnier, Nic Fanciulli, Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Maceo Plex and many more.

[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] Cox has performed at clubs such as the Eclipse, Shelley's Laserdome, Sterns Nightclub, Heaven, Sir Henry's, Angels and The Haçienda, as well as raves for Fantazia, Dreamscape, NASA and Amnesia House.

[51] After sixteen years of Cox's Global radio podcast, he announced via Facebook that he would no longer be working on the show and that it would end in February 2017.

[65] In 2023, the label has an extensive roster of live and improvised artists, such as Marc Romboy, Hannes Bieger, Robert Babicz, An On Bast, Saytek and Australia's Honeysmack.

[66] In 1999, Cox starred in the British film Human Traffic as Pablo Hassan, the manager of the Asylum club.

[71] In January 2023, Carl Cox Motorsport has been confirmed as a new entrant in the electric off-road racing series Extreme E for the 2023 season with Christine GZ and Timo Scheider signed as drivers for the team.