Allen joined the country band Prairie Oyster in 1982, with whom he won six Juno awards.
[8] A second solo album, A Canadian Portrait, followed in 2008 sticking more closely to traditional country music.
Allen experienced cardio-vascular health problems in the spring of 2019 resulting in a successful heart transplant, but has been unable to work since (as of December 2019).
[9] As a member of Prairie Oyster, Allen was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
He was inducted into the Forest City London Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2019.