Dido's mother, Claire, is a French poet and her father, William O'Malley Armstrong (b. 9 November 1938, d. 22 December 2006) was an Irish publisher and former managing director of Sidgwick & Jackson. Named after the mythical Carthaginian queen, Dido was educated at Thornhill Primary, City of London Girls', and Westminster School. Because she was born on Christmas Day, in childhood she celebrated, rather in the manner of the British monarch, an "official" birthday on 25 June. When she was the age of five, she stole a recorder from school. At the age of six, she attended the Guildhall School of Music in London, England. By the time she reached her teens, Dido had learned to play the piano, recorder and the violin. She learned to play the guitar as an adult, showcasing her skills to audiences during her 2004 Life For Rent tour. Prior to taking up music full-time, she worked as a literary agent, whilst studying a degree course in law at Birkbeck, University of London, which she never completed.
Early recordings
In 1995, Dido began recording demo tracks, put together on a collection entitled Odds & Ends, and sent out by Nettwerk management, who had signed her after being brought to their attention through her collaborations with Faithless (Dido co-wrote and provided vocals for album tracks, such as "Flowerstand Man" and "Hem Of His Garment") the UK dance act spearheaded by her brother, Rollo Armstrong. The collection was sent out by Nettwerk on CD-R acetate in 1995, and featured a mixture of finished productions and demo versions, which she would consider for release on her debut album, released in 1999 as No Angel. Odds & Ends brought her to the attention of Arista Records, who signed her in the USA, striking a deal with her brother's record label, Cheeky Records to co-sign her. Of the tracks included on Odds & Ends, "Take My Hand" was included on all editions of No Angel as a bonus track; "Sweet Eyed Baby" was remixed and renamed to "Don't Think Of Me" while "Worthless" and "Me" were released exclusively on the Japanese edition.
Breakthrough: America Thank You/Stan (1998-2000)
Cheeky Records, which Dido was signed to, was sold to BMG records in 1999. This delayed the release of No Angel in the United Kingdom, but also allowed her to concentrate on promoting the album No Angel in the United States, including a slot on Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair tour. Through touring, both before and after the album was available, Dido's music began to receive more exposure. The first official single chosen by Dido and her label, "Here With Me," was used as the theme music for the television programme Roswell (and was later used on the soundtrack to the movie Love Actually). Contary to belief, Dido was already known in the States prior to her collaboration with Eminem, "Stan".
In 1998, the music producer for the movie Sliding Doors picked her track "Thank You" for the soundtrack. No Angel was first released in 1999, and Dido toured extensively to promote the record,
However, it was rapper Eminem who catapulted Dido into the mainstream in the United Kingdom when he sampled the first verse of "Thank You" in his UK #1 single, "Stan", after seeking permission from Dido herself; she also appeared in the music video as Stan's long-suffering girlfriend. Interest soared in her debut album, leading it to hit charts in Europe on import sales alone, charting in the top 5 of the UK charts prior to its official UK release.
No Angel (1999-2001)
Main article: No Angel
No Angel went on to become the top-selling album of 2001 in the United Kingdom, debuting at, and returning to, #1 in the official UK albums chart many times throughout the year, spawning 2 top 10 hit singles, "Here With Me" and "Thank You," and a further top 20 hit, "Hunter." It was certified platinum in over 35 countries, and is estimated to have sold over 13.5 million copies worldwide. Dido's widely emulated hairstyle at this time became known as the "Dido flip". After a sold-out worldwide tour (which featured hip-hop artist Pete Miser as her live band's DJ), Dido announced she was taking a sabbatical in 2002, in which time she began to write and record her second album.
Life for Rent (2003-2004)
Main article: Life for Rent
Life for Rent was eventually released on September 30, 2003 and became one of the fastest selling albums in UK music history, debuting at #1 in the UK, Ireland, France, Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa, Australia, Greece, Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand and in the top 4 in the USA, Italy, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Germany and Austria. Preceded by the #2 hit single "White Flag", the music video of which features former Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star David Boreanaz, the album sold over 152,000 copies in the first day alone in the UK, and went on to sell over 400,000 in the first week. Three further singles were lifted from the album - "Life for Rent", "Don't Leave Home" and "Sand In My Shoes", with Dido embarking on a worldwide tour in support of the album (a DVD of footage from the tour was released in 2005 entitled "Dido: Live"/"Dido – Live at Brixton Academy").
Live 8 (2005)
Main article: Live 8
Following her sold-out world tour of 2004, Dido was asked to perform at three of the Live 8 concerts on 2 July 2005 - performing in London, then at the Eden Project in Cornwall, before flying over to Paris, performing both solo and duetting with Youssou N'Dour. Dido's bemused expression as she walked on stage in Hyde Park silently acknowledged the surrealism of being introduced by Bill Gates.
Third album
In late 2005 Dido began recording her third solo album, experimenting with different sounds and producers, including Jon Brion in Los Angeles. The album was originally expected to be released in late 2006, but Dido has stated on her official website that the album will be released in early 2007. In the February 2007 edition of Q magazine, it is stated that album will drop in Autumn 2007. It also tells that Dido was inspired by long drives along the Pacific Coast of California. February 18: Direct-Current.net reported that the street date circulated by Sony BMG is now September 18. The album was delayed due to the death of her father.
Other Work
In addition to her solo work, Dido has also co-written and provided vocals for tracks with Faithless, including "One Step Too Far," which was released in the UK as a limited edition single, where it debuted at #6, and "No Roots" - the title track of the fourth Faithless album. Rollo - Dido's brother - also co-writes and co-produces a lot of Dido's solo material, including many tracks on both No Angel and Life For Rent. She has provided guest vocals for each of the five studio albums by Faithless from 1996s Reverence to 2006s To All New Arrivals. Dido worked with her brother on a CD to accompany the children's book he wrote with Jason White, "Safe from Harm," The CD is also titled "Safe from Harm" and the artist is listed as "Dusted."
Dido has also provided guest vocals to tracks by other artists including "Feels Like Fire" for Carlos Santana's 2002 album, Shaman and a duet with Rufus Wainwright entitled "I Eat Dinner (When The Hunger's Gone)" for the "Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason" movie soundtrack.
In 2001, Dido co-wrote "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman", performed by Britney Spears, with producers Max Martin and Rami.
Awards
2001: Nominated for the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video - "Thank You"
2001: Nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Video of the Year, Best Rap Video, Best Male Video, Best Directed Video and Best Cinematography - "Stan" (Eminem featuring Dido)
2002: Won the NRJ Award for Best Newcomer
2002: Won the NRJ Award for Best Album No Angel
2002: Won the BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist
2002: Won the BRIT Award for Best British Album - No Angel
2003: Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female - "White Flag"
2003: Won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song - "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (performed by Britney Spears in Crossroads)
2004: Won the BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist
2004: Won the BRIT Award for Best British Single - "White Flag"
