Dido biography
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong (; born 25 December 1971), known as Dido, is an English singer-songwriter.
Dido shot to worldwide success with her debut album, No Angel (1999). The album sold in excess of 21 million copies worldwide, and won several awards; including the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act, two NRJ Awards for Best New Act and Best Album, and two Brit Awards for Best British Female and Best Album. Her following album, Life for Rent (2003), continued her mainstream success with the help of popular singles "White Flag" and "Life for Rent". The album went on to sell around 12 million copies worldwide and saw her receive more accolades; including the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year for "White Flag", two further Brit and NRJ Awards, as well as a Grammy Award nomination.
Dido's first two albums, No Angel and Life for Rent, are among the best-selling albums in UK Chart history, and both are in the top 10 best-selling albums of the 2000s in the UK. Her third and latest studio album, Safe Trip Home (2008), received critical praise to help maintain her success. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the song "If I Rise". Dido has been ranked #98 of Billboard 200 Artists Music Chart based on the success of her music in the first decade of the 21st century.
Dido was born at St Mary Abbots hospital in Kensington, London, on Christmas Day 1971. On her birth certificate, her name was registered as Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong. Because she was born on Christmas Day, she also celebrates an "official birthday" on 25 June, following the example of Paddington Bear. Her mother, Clare (née Collins), is a poet, Her older brother, Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong, is better known as record producer Rollo, part of the British electronica trio Faithless. Despite their impressive birth names, the pair were known from childhood by the names that are famous now - Dido and Rollo. Her name derives from that of the mythical Queen of Carthage. As a child, she had to deal with its ambiguous and unusual nature, which led to her being bullied and even to her pretending to have an ordinary name. As she explains:
Early recordings: (1995-1996)
In 1995, Dido began recording demo tracks which were put together on a collection entitled
Odds & Ends and sent out by Nettwerk management. Nettwerk had signed her after she was brought to their attention by her collaborations with Faithless, the UK dance act spearheaded by her brother, Rollo Armstrong (Dido co-wrote and provided vocals for album tracks, such as "Flowerstand Man" and "Hem of His Garment"). The collection was released by Nettwerk on CD-R acetate in 1995 and featured a mixture of finished productions and demo versions which she later considered 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.
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