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Born
in London, England on Christmas Day 1971, Dido started off playing
music
just five years later. Playing away on her "stolen" recorder (fans
debate
over whether or not the recorder was actually stolen!) around the
house,
Dido showed early potential of becoming a musical prodigy. At ten, she
could
play both the violin and piano, and was accepted into the Guildhall
School
of Music in London. As a teenager, Dido traveled around the UK
performing
with her classical ensemble.
Dido's first vocal gig came on an album
("Reverence") for Faithless, a band her brother Rollo had formed, with
Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. Interested in recording an album, but
afraid to ask her brother for a break with his band, Dido spent much of
her time loitering around
the studio in hopes that she would be asked to contribute her vocals.
Her
persistence paid off. The release came out in 1995, and it received
favorable
reviews. Faithless toured the world for the next two years, selling an
excellent
five million copies of their album. Dido was loving the lifestyle -
meeting
all kinds of new people, and gaining excellent exposure. She recalls
being
paid "a curry" for her work on the album, and asking her brother what
he
thought of her chances as a singer. Rollo told her "not to give up her
day
job..."! Still, Dido persevered, and began writing and producing an
album
with her brother. Dido readied her first album "No Angel", an album
with
solid vocals and lyrics. Combining Dido's love for warm acoustic sounds
and her brother's fascination for beats and all things electronic, the
album
is both modern and classic at the same time. Dido's melodic and soulful
voice stands her apart from up and coming musicians. When the album was
finished, and Dido had a product to "sell" she was able to get signed
to
Cheeky Records, who had also signed Faithless. The album was finally
released
in the US early 1999 to critical appreciation, but little attention.
Dido continued to promote her work - performing in
clubs, and in as many festivals as she could, including Lilith Fair -
as well as her song "Thank you" being contributed to the soundtrack of
the film, "Sliding Doors." The song gathered attention, and vocals from
the first verse were placed onto beat-tape, sent to rap star Eminem. He
wrote a rap over the
top of the beat, and used Dido's portion as the chorus. Despite having
its
chorus lifted from a touchingly honest love song, "Stan" - the
resulting
product from Eminem - was a disturbing tale of an over-obsessed fan,
who
eventually murdered his pregnant girlfriend, and himself by driving his
car off of a cliff. The song was featured on his album "The Marshall
Mathers
LP" and gradually became one of the album's most popular tracks. People
began to ask who the female singer on the track was, and sales of "No
Angel"
began to increase, providing her with instant exposure to a large
audience.
Her track, "Here With Me" (which Dido describes as a "post-shag" tale
of
not wanting to leave the bed in which she has slept during a one night
stand),
was also used in the theme tune to teenage drama "Roswell (High)." The
album
became more and more successful in the USA, but had still not been
released
in the UK following the selling of Cheeky Records to BMG and Arista.
"Stan" was released in the UK and hit #1 instantly - those
who had no idea who Dido was (a majority of the UK public) were
instantly struck by her vocals and a video for "Here With Me" began to
gain popularity with it being added to UK music television.
Imports came flooding in and pushed "No Angel" into the top 5. The
record company politics that prevented Dido from releasing "No Angel"
in the UK first, were finally sorted out
and "No Angel" was finally officially released in the UK, preceding its
first single "Here With Me," sending it straight to the UK #1 (its
previous
highest chart position had been #5 on imports alone) where it stayed
for
6 consecutive weeks. Since its fall from the #1 position, it stayed as
a
top 10 album from February to October 2001, climbing back to the much
coveted
#1 spot on many times. Singles from the album include "Here With Me,"
"Thank
you," "Hunter" and "All You Want," which was released as a special
limited
edition for fans and was ineligible for the chart. Dido is not just a
majorly
successful singer - she also writes all of her own material, and as
such,
she has been asked to write songs for other artists, which she loves to
do. She has currently written tracks for new band, Over The Rhine, and
was
asked to co-write a track for the "Crossroads" movie, and "Britney"
album
by Britney Spears, entitled "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman." The
track
reached #2 in the UK chart, and was equally as successful worldwide. As
2002
begun, Dido continued touring and appearing at awards shows to promote
"No
Angel." She won many Brit, NRJ, Bravo and ARIA awards, and her personal
life
was also going well - she was engaged to a man known only as Bob, and
was
continuing to write tracks, some of which she premiered at concerts on
her
tour, such as "Afraid To Sleep," "See The Sun," "Do You Have A Little
Time"
and "Don't Leave Home." However, her relationship was not meant to be
and
she broke up with Bob during the year, and took a sabbatical to write
and
work on her second album and heal a broken heart.
Dido knew the second album would be hard, as "No Angel"
was so "magically successful" worldwide. It was so successful, people
were hailing new artists as the "next Dido" and so the second album
could quite easily have been rushed and people would still have bought
it. Dido, being an artist of integrity, wanted to make sure she was
proud of the album so she took
her time and finally announced it was ready in July 2003.
"Life For Rent" is slightly lighter in tone than its
predecessor, but the elements that made "No Angel" such a hit are still
there - the melodic, mid-tempo songs with relatable, real life lyrics.
From the lead off single, "White Flag," a tale about not surrendering
love to a person, to the post-summer track, "Sand In My Shoes," the
album is a sure-fire hit and the second in what will be a very long and
successful career for Dido. "For me, it's about the little things, the
detail. Always has been, always will be. As in life, I concentrate on
that, leaving the big stuff to just take care of itself. The title, and
the song from which it’s taken, represents how I feel about my life
right now, and how I want to live it in the future," Dido says.
"It's about not being afraid to take chances, or to live life to the
full.
It's so easy to slip into complacency, or to disengage from the world.
This
album works as a constant reminder to myself not to do that."
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