Pop singer-songwriter Dido broke into the international arena of electronic music in the late 90s, releasing two of the best-selling albums of all time in the UK.
Her 1999 debut No Angel topped the charts worldwide and sold over 20 million copies.
Life for Rent is the singer's second studio album, released in late 2003. The album earned Daido his first Grammy nomination (Best Pop Bubble Artist) for "White Flag".
Despite the fact that there was a long period of silence between each subsequent release, the tracks enriched Daido's list of songs, which helped her become one of the most beloved English artists of the early XNUMXst century.
A little about life and early career
Daido Florian Cloud de Bunevial Armstrong was born on December 25, 1971 in Kensington. At home, parents called their daughter Dido. According to English tradition, the singer celebrates her birthday on July 25, like Paddington Bear.
At the age of six, she entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
By the time Daido reached her teenage years, the aspiring musician had already mastered the piano, violin and tape recorder. Here the girl met the musician Sinan Savaskan.
After touring with a British classical ensemble, she was hired.
In the meantime, Daido sang in several local bands before joining the trip hop group Faithless under her older brother, renowned DJ/producer Rollo, in 1995.
The following year, the band released their debut album Reverence. With over 5 million copies sold worldwide, Dido turned her newfound success into a solo deal with Arista Records.
Solo career and the beginning of success
Daido's solo career combined elements of acoustic and electronic music.
In mid-1999, she released her debut album No Angel and supported it by joining the Lilith Fair tour.
However, Daido's biggest "breakthrough" came in 2000, when rapper Eminem sampled a verse of Thank You from the singer's No Angel album for his song Stan.
The result was a surprisingly touching song, and the demand for Daido's original increased very quickly.
The song Thank You entered the top five in early 2001, as did the No Angel album.
Album sales later exceeded 12 million copies worldwide by the time Dido returned (two years later).
In September 2003, the singer released the long-awaited album Life for Rent. She wrote the song after her father's temporary recovery. British critics called Dido's album the most striking comeback of 2003.
The highly anticipated album became one of the best-selling albums in UK history, went multi-platinum at home very quickly, and also received several million copies in America.
After a world tour, Daido worked on her solo release Safe Trip Home in 2005.
She presented it in 2008, which included Brian Eno, Mick Fleetwood and Citizen Cope.
Shortly thereafter, the singer recorded the single Everything to Lose, which later became the soundtrack to the film Sex and the City 2.
In 2011, Daido worked with producer AR Rahman on the single If I Rise and began work on her fourth studio album Girl Who Got Away with producers Rollo Armstrong and Jeff Bhasker and guest producer Brian Eno.
The album, which was released in 2013, also contained the track Let Us Move On with Kendrick Lamar.
After the Greatest Hits set, which came out a little later that year, the singer parted ways with RCA and spent the next few years without an audience, saying she would mentor at The Voice UK in 2013.
“Music is not a competition for me, so I think the concept of judging is very funny. I really enjoyed mentoring at The Voice, the members were amazing and it wasn't easy.
I don't think I was confident to perform live in front of so many people, and I'm in awe of the wonderful artists that I saw - all so young and very talented, ”admitted Daido.
What we do know is that the biggest stars of today are still looking for inspiration from singer Dido.
Miley Cyrus has mentioned more than once in her No Freedom interviews for her Happy Hippie campaign. Then the song Thank You Dido was sampled by Rihanna in her latest album Anti.
In 2018, the single Hurricanes was released, which began the release of the fifth full-length film, in which the performer's compositions were performed.
Dido collaborated with her brother Rollo Armstrong on the album Still on My Mind (BMG), which was released on March 8, 2019 and included an additional single, Give You Up.
Dido's personal life
After the release of No Angel in 1999 and after a long time promoting it, Dido separated from her lawyer fiancé Bob Page.
Dido married Rohan Gavin in 2010. In July 2011, the couple had a son, Stanley. The family lives together in north London, not far from where the singer grew up.
“I have a wonderful time with my family, with my friends, with the world. But the music never let me go. I still sing and always write songs. Music is how I see this world. I just stopped playing it for everyone but my family."
Dido now
Daido has released a new album, Still on My Mind. Her voice remains unchanged, clear and soft with a unique touch on high notes. Her songs, as always, are sweet, melodic and pleasant.
The singer is an "ardent" fan of the football club "Arsenal" of the Premier League. She also holds dual British-Irish citizenship due to her Irish heritage.
