Dido Biography

Dec 27, 2006

Birthdate: December 25, 1971

Dido - The Early Years

When Dido was five years old she stole a recorder (a flute-like instrument) from school. Dido didn't end up behind bars, but a year later her recorder practice helped land her a spot at the Guildhall School of Music in London, England. Dido was quite a musician - she played the piano, violin, and of course the recorder, by the time she was 10. During her teenage years Dido was known to sneak some of her brothers' records, like ones by punk-rock band The Clash or pop group Duran Duran. When Dido wasn't rootin' through her bros' stuff she was touring the UK with her classical music group. When Dido was 16 she fell in love with the music of jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald. Dido's deep passion for music led her to start singing with different bands around London.

Dido Gets Her Big Break

Lucky for us, Dido didn't listen to her brother Rollo who thought she shouldn't give up her day job. Somewhere along the way he changed his tune cuz Dido appeared on his band's first album in 1995. For the next two years Dido toured with Rollo's band Faithless and recorded her own demos when she was back in London. In 1997 Arista Records heard a couple demos of Dido's songs, including My Lover's Gone and they invited her to meet Clive Davis, the man responsible for finding talent like Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston and Santana. The meeting was a success and led to the release of her 1999 debut No Angel. Bad boy rapper Eminem made Dido a star when he borrowed part of her song Thank You for his hit Stan. Dido also appears as Stan's pregnant wife in the video for Stan.

Dido - Life For Rent

In September 2003, Dido released her second album Life For Rent. The video for the first single, White Flag, features David Boreanaz from the hit show, Angel.

Dido - Did U Know?

Dido was named after a African warrior queen. Her last name is Armstrong.

Dido went to law school and worked as a literary agent while singing in Faithless.

The sci-fi TV show Roswell used Dido's song Here With Me as its theme.

Dido Says...

"I feel really lucky to have found [musical success] before I'm 30, to be doing absolutely what I want to do. I would be quite happy if I died tomorrow."