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Dido, Dido, Dido.. She's another example of a 5 years in the making, overnight success. With the help of Goody Two-Shoes himself, Eminem, and his song/ode to an obsessed fan "Stan" that used a sampling of Dido's song "Thank You", her rise to fame has been meteoric.
Dido was born on December 25, 1971, in London, England. Her unusual name can be attributed to the African warrior queen she was named after. The daughter of a literary agent and a poet (Dido's mother used to write poems as a hobby), she grew up without the luxury of television.
But, Dido still found a form of entertainment in music, as did her brother Rollo, who is presently the lead singer in the popular British trip-hop band, Faithless. Dido kept busy teaching herself how to play the recorder (a kind of flute), which led to her acceptance into the prestigious Guildhall School of Music in London at age 6.
While Dido has an established fan base in her native England, it took Eminem to really increase her profile in the United States. Slim Shady sampled Dido's "Thank You" for his dark song, "Stan," which has been hailed as one of the best tracks off his multi-platinum album. The funny thing is that Dido was trained to be a classical musician that was more likely to perform alongside Pavarotti than Eminem.
With an appearance alongside Eminem on Saturday Night Live, as well as solo appearances on talk shows such as Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn (Kilborn admits to being obsessed with Dido, as he constantly professes his love to her on the air), and intense American airplay, Dido's star is quickly on the rise in America and Europe.
She might seem like a newcomer, but she long ago sang in her brother Rollo's trip-hop band Faithless, whose initial album sold 5 million copies, and caught the attention of Clive Davis (the man who discovered Whitney Houston and Bruce Springsteen). The rest, as they say, is history. She gained some recognition last year when her song "Here With Me" was used as the theme for the WB's Roswell. But it took Slim Shady's involvement for people to stop associating Dido with a crazy bird.
Dido has been getting rave reviews by critics and fans alike, a combo almost as rare as seeing Ricky Martin with a woman (now we know we're going to get slack for that one). Her unique voice and mastery of the subtleties of lyrics have set her apart from a crowded musical field.
She's played the big TV gigs in the US: Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show With David Letterman. She has appeared as an opening act for Sting, and has seen her album reach the number one position in several countries.
"It's much better when I go out with my mates and we stop talking about me like I'm some sort of egomaniac. It's great when we can just have a drink." -Dido
Source: Ask Men, Eminem.net |
