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Short Biography

Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O`Malley Armstrong[1] (born 25 December 1971 in London, England) professionally known as Dido (pronounced /ˈdaɪdoʊ/ DYE-doe) is an award winning English singer-songwriter.

Dido was born Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong[2][3] at St. Mary Abbots hospital in Kensington, London on Christmas Day 1971.[4] Because she was born on Christmas Day, she also celebrates an "official birthday" on 25 June, following the example of Paddington Bear.[5] Her mother, Clare (n?e Collins) is a French poet[3] and her father, William O`Malley Armstrong was an Irish publisher and former managing director of Sidgwick & Jackson.[6][7] She has an older brother, Rowland Constantine O`Malley Armstrong[8] who is better known as record producer Rollo. Despite their impressive birth names, the pair were known from childhood by the names that are famous now ? Dido and Rollo.[3] Dido has made it clear that "Dido" is now her real name and not simply a stage name or nickname.[1][5][9]

Dido was named after the mythical Queen of Carthage. As a child, she had to deal with the ambiguous and unusual nature of her name, which led to her being bullied[1] and even to her pretending to have an ordinary name.[3] As she explains:

To be called one thing and christened another is actually very confusing and annoying. It`s one of the most irritating things that my parents did to me. ...Florian is a German man`s name. That`s just mean. To give your child a whole lot of odd names. They were all so embarrassing. ...I thought it was cruel to call me Dido and then expect me to just deal with it.
?Dido, Interview published in The Observer in 2001[3]

Dido was educated at Thornhill Primary, City of London Girls` and Westminster School. After she stole a recorder from school at age five,[10] her parents enrolled her at the Guildhall School of Music in London, England. By the time she reached her teens Dido had learned to play the piano, recorder and the violin. She later studied law at Birkbeck, University of London, while working as a literary agent. She never completed the course, deciding instead to take up music full-time. After learning the guitar, she showcased her skills to audiences during her 2004 Life for Rent tour.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early recordings: (1995?1997)

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 (Dido co-wrote and provided vocals for album tracks, such as "Flowerstand Man" and "Hem of His Garment") and the UK dance act spearheaded by her brother, Rollo Armstrong. 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.

[edit] Breakthrough: (1998?2000)

Cheeky Records, to which