In 2004, Dido performed with other British and Irish artists in the Band Aid 20 version of the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
[7] Her third studio album, Safe Trip Home (2008), received critical acclaim but failed to achieve the commercial success of her previous efforts.
Having taken time out of the music industry to raise her son, she reappeared on stage at the 2013 Reading and Leeds festival where she reunited with Eminem.
In May 2019, Dido received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.
[12] In 2020, Dido co-released The Last Summer (Deluxe Edition), a studio album in collaboration with her brother R Plus (Rollo Armstrong).
Dido was born Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong, at St. Mary Abbot's Hospital in Kensington, London, on Christmas Day in 1971.
[16][17] Her mother, Clare (née Collins), is a poet of French ancestry,[14][18] and her father, William O'Malley Armstrong (1938–2006), was an Irish publisher and former managing director of Sidgwick & Jackson.
[19][20] Her elder brother, Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong,[21] is better known as record producer Rollo, part of the British electronica trio Faithless.
In 1995, Dido began recording 10 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, the UK dance act spearheaded by her brother, Rollo Armstrong (Dido co-wrote and provided vocals for album tracks, such as "Flowerstand Man" and "Hem of His Garment").
Her sold-out worldwide tour featured hip-hop artist Pete Miser as her live band's DJ.
Produced by her brother Rollo Armstrong and American songwriter Rick Nowels, work on the album began in mid-2002.
Preceded by the hit single "White Flag", the album sold over 152,000 copies in the first day alone in the UK, and went on to sell over 400,000 in the first week.
Recording sessions were held at London's Abbey Road and at Jon Brion's home studio in Los Angeles.
During production of the album, Dido attended evening classes in music and English at the University of California, Los Angeles.
[35] The first single from the album, "Don't Believe in Love", was released in October 2008, and a track titled "Look No Further" was made available to download from her official website for a limited time.
[37] In December 2008, Dido's Safe Trip Home song "Let's Do the Things We Normally Do", was criticised by Gregory Campbell, MP for East Londonderry and Minister for Sports, Arts and Leisure for Northern Ireland, for referencing lyrics from a song, "The Men Behind the Wire", which was written in the aftermath of the introduction of detention without trial for persons accused of being members of paramilitary groups.
Campbell described "The Men Behind the Wire" as "written about people who were murderers, arsonists and terrorists", and suggested "she [Dido] should clarify her position so that her fans and the wider public knows where she stands on these things".
[52] The album was recorded in London and California[53] and features production from Rollo Armstrong, Sister Bliss, Lester Mendez, A. R. Rahman, Rick Nowels, Greg Kurstin, Brian Eno, and Jeff Bhasker.
Dido appeared on the second series of televised singing competition The Voice UK in May 2013, serving as an advisor to coach Danny O'Donoghue during the show's battle rounds.
[54] In November 2013, Dido released the album Greatest Hits, a compilation of previous material and remixes that also included a new track, "NYC".
[58] Dido worked with her brother and long-time collaborator Rollo Armstrong,[59] along with Rick Nowels and Ryan Louder.
Rollo—Dido's brother—co-writes and co-produces much of Dido's solo material, including many tracks on No Angel, Life for Rent and Safe Trip Home.
Dido has provided guest vocals to tracks by other artists including "Feels Like Fire" for Carlos Santana's 2002 album, Shaman, and a duet with Rufus Wainwright entitled "I Eat Dinner (When the Hunger's Gone)" for the Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason film soundtrack.
Dido joined Annie Lennox and 21 other female artists to raise awareness of the issue of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to unborn children in Africa.
[83] The collaborative single "Sing" was released on World Aids Day on 1 December 2007, in conjunction with Lennox's appearance at the Nelson Mandela 46664 concert in South Africa.
After releasing No Angel in 1999, and after much time spent promoting the album, Dido broke up with her fiancé, entertainment lawyer Bob Page, after a twelve-year relationship.