Dido Naked Celebs
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong (born 25 December 1971), known mononymously as Dido (pronounced /ˈdaɪdoʊ/), is an English singer-songwriter.
Following the sampling of her single "Thank You" on Eminem's 2000 hit, "Stan", Dido shot to worldwide success with her debut album, No Angel (1999). The album sold in excess of 21 million copies worldwide, and won several awards; including the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act, two NRJ Awards for Best New Act and Best Album, and two BRIT Awards for Best British Female and Best Album. Her following album, Life for Rent (2003), continued her mainstream success with the help of popular singles "White Flag" and "Life for Rent". The album went on to sell around 12 million copies worldwide and saw her receive more accolades; including the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year for "White Flag", two further BRIT and NRJ Awards, as well as a Grammy Award nomination. Her third and latest studio album, Safe Trip Home (2008), received critical praise to help maintain her success. Dido has been ranked #98 of Billboard 200 Artists Music Chart based on the success of her music in the first decade of the 21st century. She has sold over 6 million albums in United States, and 32 million albums worldwide,[citation needed] establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time.
Dido was born as Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong at St. Mary Abbots hospital in Kensington, London, on Christmas Day 1971. Because she was born on Christmas Day, she also celebrates an "official birthday" on 25 June, following the example of Paddington Bear. Her mother, Clare (née Collins), is a French poet, and her father, William O'Malley Armstrong, was an Irish publisher and former managing director of Sidgwick & Jackson. Her older brother, Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong, is better known as record producer Rollo, part of the British electronica trio Faithless. Despite their impressive birth names, the pair were known from childhood by the names that are famous now — Dido and Rollo. Dido has made it clear that "Dido" is now her real name and not simply a stage name or nickname.
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 and even to her pretending to have an ordinary name. 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 2001Dido was educated at Thornhill Primary School in Islington, Dallington School, City of London Girls' and Westminster School. After she stole a recorder from school at age five, her parents enrolled her at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. By the time she reached her teens she 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 degree, 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.
