You asked about Dido and her Eminem links: we fill you in

By Andy Hughes

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Mum121 asked: 'Which singer is sampled by Eminem on his single Stan and what was the song Eminem borrowed '

The short answer is Dido. Here is the longer�explanation.

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Dido was born on Christmas Day,1971. As a child she excelled as a musician, joining the London Guildhall School Of Music at just six years of age, playing violin and piano.

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Dido

Growing up listening to brother Rollo's varied album collection, Dido absorbed influences as diverse as Duran Duran, Gregory Issacs, and The Clash. At sixteen, in Dido's own words, she 'discovered Ella Fitzgerald' and her future career was assured, in her mind, even if in no-one else's.

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Rollo was certainly not an early enthusiast of his sister's musical ambition, and he tried without success to divert her from her new musical direction. Having toured as part of a classical string ensemble, Dido found joining her brother's band Faithless in 1995 to be a very different experience.

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Rollo already enjoyed a serious reputation as a re-mixer, working with The Pet Shop Boys and Donna Summer among others. The band's debut album, recorded in just over two weeks, was a massive success, selling over 5 million albums worldwide, and providing valuable experience for Dido's soon to be launched solo career.

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Dido's debut album No Angel was released in 1999, after she persuaded Clive Davis, head of Faithless' label Arista Records to hear her sing. In spite of an endless tour of American record stores and low-key concerts, Dido's career only took off in America with the use of her song Here With Me as the theme tune for the TV series Roswell High. Following an appearance on the sound track of feel-good movie Sliding Doors with a second track from the album, Thank You, interest in Dido began to gather speed.

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When Thank You was heard by rap superstar Eminem's producer, the next link in Dido's rise to�fame was forged. The worldwide hit single Stan, which narrowly missed the Christmas Number One slot in the UK, brought Dido's ethereal voice and trance-like music, via a sample used to underpin the rap, to an even wider audience.

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After joining Eminem on stage during his British gigs, to a tumultuous reception, Dido's popularity in her home country can only grow.