Dido's 'Thank You' goes to Eminem for career boost

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Dido Armstrong hated her first name when she was growing up in London.

"As a kid, you can imagine what it was like to go to school," she explained in a phone interview from her London flat. "Everybody asked, what kind of name is that?"

Now, of course, Dido, the pop singer, has one of the coolest monikers in the business.

"My parents had some weird premonition or something, I dunno," she said in her working-class English accent. "So me mum's quite pleased with herself right now."

Dido toured constantly for almost two years to establish herself in America - she played Seattle "at least five times" during that period, she says - but her career really took off last year when Eminem sampled portions of her song "Thank You" in his controversial smash single, "Stan."

Dido and Travis 7:30 p.m. Monday, KeyArena, Seattle Center; $30, 206-628-0888, www.ticketmaster.com.

"It's taken a long time," she said, "but it's a nice way to build up your audience. It feels quite natural, and it's nice when something grows like that, 'cause you're sort of growing with it, as opposed to it all being like a big shock. Eminem, of course, just tipped it over the edge."

She was already a fan of the rap star when he sent her a tape of "Stan," a song about an Eminem fanatic who commits murder and then dies in a car chase.

"I just thought it was amazing," Dido said. "I was pleased that he seemed to use (`Thank You') in a really good way. And then, when I sort of really sat and listened to the words, I just thought they were brilliant. It's got a lot of depth, and it's got a surprising social conscience as well."

When it came time to make a video for the song, Dido appeared in it, singing the "Thank You" sample.

The song was the one Eminem chose to perform at the Grammys with Elton John, an event that seemed surreal to Dido.

"I grew up with Elton John," she said, "and him being a major thing and his hit songs and everything. I was just so excited, and then when it started it was too much to hear Elton John singing my words! I was just rolling around the floor and giggling. That was just the weirdest experience in my life, I think. It was a huge moment."

It also helped her album, "No Angel," shoot up the Billboard 200 album chart to No. 4. After more than a year on the chart, it's still in the Top 30 and has sold more than 3 million copies.

The disc is an impressive collection of mostly mellow pop songs featuring Dido's smooth, jazzlike voice. She provides quite a contrast to the prevailing, pull-out-all-the-stops, diva style of female pop singing. There are no vocal pyrotechnics on Dido's album, just well-written pop songs sung with style and emotion.

But Dido has a rock side, too, which she has expressed by singing in her brother's band, Faithless. She got her start performing and recording with that group, and will have a song on its upcoming third album. But she's no longer a member.

"Faithless are more of a rap/hip-hop/dance thing, and I'm obviously more of a pop thing," she explained.

Dido will be singing most of the songs from "No Angel" as well as a couple of cuts from her next album, which won't be released until 2002.

Travis, a promising Scottish rock group, will open the show. It will release its second album, "The Invisible Band," Tuesday.

Patrick MacDonald can be reached at pmacdonald@seattletimes.com.