Dido's 'No Angel' on Eminem's music
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Pop music can make strange bedfellows. Time and again, artists representing different styles, images and audiences have formed endearing odd couples: Bing Crosby and David Bowie, Frank Sinatra and Bono, Elton John and RuPaul.

Contradiction: Dido surprised many when she agreed to have her vocals on Eminem's edgy CD. (Arista)
Still, few could have predicted the creative chemistry that has developed between Eminem, rap's reigning dark prince, and a soft-spoken, apple-cheeked young Englishwoman who calls herself Dido.

Dido Armstrong, 28, had just released her debut album, No Angel, last year when she got a letter from executives at Eminem's record company. The suits, and the artist, wanted her permission to use a substantial portion of Thank You, a song from No Angel, on Stan, a track on his current CD, The Marshall Mathers LP.

Dido was surprised, to say the least. The sweetly soulful vocals, pensive lyrics and graceful, ambient arrangements on her album hardly made her a natural partner for a guy whose edgy mock-diatribes have been criticized as sexist and sophomoric.