Dido "Unprepared" For Stardom

Dido "struggled to cope" with stardom. The 36-year-old singer admits her sudden acceleration into the spotlight was surreal and she has not released anything since 2003 record Life for Rent because she was adjusting to fame.

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She said: "When I got back from touring, it took a while to take in what had happened. I was so unprepared."

"As far as I was concerned, I was making this little underground record for me to listen to, then suddenly, eight years later, I was getting off this incredible speeding train."

"I'd had an amazing time but I guess I needed to take a step back, reconnect with normal life and bring the focus 100 percent back to music."

Dido released her debut album No Angel in 1999 but only enjoyed worldwide success when her song "Thank You" - taken from the record - was sampled by Eminem on his 2001 hit "Stan."

The singer is preparing to release new album Safe Trip Home and admits she struggled to write some of the songs, in particular "Grafton Street," which she penned in tribute to her late father William.

Dido added to Britain's Daily Record newspaper: "It wasn't easy for me to write this song. If emotions are too fresh and too new, it's not good to put them in a song."

"But then I was glad I had the possibility to express it, that I could write this song. My dad was a huge and important part of my life."

"There wasn't any question his death, which was one of my most far-reaching events of my life, would flow into my music."