English music producer
Rollo |
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 Rollo in 1987 |
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| Birth name | Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong |
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| Also known as | R Plus
The OT Quartet
Dignity |
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| Born | (1966-05-08) 8 May 1966 (age 57)
Kensington, London, England |
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| Occupation(s) | Music producer |
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| Years active | 1992–present |
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| Labels | Cheeky Records/BMG |
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| Member of | Faithless |
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Musical artist
Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong[1] (born 8 May 1966), known professionally as both Rollo and R Plus, is an English music producer. He is one half of the remix/production duo Rollo & Sister Bliss and is a founding, non-touring, member of the electronic music group Faithless. He has produced and remixed many tracks for Dido, Pet Shop Boys, Simply Red, R. Kelly, U2, Moby, Grace, Tricky and Suede. He is also known for producing UEFA Euro 2008 theme,[2] which is also used as UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Women's Championship, and youth tournaments theme since 2017.[citation needed]
Early life
Rollo was born to an Irish publisher[3] and a French-English poet. His younger sister is singer Dido. He studied at the University of York and was an active member of the student radio station URY.
Career
Rollo has appeared on a large number of music projects, both within groups and solo, using various monikers, including Faithless (which he formed in 1995 with Sister Bliss, Jamie Catto and Maxi Jazz), Rollo Goes ..., Our Tribe (with Rob Dougan), and Dusted.
In late 1991, Rollo founded Cheeky Records, releasing two singles before the label folded.[4] In 1992 Champion Records stepped in to help with funding and advice, and the label was restarted, with Reverence by Faithless its first album release (it has since been bought out by BMG).[4] In 1992, Rollo co-wrote and co-produced Felix's hit single "Don't You Want Me", which reached number 1 in Finland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, as well as reaching number 6 on the UK Singles Chart.[5]
In the United States, Rollo is known for his production work on Dido's albums: No Angel (1999), Life for Rent (2003), Safe Trip Home (2008), Girl Who Got Away (2013) and Still on My Mind (2019). Rollo was also a producer on singer-songwriter Kristine W's debut album, Land of the Living.
In 2008, Rollo composed the official melody of the UEFA Euro 2008 competition.[6] and UEFA Euro 2012. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song for his work with A.R. Rahman and Dido on "If I Rise", featuring in the 2010 Danny Boyle film 127 Hours.[7]
R Plus
On 11 October 2019, Rollo released his first solo album, The Last Summer under the alias "R Plus".[8][9] It charted at No. 96 on the UK Album Sales Chart[10] and at No. 55 on the UK Album Download Chart.[11] On 19 July 2020, The Last Summer (Deluxe Edition) was released, and credited as by both R Plus and Dido.[12]
After moving record labels to Armada Music, Rollo (as R Plus) released a cover of Joy Division's 1980 hit "Love Will Tear Us Apart" on 7 May 2021, and features singer Amelia Fox. Rollo spoke of the remake: "[The song] meant the world to me when I was teenager, and it still does. I stole my first Joy Division T-shirt from a shop in Camden Market, and got to fleetingly meet guitarist Peter Hook years later at a party at the Hacienda in Manchester. It took a long time before I felt brave enough to cover this song, before I felt I knew what I was doing as a producer [...] To introduce Amelia Fox and the new R Plus album to the world, we thought it would be good to start with this cover. We wanted our version to sound like a piece of music found in a time capsule buried under the now empty DJ booth at the Hacienda, and wanted to capture both the sadness of the song and the late-night euphoria of that legendary club."[13][14] In July 2021, R Plus released "Hey Lover" again featuring Fox.[15]
On 13 May 2022, R Plus released WeDisappear, a collaboration album with Amelia Fox.[16][17][18] "Makes Me Feel Good"[19] and an edited version of "Let's Really Have Some Fun", released 28 April 2023, were released as singles.[20] On 24 November 2023, R Plus released the album For Lovers, Not Killers, alongside Fox.[21] Some streaming services erroneously list Faithless as a collaborative artist on R Plus releases, due to Armstrong's involvement in both projects.[22]
