"Thank You" is a song written and performed by English singer-songwriter Dido. The song made its first appearance in 1998 on the soundtrack of the movie '' Sliding Doors.'' It was later included on Dido's 1999 debut album, '' No Angel'', and was released in September 2000 to mainstream success. It was also sampled in the 2000 single " Stan" by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

, which helped propel "Thank You" and ''No Angel'' to mainstream success. Entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 80 in January 2001, "Thank You" peaked at number three in April 2001. It held that spot for three weeks and became Dido's first and only top-10 single in the United States. Additionally, the song reached number one on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

, and

Hot Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

charts. In the United Kingdom, "Thank You" also reached number three, becoming the singer's third top-five single in the United Kingdom.

Song information

Dido wrote the song about the down times of depression and about how she lost her house. It remains Dido's biggest hit single in the United States to date, and her only one to reach the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Thank You" was one of the biggest

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little prom ...

s of the year, debuting in January and remaining on the chart until the end of September. It spent 40 weeks on the chart, and in November ''Billboard'' published that "Thank You" finished as the seventh biggest song of the year. The song's verses are written in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the con ...

whilst the chorus is in B Major, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 80 beats per minute in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

. It follows a chord progression of GmEmaj7FBF/A, and Dido's vocals span from F₃ to B₄ in the song.

Critical reception

"Thank You" received acclaim from music critics, who thought the ballad was very "touching and soft" and an instant standout to the album. Jeff Burger from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

had highlighted "Thank You" as an album standout. Christian Ward from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote, Thank You', which, far from conjuring up images of lunatic fan-worship, is more reminiscent of

the Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Carol ...

. Now that really is sick."

Music video

In the music video, Dido has not paid her bills, and the government comes to tear down her house. The police put an eviction notice on her door and movers start moving her belongings out. Dido, who seems oblivious to the fact that her house has been barricaded, is seen simply singing the song. During the first chorus of the song, Dido has a cup of tea whilst movers pile her belongings by an outside wall, and a mover steps on flowers in her front yard. In the end, she is escorted out of her home, her home is demolished, she leaves behind most of her belongings, and walks away with just her shoulder bag and umbrella. The end of the video implies that her house is actually being torn down for redevelopment, as her home is sandwiched between two large skyscrapers. The video was directed by Dave Meyers, and was released in January 2001. VEVO released an acoustic version of the song in December 2012, and a live concert version was released in August 2016.

Track listings

* UK CD single # "Thank You" (album version) – 3:39 # "Thank You" (Deep Dish vocal) – 9:29 # "Thank You" (Skinny mix) – 3:20 * UK and US 12-inch single :A. "Thank You" (Deep Dish vocal) – 9:29 :B. "Thank You" (Deep Dish dub) – 10:29 (10:40 on US pressings) * UK cassette single and European CD single # "Thank You" (album version) – 3:39 # "Thank You" (Deep Dish vocal) – 9:29 * European maxi-CD single # "Thank You" (album version) – 3:39 # "Thank You" (Deep Dish vocal) – 9:29 # "Thank You" (Skinny mix) – 3:20 # "Thank You" (enhanced video version) * US CD single # "Thank You" (album version) – 3:39 # "Thank You" (Skinny remix) – 3:19 # "Thank You" (Deep Dish vocal) – 4:10 # "Thank You" (Deep Dish dub) – 10:40

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the UK CD single liner notes and the ''

No Angel ''No Angel'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Dido. Originally released on 1 June 1999 in the United States, the album found a mass audience when it was released worldwide in February 2001. By 2003, the album had sold mo ...

'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded and mixed at

The Church Studios The Church Studios is a recording studio located in a former church in Crouch End, North London, England. It was rented and then owned by Dave Stewart in the 1980s and 1990s, and was used to record Eurythmics' second album '' Sweet Dreams''. ...

(London, England) * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City) Personnel * Dido – writing (as Dido Armstrong), all vocals,

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

production * Paul Herman – writing, guitar * Mark Bates – piano, keyboards * Mal Hyde-Smith – percussion *

Rollo Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...

– production, programming * Goetz – recording *

Phill Brown Phill Brown (born 1950) is an audio engineer who has worked with a number of well-known musicians, including: Traffic, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Bob Marley and Talk Talk. He is also the younger brother of Terry Brown. Career Brow ...

– mixing *

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) ( ...

– mastering * Richard Andrews – artwork design *

Simon Emmett Simon Emmett is an English portrait photographer based in London, mostly known for his celebrity portraits and beauty photography. Emmett was born in England in 1969. Emmett does mainly portrait, celebrity, beauty, and fashion photography. Aft ...

– photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions, remixes, and samples

Eminem's "Stan"

's critically acclaimed number-one single " Stan" samples the first verse of the song for its chorus. Dido herself appears in the music video for "Stan" (alongside

Devon Sawa Devon Edward Sawa (born September 7, 1978) is a Canadian actor. Sawa began acting when he was a teenager and appeared in several films in the 1990s including '' Little Giants'', ''Casper'', '' Now and Then'', '' Wild America'', ''Idle Hands'', a ...

) as the pregnant girlfriend of the titular obsessed, suicidal and homicidal Eminem fan, and has made appearances on Eminem's tours to perform the song. When Eminem performed "Stan" live at the 2001 Grammy Awards,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

sang the Dido sample as he played keyboard during the performance. The sampling usage helped bring mainstream attention to "Thank You" and its parent album.

Deep Dish version

House music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

duo Deep Dish remixed the song. It won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Remixed Recording in 2002.

Other notable versions

* In 2016, Rihanna sampled "Thank You" on her song "Never Ending" from her eighth album ''

Anti Anti may refer to: *Anti-, a prefix meaning "against" *Änti, or Antaeus, a half-giant in Greek and Berber mythology *A false reading of ''Nemty'', the name of the ferryman who carried Isis to Set's island in Egyptian mythology * Áńt’į, or ...

''. * In 2016, Puerto Rican singers

Kendo Kaponi José Fernando Morales Rivera (born August 19, 1984), known as Kendo Kaponi, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. In 2018, he was arrested in Coamo on charges of armed burglary and assault in Florida, where he subsequently served two years in ...

and

Anuel AA Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago (born November 26, 1992), known professionally as Anuel AA, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His music often contains samples and interpolations of songs that were popular during his youth. He is seen as a controv ...

released the single "Me contagié", which covers the chorus of "Thank You" and partially adapted the lyrics in Spanish, sung by Anuel AA. * In 2022, Peruvian DJ Tito Silva Music and singer Tefi C. released a parody of "Thank You" and "Stan" called " Mi bebito fiu fiu", related to an alleged case of infidelity of former President

Martín Vizcarra Martín Alberto Vizcarra Cornejo (; born 22 March 1963) is a Peruvian engineer and politician who served as President of Peru from 2018 to 2020. Vizcarra previously served as Governor of the Department of Moquegua (2011–2014), First Vice Pre ...

. On 8 July 2022, Tito Silva took down his parody from his YouTube channel and streaming platforms at the behest of the copyright owners due to its political tone.

Legacy

In an interview on BBC Radio 3 in 2005, The Duchess of Kent, who worked as a classical music teacher after relinquishing

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

duties, chose "Thank You" as one of her favourite pieces. In April 2007, it was also voted number 57 in the BBC's list of the "Most Annoying Pop Songs We Hate to Love".

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1998 songs 2000 singles 2001 singles Arista Records singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles Cheeky Records singles Dido (singer) songs Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Number-one singles in Portugal Song recordings produced by Dido (singer) Song recordings produced by Rollo Armstrong Songs written by Dido (singer)