Rollo Armstrong


Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong, known professionally as both Rollo and R Plus, is an English DJ and 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 his sister Dido, Rob Dougan, Pet Shop Boys, Simply Red, R. Kelly, U2, Moby, Grace, Tricky and Suede. He is also known for producing the UEFA Euro 2008 theme, which is also used as UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Women's Championship, and youth tournaments theme since 2017.

Early life

Rollo was born to an Irish publisher 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. Later bandmate Sister Bliss has claimed that Rollo experiences synaesthesia, seeing "music as colours".

Career

Rollo has appeared on a large number of music projects, both within groups and solo, using various monikers, including Faithless, Rollo Goes..., Our Tribe, and Dusted.
In late 1991, Rollo founded Cheeky Records, releasing two singles before the label folded. 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. 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.
In the United States, Rollo is known for his production work on Dido's albums: No Angel, Life for Rent, Safe Trip Home, Girl Who Got Away and Still on My Mind. 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. 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.

R Plus

On 11 October 2019, Rollo released his first solo album, The Last Summer under the alias "R Plus". It charted at No. 96 on the UK Album Sales Chart and at No. 55 on the UK Album Download Chart. On 19 July 2020, The Last Summer was released, and credited as by both R Plus and Dido.
After moving record labels to Armada Music, Rollo 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: " 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." In July 2021, R Plus released "Hey Lover" again featuring Fox.
On 13 May 2022, R Plus released WeDisappear, a collaboration album with Amelia Fox. "Makes Me Feel Good" and an edited version of "Let's Really Have Some Fun", released 28 April 2023, were released as singles. On 24 November 2023, R Plus released the album For Lovers, Not Killers, alongside Fox. Some streaming services erroneously list Faithless as a collaborative artist on R Plus releases, due to Armstrong's involvement in both projects.

Discography

Albums

  • 2000 When We Were Young, as Dusted
  • 2005 Safe From Harm, as Dusted
  • 2005 Instrumentals, as Dusted
  • 2019 The Last Summer, as R Plus
  • 2020 The Last Summer , as R Plus
  • 2022 WeDisappear, as R Plus
  • 2023 For Lovers, not Killers, as '''R Plus'''

    Singles

;Dusted
  • 1997 "Deeper River"
  • 2000 "Always Remember To Respect And Honour Your Mother"
  • 2000 "Childhood/Want You"
  • 2001 "Under The Sun"
;Rollo & Rob D productions
  • 1993 "I Believe In You", as Our Tribe
  • 1994 "Love Come Home", as Our Tribe
  • 1994 "High", as O.T. Tunes
  • 1994 "Hold That Sucker Down", as The O.T. Quartet
  • 1995 "Hold That Sucker Down '95", as The O.T. Quartet
  • 1995 "High As A Kite", as One Tribe
  • 1995 "What Hope Have I", as Sphinx
  • 2000 "Hold That Sucker Down 2000", as The O.T. Quartet
  • 2005 "Hold That Sucker Down 2005", as The O.T. Quartet
  • 2007 "What Hope Have I ", as Sphinx
;Rollo Goes...
  • 1993 "Get Off Your High Horse", as Rollo Goes Camping – UK No. 43
  • 1995 "Love, Love, Here I Come", as Rollo Goes Mystic – UK No. 32
  • 1996 "Let This Be A Prayer", as Rollo Goes Spiritual - UK No. 26
  • 1997 "Love, Love, Here I Come '97", as Rollo Goes Mystic
;Other aliases
  • 1992 "Hypnotized", as High On Love
  • 1992 "A Million Ways", as Stoned Democracy
  • 1993 "In My World", as High On Love
  • 1993 "Close ", as Stoned Democracy
  • 1994 "Give Me Life", as Mr. V
  • 1996 "Help Me Make It", as Huff & Puff
  • 2000 "Born Again", as Huff & Puff
;R Plus
TitleYearAlbum
"Summer Dress"
2019The Last Summer
"Those Were The Days"
2019The Last Summer
"My Boy"
2019The Last Summer
"Together "
2020Non-album singles
"Love Will Tear Us Apart"
2021Non-album singles
"Hey Lover"
2021WeDisappear
"Hold On To Your Heart"
2021WeDisappear
"This Girl Is Gone"
2022WeDisappear
"Makes Me Feel Good"
2022WeDisappear
"U Disappear"
2022WeDisappear
"Love Makes Me Feel Good"
2022WeDisappear
"It's Enough "
2023WeDisappear
"Let's Really Have Some Fun"
2023WeDisappear

;Single production for other artists
  • 1992 Felix – "Don't You Want Me"
  • 1992 Felix – "It Will Make Me Crazy"
  • 1992 Frankë – "Understand This Groove"
  • 1993 Frankë – "We're On A Mission"
  • 1993 U.S.U.R.A. – "Tear It Up"
  • 1994 Sister Bliss – "Cantgetaman, Cantgetajob "
  • 1994 Kristine W – "Feel What You Want"
  • 1995 Kristine W – "One More Try"
  • 1995 Kristine W – "Don't Wanna Think"
  • 1995 Sister Bliss – "Oh! What A World"
  • 1995 Sunscreem – "Exodus"
  • 1996 Kristine W – "Land Of The Living"
  • 1996 Kristine W – "Sweet Mercy Me"
  • 1996 Sister Bliss – "Bad Man"
  • 1996 Pauline Taylor – "Constantly Waiting"
  • 1998 Pauline Taylor – "The Letter"
  • 2000 Shawn Christopher – "So Wrong"
  • 2000 Sister Bliss feat. John Martyn – "Deliver Me"
  • 2000 Sister Bliss – "Sister Sister"
  • 2001 Dido – "Thank You"
  • 2003 Dido – "White Flag"
  • 2003 Dido – "Life For Rent"
  • 2004 Dido – "Don't Leave Home"
  • 2004 Dido – "Sand In My Shoes"
  • 2008 Dido – "Don't Believe In Love"
  • 2009 Dido – "Quiet Times"
  • 2013 Dido – "No Freedom"
  • 2013 Dido – "End Of Night"
  • 2019 Dido – "Take You Home"
  • 2019 Dido – "Just Because"
;Album production for other artists
  • 1996 Kristine W – Land of the Living
  • 1998 Pauline Taylor – Pauline Taylor
  • 1999 Pet Shop Boys – Nightlife
  • 2000 Dido – No Angel
  • 2003 Dido – Life For Rent
  • 2003 P*Nut – Sweet As
  • 2005 Enigma – The Dusted Variations
  • 2008 Dido – Safe Trip Home
  • 2013 Dido – Girl Who Got Away
  • 2019 Shey Baba – Requiem
  • 2019 Dido – ''Still on my Mind''