Diana King

All Music Guide:

After her appearance on the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1994 album Ready to Die, Diana King received a contract with the Work label. Previously a collaborator of Andrew Tosh, the reggae/dancehall vocalist released two albums during 1995, Tougher Than Love and Shy Guy. Think Like a Girl followed in 1997. International tours pushed her name to the forefront; however, King remained low-key. She took a few years off to spend more time with her children. By the new millennium, King was in negotiations with Maverick. In 2002, King issued the funkadelic third album Respect. Now under the Warner Bros. umbrella, she released Lovers: Diana King Sings for Lovers in 2009.

Wikipedia:

Diana King (born 8 November 1970, Spanish Town, Jamaica) is a reggae fusion singer-songwriter who specifically performed a mixture and fusion of R&B, reggae and dancehall. She was born to an Indo-Jamaican mother and an Afro Jamaican father.

Career [edit]

After making an appearance on The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1994 song "Respect," from his album Ready to Die, she signed a recording contract with Sony Music. King's first single "Shy Guy", co-written and produced by Andy Marvel, from her debut album Tougher Than Love, became a hit, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and being certified gold by the RIAA in the U.S.; the single also hit #2 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as reaching #1 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart, going on to sell nearly five million singles worldwide. The song made the soundtrack to the 1995 film, Bad Boys. "Shy Guy" was also ranked by the Japanese radio station J-Wave as the number-one song of 1995.

In 1997, King's second album Think Like a Girl entered the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart at #1. King also scored another well-received hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Dance Club Play with her cover version of the song "I Say a Little Prayer" (originally recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1967), which featured on the soundtrack to the film, My Best Friend's Wedding. King was also featured on the 1997 soundtrack to the documentary When We Were Kings, where she performed the title track with Brian McKnight. In 1998, King joined Celine Dion and Brownstone on stage to perform the hit "Treat Her Like a Lady" previously written and recorded by King from Tougher Than Love at the Essence Awards. That year she also appeared on Soul Train, The RuPaul Show, and VIBE to promote Think Like a Girl. In 1999 she toured India doing a five city tour. From Goa she said "I never thought I would come back to India."

King entered negotiations with Madonna's Maverick Records label in 2000. In 2002, King released her third album Respect. It received a Japan-only release on 24 July 2002 until it was eventually released in other markets such as the UK on 17 April 2006 and a digital-only release in the United States on 29 April 2008. The album's lead single "Summer Breezin'" premiered on BET and VH1 video and received some urban radio airplay.

In 2007, she co-wrote and recorded the song "The Light Within" with the German reggae artist, Gentleman, for his album Another Intensity. She also had the girl duo Brick & Lace join her on one of her concerts as backup singers. Later that year, she formed her own record label, ThinkLikeAgirl. She also tours Asia annually.

2010 saw the launch of King's own recording label ThinkLikeAgirL Music Inc through a licensing deal with Warner Music Japan with the release of the album "WARRIOR GURL." her fourth studio album released in Japan on 22 September 2010. An upgraded version was released digitally in the United States on iTunes and all major online music stores (under the title Agirlnameking) on her birthday 8 November 2012.

On June 28th, 2012 Diana King declared "Yes I am a Lesbian" to her fans from her official facebook page. She was honored for her bravery on Dec. 16th 2012 and was presented with the prestigious "Vanguard Award" at the Out Music Awards in Las Vegas NV. King is the first Jamaican artist to ever publicly come out. Jamaica is at the top of the list of the counties who are extremely violent and intolerant toward the LGBT community.

Personal life [edit]

In June 2012, King came out as a lesbian via Facebook saying 'I answer now, not because it's anyone's business but because it feels right with my soul, and I believe by not answering or hiding it all these years somehow makes it appear as if I am ashamed of it, or that I believe it is wrong I am a private person'.