the island of jamaica has given the world a lot to be thankful for beautiful beaches
spicy jamaican rum delicious jerk chicken and of course bob marley in the 90s the world got
to experience another jamaican hit diana king the perfect timing of a great song with a great
movie would have everyone knowing her name and send her career to incredible new heights
little did people know however she was hiding a deep dark secret that she knew coming clean with
would most likely result in a major fallout with family and friends as well as potential career
destruction let's find out whatever happened to diana king born to an indo-jamaican mother
and an afro-jamaican father in spanish town saint catherine jamaica diana eugenia king came into the
world on november 8th 1970. she was the sixth in line of the total 15 children her parents
would have and she ended up being adopted by her aunt who she was led to believe was her mother
she didn't realize the woman who would come by every now and then to visit
was her actual birth mother until she was 11.
even though the world would get to know her for her chart-topping hits in the u.s
she began her career on the island singing at church school and at local spots in her area
this all began at a very young age as an escape for diana singing was something that she knew
she had to do not because she wanted to but because she had to at the age of 11 she suffered
a horrific assault and eventually ran away from home music and singing were a great escape she
initially didn't want to sing but she knew it was the one thing that she could do to support herself
so she jumped in headfirst after a few years of performing in hotels and clubs she was asked
to be the female singer for the group cityheat performing with them throughout her teen years
eventually diana would leave the group to do background singing for other jamaican artists
this move would prove to be a good and also not so good decision
she found her voice being as big as it was wasn't conducive to being heard the way she wanted it to
be heard and at the time women with smaller softer singing voices were much more popular and accepted
she would end up quitting her background gigs but as soon as she did the phone rang
it was the a rep from columbia records that just happened to see her performing with shabba ranks
at madison square garden was obviously impressed and asked her to fly out to new york immediately
she said yes during their talks about a potential record deal the powers that be of course
wanted to hear more from diana a demo tape would take care of that easily
however she didn't have one so she did the next best thing and did a cover song
stir it up by bob marley it did the trick a double trick really it got her a record deal
and the label loved her version so much it ended up on the soundtrack for the film
cool runnings the stars came into alignment again when she got the opportunity to sing the hook on
the notorious b.i.g song respect off his debut album ready to die at the time no one knew who
he was yet so it wasn't an experience diana was fully able to appreciate until much later
now it was time for diana to shine on her own tougher than love her debut album dropped in april
1995 the month before the first single titled shy guy co-written by diana in just 10 minutes for the
bad boy movie soundtrack was released quickly shot to number 13 on the billboard hot 100 and became
certified gold overnight just before going back into the studio to work on her follow-up album
think like a girl she took some time to get married to her tour manager orville eras immigrate
to the u.s and give birth to her first son she also had a daughter from a previous relationship
along with the personal success she was experiencing there was more professional success
around the corner as well her reggae style cover of the dion warwick hit i say a little prayer
which was included on her second album glazed up the dance charts as soon as it was released
the track got another boost by the motion picture industry just like shy guy
becoming a featured song on the my best friend's wedding soundtrack
over the next decade diana would tour release several singles and a new album she also got
a very noticeable tattoo in the middle of her forehead that means love yourself live yourself
she chose such an unusual spot on her body for it so that anytime she looked
in the mirror she couldn't miss it especially during her down moments
little did she know some major down moments in her life were on the horizon
one day in 2005 diana began to develop a curious medical condition
for about six months she had issues walking plus various aches and pains that couldn't be explained
when she finally got some answers she was shocked and devastated it was multiple sclerosis
initially depression set in but eventually gave way to determination to not allow the disease to
ruin her life and the pursuit of alternative remedies in an interview with malaysia's the
star online she said music was my medicine i didn't take any medication or treatments
when i went to the doctor he told me about the medicines and its side effects and they turned
me off every song i wrote my symptoms started to disappear the music was healing me i felt it
every time i wrote a song and was pleased with it i could feel my legs the more i wrote the
better i felt until i was perfectly healed now i can walk run and dance on stage like before
she made the decision to go the independent route in 2007 by starting her own label
named after her second album think like a girl the reason is the same as so many
other artists she wanted to have more creative control and chase fulfillment instead of money
throughout diana's career she's had to deal with people trying to put her in a box
hence the title of reggae fusion artist that often gets attached to her name reggae has always been
her first love but over the years she also enjoyed frequently mixing in r b and other styles in 2012
via a facebook post diana publicly came out as a lesbian making her the first jamaican artist
ever to do so she wrote i am woman mother aunt jamaican american international artist singer
songwriter band leader friend lover entrepreneur goddess among other things and yes i am a lesbian
the answer to my most asked indirect question she became comfortable admitting her sexual
orientation to herself in her 20s but chose to keep it private out of fear of the negative
backlash it would have on her children actually the final push that she needed to finally make
the announcement came from her now adult son who encouraged her to go for it it seems that
her concerns were valid since several years later she revealed in an interview that she's remained
close to only one of her 14 siblings in the wake of coming out on the flip side that same year she
was recognized with the prestigious vanguard award at the out music awards in las vegas
her last musical endeavor was a new reggae studio album and an edm ep she announced she was working
on in 2016. as of the making of this video neither the album nor any singles have been released
in 2018 diana finally decided to take the plunge and marry her longtime girlfriend jamaican
violinist majiang webster and together they are raising their adopted five-year-old daughter
that same year in an interview with the new indian express she said
being true to yourself and living an authentic life is the best decision a person could ever make
i did not know what would happen when i came out i actually expected the worst but nothing has
felt better it feels better than money or things or having hit songs and it is something i highly
recommend to anyone be yourself in spite of what others may think about you self-approval is a
freedom and gift that you give to ourselves and it cannot be taken away from you thanks for watching
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