WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Diana King

Say a little prayer for Diana King. All she meets are shy guy’s. But is that what she wants?

Jamaican born singer Diana King (b.1970) debuted as a singer in the group City Heat in 1991, but having performed backing vocals on The Notorious BIG’s song “Respect” in 1994, Diana was signed by Columbia Records as a solo artist in her own right. Her first single was a cover of Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up” which made a small impact on the US R&B chart that same year. Work on her debut album was complete by 1995 and she next released an original song called “Shy Guy”, which broke her commercially charting top ten in many countries (UK No.2) and went to No.13 Stateside. The album itself, “Tougher Than Love”, found its greatest success in Japan, but elsewhere it was only a minor hit.

Only one further global single was released with a cover of Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody“, which peaked at No.13 in the UK and No.94 in America. 1996 saw Diana record her version of Erma Franklin’s “Piece Of My Heart” for the soundtrack of ‘The First Wives Club’ as work on her second album began. She recorded the title track from the film ‘When We Were Kings’ with Brian McKnight in 1997 and not long after released another cover, this time Aretha Franklin’s “I Say A Little Prayer”, which put her back in the UK top twenty and US top 40. The album, “Think Like A Girl”, again performed best in Japan but while it topped the US Reggae chart, it failed to ignite any interest elsewhere. Having ‘guested’ on Celine Dion’s “Treat Her Like A Lady” in 1997, Diana left Sony/Columbia Records.

Diana signed to Madonna‘s Maverick record label in 2000 and relesed the album “Respect”, which gave her another Japanese hit record while the lead single, “Summer Breezin'” found limited success in a handful of countries. Diana has released the albums “Warrior Gurl” (2010) and “AgirLnaMeKING” (2011) since along with a few singles, her most recent being “Jeanz N T-Shirt” in 2012. In 2018, Diana married her long time girlfriend Mijanne Webster and has stated she is working on new material with a reggae theme, but as of early 2024 this has yet to materialise.