Diana Jean Krall is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer whose albums have sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
She was ranked number two on the 2000-2009 Billboard Jazz Artists list.
Krall grew up in a musical family and began learning to play the piano at the age of four. By the time she was 15, she was already playing jazz mini-concerts at local venues.
After graduating from Berklee College of Music, she moved to Los Angeles to begin her career as a true jazz musician.
She later returned to Canada and released her debut album Stepping Out in 1993. In subsequent years, she released 13 more albums and received three Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards.
Her musical history includes nine gold, three platinum and seven multi-platinum albums.
She is a talented artist and has also performed alongside musicians such as Eliana Elias, Shirley Horne and Nat King Cole. Especially known for her contralto vocals.
She is the only singer in jazz history to have released eight albums, with each album debuting at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums.
In 2003, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Victoria.
Childhood and youth
Diana Krall was born on November 16, 1964 in Nanaimo, Canada. She is one of two daughters of Adella and Stephen James "Jim" Krall.
Her father was an accountant and her mother was an elementary school teacher. Both of her parents were amateur musicians; her father played the piano at home and her mother was part of the local church choir.
Her sister Michelle previously served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Her musical education began at the age of four when she started playing the piano. At 15, she was performing as a jazz musician in local restaurants.
She later attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship before moving to Los Angeles, where she amassed a loyal following of jazz.
She returned to Canada to release her debut album in 1993.
Career
Diana Krall collaborated with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton before releasing her debut album Stepping Out.
Her work also caught the attention of producer Tommy LiPuma, with whom she made her second album Only Trust Your Heart (1995).
But neither for the second, nor for the first, she did not receive any awards.
But for the third album ‘All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio’ (1996), the singer received a Grammy nomination.
She also appeared on the Billboard jazz charts for 70 consecutive weeks and was her first gold-certified RIAA album.
Her fourth studio album Love Scenes (1997) was certified 2x Platinum MC and Platinum by the RIAA.
Her collaborations with Russell Malone (guitarist) and Christian McBride (bassist) were critically acclaimed.
In 1999, working with Johnny Mandel, who provided the orchestral arrangements, Krall released her fifth album 'When I Look in Your Eyes' on Verve Records.
The album has been certified in both Canada and the US. This album also won two Grammys.
In August 2000, she began touring with American singer Toni Bennett.
In the late 2000s they got back together for the theme song of the UK/Canadian TV series 'Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...'
In September 2001, she embarked on her first world tour. While she was in Paris, her performance at the Paris Olympia was recorded, and it was her first live recording since the release, titled "Diana Krall - Live in Paris".
Krall sang a track called "I'll Make It Up As I Go" for Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando in The Score (2001). The track was written by David Foster and accompanied the film's credits.
In 2004, she got the chance to work with Ray Charles on the song "You Do Not Know Me" for his album Genius Loves Company.
Her next album, Christmas Songs (2005), featured the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
A year later, her ninth album, From This Moment On, was released.
She has been afloat all these years and at the peak of her popularity. For example, in May 2007, she became a spokesperson for the Lexus brand, and also performed the song "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with Hank Jones on piano.
She was inspired by the new album Quiet Nights which was released in March 2009.
It's also important to mention that she was the producer on Barbara Streisen's 2009 album Love Is the Answer.
It was during this period that she won all the hearts of the listeners! She released three more studio albums between 2012 and 2017: Glad Rag Doll (2012), Wallflower (2015) and Turn up the Quiet (2017).
Krall appeared with Paul McCartney at Capitol Studios during a live performance of her album Kisses on the Bottom.
Basic work
Diana Krall released her sixth album Look Of Love on September 18, 2001 via Verve. It topped the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked at #9 on the US Billboard 200.
It was also certified 7x Platinum MC; Platinum from ARIA, RIAA, RMNZ and SNEP and gold from BPI, IFPI AUT and IFPI SWI.
She worked with her husband Elvis Costello on her seventh studio album, The Girl In The Other Room.
Released on April 27, 2004, the album was a huge success in the UK and Australia.
Awards and achievements
Diana Krall was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2000.
Her work has won Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in films such as "When I Look Into Your Eyes" (2000), "The Best Engineering Album", "Not A Classic", "When I Look Through Your Eyes" ( 2000) and “The Look Of Love” (2001).
She also received the award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for 'Live in Paris' (2003), and was presented as the best female accompanying instrumental arrangement for Klaus Ogermann for 'Quiet Nights' (2010).
In addition to the Grammys, Krall has also won eight Juno Awards, three Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, three National Jazz Awards, three National Smooth Jazz Awards, one SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) award, and one Western Canadian Music Awards.
In 2004, she was inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame. A year later, she became an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Personal life
Diana Krall married British musician Elvis Costello on December 6th, 2003 near London.
It was her first marriage and his third. They have twins Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James, born December 6, 2006 in New York.
Krall lost her mother in 2002 due to multiple myeloma.
A few months earlier, her mentors, Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney, had also passed away.
