King Diamond - a personality that does not require introductions among heavy metal fans. He gained fame due to his vocal abilities and shocking image. As a vocalist and frontman of several bands, he won the love of millions of fans around the planet.
Childhood and youth of King Diamond
Kim was born on June 14, 1956 in Copenhagen. King Diamond is the creative pseudonym of the artist. His real name is Kim Bendix Petersen.
The future star spent her childhood and youth in the commune of Hvidovre. The teenager often skipped school, but despite this, he pleased his parents with good grades. Kim had an excellent photographic memory, which helped him remember even the most difficult material after reading.
He got acquainted with heavy music in his youth. He came into genuine delight from the work of the legendary bands Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.
Kim soon wanted to learn how to play the guitar. He had another hobby. He played football. The love for sports was so great that Petersen even thought about a career as a football player. He was a member of the local football club and was named "Player of the Year". But the time has come when the music still pushed the passion for football into the background.
Group King Diamond: the beginning of a creative career
The artist gathered his first team as a teenager. Then almost every teenager who was at least indirectly familiar with British music dreamed of his own team.
He gathered the first group while still a high school student. Unfortunately, the musician did not have any debut recordings, as they were of poor quality. In 1973 he graduated from the Stockholm Conservatory where he studied violin.
1973 was marked not only by the receipt of a diploma. The fact is that Kim joined the group Brainstorm. The musicians covered the immortal hits of Black Sabbath and Kiss.
For mysterious reasons, the band did not release their own material. Soon the musicians lost interest in the band and disbanded the lineup. Kim then tried his hand as the guitarist for Black Rose.
The rockers of the group tried to imitate the style of Alice Cooper in everything. The guys created cover versions of popular British tracks, in addition, they were engaged in creating their own songs. In this group, Kim tried himself not only as a guitarist, but also as a vocalist.
By the way, being a member of the Black Rose group, the musician had the idea to experiment with the staged part of the performances. From now on, the group's concerts were bright and unforgettable. Kim often appeared on stage in a wheelchair with original make-up, which caused mixed feelings among the audience.
Breakup of King Diamond
The success of the team was obvious. But even the recognition and love of fans could not save the group from breaking up. A few years later, the project participants announced the dissolution of the composition.
Black Rose retained only one demo recorded during rehearsal. By the way, 20 years later, Kim released a record.
Kim Petersen was not going to leave the stage. He continued his career as a member of the punk band Brats. At the time of the arrival of a new member, the team managed to sign a lucrative contract, as well as publish a debut album.
Soon, the label's representatives terminated the contract with the Brats group, considering the guys unpromising. Thus, the team broke up, but the group with other colleagues created a new project. We are talking about the group Mercyful Fate. After the first performances, the audience appreciated the original artistic content of the team's tracks, which were associated with the occult.
Participation in the Mercyful Fate project
Since this period of time, colleagues and the public know Kim under the creative pseudonym King Diamond. The musician said that he was fond of the works of Anton LaVey, in particular the book The Satanic Bible. In almost every interview, he mentioned his passion for such literature.
Kim felt close to the author's call. Anton LaVey urged readers to follow human instincts. The author said that one should not refuse evil calls, because they, along with the good ones, live in every person.
The musician tried to convey Anton's ideas about the occult in his own works. But still, Kim did not have enough poetic experience in store. Music critics generally consider the singer's early work to be "insipid". They frankly call Kim's songs primitive. But what the musician could not take away was an enchanting appearance on stage.
Like earlier works, the stage image was very simple. Kim went on stage in makeup. The musician himself painted an inverted satanic cross on his face. Over time, the image of the artist has changed. He appeared on stage in more elaborate make-up, a black cloak, and a special microphone set made from crossed human bones.
Debut album presentation
In 1982, the discography of the new band was replenished with the debut album Melissa. After the release of the collection, Kim appeared on stage with the "skull of Melissa". According to the singer, in his hands was the skull of a witch, to whom he dedicated the title of his debut album. Later in his interviews, Kim spoke about how he got an unusual find.
The singer learned that an elderly professor was teaching at the Medical University of Copenhagen. Due to his age, he often left the remains of a human skeleton in the audience. Such news allowed Kim to enrich himself with a skull and "attach" to the find the story that he allegedly belongs to a girl named Melissa.
Creation of the King Diamond project
In the mid-1980s, creative differences began to arise between the band members. Due to constant conflicts, the team ceased to exist. In 1985, Kim created his own project King Diamond. With the advent of this group on stage, the music performed by Kim received a completely different sound. She became more rigid, energetic and meaningful.
From now on, instead of simple "scary" stories, the tracks featured exciting epic narratives. On the records Fatal Portrait, Abigail, House of God, Conspiracy, the songs were combined into a storyline. Music lovers who listened to the first compositions could not stop not to listen to the record to the end. Petersen performed the parts of several heroes at once. All this was reminiscent of the genre of metal opera.
Stage performances have also undergone some changes. To scare the audience, the band's frontman used a variety of tricks. By the way, one of them almost ended in tragedy. Kim often liked to go on stage in a coffin, which was closed and set on fire. At the moment of burning, the artist had to get out through a special passage, and a specially prepared skeleton was placed in his place.
One "beautiful" evening, Kim decided to use this trick at a concert. He lay down in the coffin, but already at the moment of burning he felt unwell. The singer struggled to show that he felt bad. If the number had continued, an explosion could have occurred due to a technical “lining”. Fortunately, the tragedy was avoided.
Since 2007, there have been headlines in the press that the star had serious health problems. Kim even disappeared for a while. He had to cancel some concerts. In 2010, the artist underwent heart surgery, then returned to an active creative life.
The personal life of an artist
Kim tries not to talk about her personal life. Nothing is known about the singer's youthful hobbies. He is married to the Hungarian singer Livia Zita. Judging by the fact that the couple often appears together, they are happy.
Livia and Kim became partners not only in family life, but also in creativity. The fact is that she took part in the recording of The Puppet Master and Give Me Your Soul… Please compilations as a backing vocalist. In 2017, the first-born was born to celebrities. The son was named Byron (after the legendary vocalist from the Uriah Heep band).
king diamond now
Kim continues to actively engage in creativity. Fans of the musician's work can learn the latest news from his social networks. In 2019, the musician presented the track Masquerade of Madness. The musician already performed the composition live almost a year ago. The track is to be included on The Institute's LP, which will be released next year.
In 2020, Kim continues to perform with the band; tours on the official website are scheduled several months in advance. Part of the performances of the guys had to be canceled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
