King Diamond

King Diamond is the Danish heavy metal band led by Kim Bendix Petersen, the vocalist who took his stage name as his own. Petersen first became notorious fronting Mercyful Fate. When that band splintered in 1985, he formed King Diamond with guitarist Michael Denner, bassist Timi Hansen, guitarist Andy La Rocque and drummer Mikkey Dee. Two things made him instantly recognizable: his multi-octave voice, leaping from a low growl into a piercing falsetto to voice different characters within a song, and his corpse paint with an inverted-cross face design that predates and heavily influenced Norwegian black metal. His defining innovation was the horror concept album. Beginning with Fatal Portrait (1986) and fully realized on Abigail (1987), each record tells a self-contained ghost story. "Them" (1988), Conspiracy (1989) and The Eye (1990) completed the classic run. Later albums ran through Give Me Your Soul...Please (2007). In November 2010 he underwent triple-bypass heart surgery, which halted the band for years. As of 2026 the band remains active, with Gus G replacing Andy La Rocque and a thirteenth album in the works.