Marina Diamandis

Background

Marina Lambrini Diamandis was born in Brynmawr, Gwent, Wales, on October 10, 1985, and grew up near Abergavenny. Diamandis’ Welsh mother and Greek father met at Newcastle University and divorced when she was four. Her father returned to Greece after the divorce, but she continued to live with her mother in a bungalow in Wales. She moved to Greece with her father when she was 16 and sang Greek folk songs with her grandmother. She returned to Wales two years later after earning an International Baccalaureate at St. Catherine’s British Embassy School in Athens. She and her mother then relocated to Ross-on-Wye, England.

Diamandis, who aspired to be a singer, worked at a gas station for two months to save money to move to London. She began writing music at the age of 18 and moved to London to attend dance school, but she left after two months. Diamandis studied music at the University of East London and then relocated to Middlesex University’s classic composition program the next year, but only lasted two months. Her debut single ‘Obsessions’ was launched on February 14, 2009, and her first extended play, “The Crown Jewels E.P.,” was released on June 1, 2009. “The Family Jewels,” Diamandis’ debut studio album, was released on February 15, 2010, and debuted at number five on the U.K. Albums Chart with first-week sales of 27,618 copies, earning the B.P.I. gold certification. According to an “Atlantic Records” press release from 2012, the album had sold 300,000 copies.

Diamandis and Swedish record producer Robyn opened for American recording artist Katy Perry on her “California Dreams Tour” in the summer of 2011. The lead single ‘Primadonna’ was released in April 2012, and it is notable for being Diamandis’ highest-charting single on the U.K. Singles Chart, where it reached number 11. On her 29th birthday, October 10, 2014, the single ‘Froot’ was released and the album was set to be released on April 3, 2015, with a new song from the album being released every month. “Froot,” her highest-charting album in the United States, debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart. In the United Kingdom, “Froot” peaked at #10. Diamandis told “Fuse” in June 2016 that she had started writing new songs. ‘Baby,’ a collaboration with Clean Bandit and Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, was released in November 2018 and reached number 15 in the U.K. Diamandis and Clean Bandit performed their song at the Royal Variety Performance on 11 December 2018. Diamandis released ‘About Love’ the soundtrack from “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You,” on February 7, 2020. She announced on Instagram on October 1, 2021, that she had begun work on her sixth studio album. On April 27, 2022, her album “Electra Heart” was expanded into “Electra Heart: The Platinum Blonde Edition.” The album was released on April 29, 2022, followed by a vinyl release on September 23, 2022.