Photo: Андрей Плугин / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
King Diamond, born Kim Bendix Petersen in 1956, is the Danish metal showman you cannot un-see once you've seen him, corpse paint, that piercing countertenor, and those far-reaching falsetto screams. With Mercyful Fate and his own band he turned horror storytelling into a fully committed musical world and never broke character across decades. The detail I love is that the theatrics rest on real training; he studied music, so the spookiness has a genuine foundation. Building a world this elaborate and staying faithful to it for a lifetime is almost a religion. I always wonder, half-anxiously, if that voice still soars.
Overview
Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto screams. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- King Diamond
- Name (Japanese)
- キング・ダイアモンド
- Reading
- きんぐ・だいあもんど
- Born
- June 14, 1956 (age 69)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Monkey
- Origin
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- singer / songwriter / rock musician / composer / musician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Royal College of Music in Stockholm
Awards & achievements
- Statens Kunstfonds hædersydelse
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Singer — see all → · Songwriter — see all → · More people from Denmark →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.