DianaFan.net

BIOGRAPHY

Diana was born on 30th July 1991 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. When she reached the age of 16, she planned to study for her A Levels and either attend drama school or travel to Thailand. She studied for her A Levels in Theatre Studies, Classics and Psychology at Westholme School in Blackburn.

Diana first became known when she auditioned for the 5th series of The X Factor, singing The Blower’s Daughter by Damien Rice, branded as a unique singer and a ‘little hippie.’ She progressed through Bootcamp, and through the Judges Houses stage with Cheryl Cole as her mentor, to finish 4th in the competition, leaving on week 9.

Diana went on and made her professional acting debut in the title role of a new revived West End production of Jim Cartwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice on 8th October 2009 at the Vaudeville Theatre, London. She played the character of Little Voice, who hides a talent as an impersonator of singers such as Shirley Bassey, Edith Piaf and Judy Garland. Mark Owen of Take That wrote Sunlight, the final song in the play Diana sings. Sunlight was also featured as a B-Side for her debut single, Once. Diana’s performance received a good review in The Guardian and was deemed magical in The Daily Telegraph, so much so she won the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Award – London Newcomer of the Year, in February 2010 for her performance, with 34.5% of the vote.

Diana signed to Sony Music’s RCA Records and began work on her debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree, in January 2009.

Diana worked with esteemed musicians such as Nerina Pallot, Ellie Goulding, Cass Lowe, Guy Sigsworth, Chris Braide, Savan Kotecha, Starsmith, Alexis Strum, Patrick Wolf and Dev Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion. In March 2010, she embarked on her first official UK tour, where she showcased material from the album.

Diana’s debut single Once, written by Cathy Dennis and Eg White, was released on the UK on 19th April 2010, after it was playlisted on Radio 1 and the music video premiered on Channel 4′s Freshly Squeezed music programme. On 22nd April 2010, she performed an acoustic version of Once and a cover of Snow Patrol’s Just Say Yes on Radio 1′s Live Lounge. On 25th April 2010, Once entered the UK Singles Chart at #1, selling approximately 70,000 copies in the first week of release.

On 15th April 2010, Diana’s second single was confirmed. The Boy Who Murdered Love was written and produced by Chris Braide, with contribution from Diana. The video for the second single was shot on 5th May 2010, in a house in Shepperton.

Diana embarked on another UK Tour in May 2010 promoting her newly released album, Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree, which on 9th May 2010, charted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart selling approximately 36,000 copies in the first week of release. On 25th July 2010, the album returned to the Top 15 on the UK Albums Chart, rising 29 places from #42 to #13.

On 23rd May 2010, Diana performed an acoustic version of The Boy Who Murdered Love and Biffy Clyro’s Many of Horrors at Radio 1′s Big Weekend. Diana then released her second single The Boy Who Murdered Love on 18th July 2010 and it peaked at #36 on the UK Singles Chart.

Diana performed Once, The Boy Who Murdered Love, N.U.M.B and Notice for a live session for MTV; and on 28th July 2010, iTunes released an exclusive EP of Diana performing at the 2010 iTunes Festival. It included singles Once, The Boy Who Murdered Love, and album tracks Notice, My Hip, a cover of Snow Patrol’s Just Say Yes, but didn’t include other album tracks, which she also performed.

On 31st August 2010, Diana participated in a live UStream video chat where she confirmed that her third single would be a brand new track titled My Wicked Heart written by Diana and songwriters Dee Adams, VLJ and James Earp; and also produced by Dee Adams and James Earp. The single received it’s first radio play on 12th September 2010 by Tom Deacon on the 5:19 Show on Radio 1.

My Wicked Heart was digitally released on 17th October 2010 and physically released on 1st November 2010. The video for My Wicked Heart premiered on ITV2 at 6.55pm on 2nd October 2010, it features Diana in a circus tent with gymnasts and drummer boys!

On 17th October 2010, Diana returned to her roots and The X Factor stage, two years after she was last there, to perform My Wicked Heart.

Diana embarked on a UK radio tour to promote My Wicked Heart, starting on 18th October and ending on 24th October. On 24th October, My Wicked Heart charted at Number 13 in the UK and Number 22 in Ireland.

Diana’s third leg of the Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree tour began on 8th November 2010, touring the UK and for the first time, Ireland, and ended on 15th November in Dublin.

For anti bullying week, Diana uploaded a video to her official website, encouraging youngsters to stand up to bullies.