MARINA

Pop singer Marina emerged under the name Marina and the Diamonds as part of the early 2000s indie revival. Her theatrical music blends indie-pop and New Wave influences. • Marina moved to London at 18 to pursue a career as a singer. She initially applied to audition calls for musical theater roles and bands (including an all-male reggae act) she found in a weekly entertainment newspaper, because that was how the Spice Girls came together. • She briefly studied dance and musical composition before teaching herself to play piano and beginning to write original music. Marina initially recorded her songs on her computer and began posting collections of them online in 2007. • After opening a 2008 tour for the Australian musician Gotye, she landed a record deal and released her first “official” single, “Obsessions,” in 2009. • She topped the UK charts with 2012’s Electra Heart, a concept album revolving around a calculating, ambitious character Diamandis calls “the antithesis of everything I stand for.” • Marina dropped her “and the Diamonds” moniker in 2018. She wanted to move beyond the image she'd created for herself. • Her musical influences include the Spice Girls and Britney Spears, as well as George Michael, Dolly Parton, and the Texas outsider-folk singer Daniel Johnston.