King Diamond, the lead singer of Danish heavy metal bands Mercyful Fate and King Diamond, performed a surprise set recently at the Nomad Recording Studio Throwdown, an event at which he was meant to be an award presenter. Little did the audience know that they would be treated to only the third live performance by King (real name Kim Bendix Peterson) since performing with King Diamond in London on June 12, 2006. It was the first performance since that time in which he performed a King Diamond set. He has not performed in a formal manner since then due to a number of personal setbacks.
This performance comes on the heels of the recent announcement of the first proper King Diamond shows in 6 years. The band is scheduled to play at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 09. In addition, they are anticipated to play the Hellfest event in France on June 15.
According to King, he suffered a herniated disk during the recording of his most recent release of original material, 2007's King Diamond album Give Me Your Soul... Please. As a result of the herniated disk, which caused him near constant severe pain, the band was forced to cancel the planned tour of the United States, as well as a European tour.
By the middle of 2008, King was healthy enough to perform a short set with Metallica at the Ozzfest stop in Frisco, TX, which is not far from where he currently resides. On August 9, 2008, he performed the "Mercyful Fate" medley which Metallica had put together for their Garage Inc. covers album meant to pay tribute to their early influences. The 11 minute medley features bits of 5 songs from the debut Mercyful Fate album, Melissa, namely "Evil", "Curse of the Pharaohs", "Satan's Fall", "A Corpse without Soul", and "Into the Coven".
King has performed this medley with Metallica a handful of times over the years since its initial release in 1998, most recently on December 7, 2011 in celebration of Metallica's 30th anniversary, where he was joined by fellow original Mercyful Fate members guitarists Hank Shermann and Michael Denner and bassist Timi "Grabber" Hansen. This was King's first performance since his second major setback following his last performance with Metallica more than 3 years prior.
King Diamond experienced several heart attacks on November 29, 2010, and he was forced to undergo triple-bypass surgery. This completely derailed all of his plans for the immediate future, as he spent the majority of the time since then recovering. It was announced on March 14 that he had completed his cardiac rehabilitation program, which was the first major step in his full recovery.
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