King Diamond is a Danish heavy metal band formed in 1985 by vocalist King Diamond, guitarists Andy LaRocque and Michael Denner, bassist Timi Hansen and drummer Mikkey Dee. King, Denner and Hansen had recently departed the group Mercyful Fate, and decided to form a new band under the King Diamond moniker, as it was already known from the Mercyful Fate days. Since the band's inception, there have been over fifteen musicians in and out of King Diamond, with the only two mainstays being Diamond and LaRocque. Their current lineup consists of King, LaRocque, guitarist Mike Wead, drummer Matt Thompson, and bassist Pontus Egberg. King Diamond has released a total of twelve studio albums (most of them are concept albums), two live albums, two extended plays, five compilations and five singles. Their first album, Fatal Portrait, was released in 1986, followed a year later by the band's first concept album Abigail (1987). Three more albums were released before the band was put on hiatus around 1992, when King Diamond reunited with his former outfit Mercyful Fate. Diamond reformed the band in 1994, and would balance recording and touring with both Mercyful Fate and his eponymous band throughout the 1990s. King Diamond has remained active since then, despite having not released a studio album since 2007's Give Me Your Soul...Please. History Formation to Abigail (1985–1987) The band was formed in 1985 by vocalist King Diamond, guitarist Michael Denner, and bassist Timi Hansen. The three had recently departed from the group Mercyful Fate, which fell apart due to musical differences between King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. According to Diamond, when he, Denner, and Hansen decided to form a new band, they chose the name "King Diamond" to "get better deals", and because the name was already known from Mercyful Fate. To round-out the line-up of the King Diamond band, the group chose drummer Mikkey Dee and guitarist Andy LaRocque. In July 1985, the band began recording their debut album at Sound Track Studio in Copenhagen, Denmark. On 25 December, they released their debut single "No Presents for Christmas". Fatal Portrait, the band's first full-length studio album, was released on 17 February 1986, through Roadrunner Records. Produced by Rune Höyer and vocalist King Diamond, the album charted at number 33 on the Swedish album chart, and spawned the single "Halloween", which was released on 6 June 1986. In December 1986, King Diamond began