Diamonds

The "Diamonds" is the fandom name for Marina Diamandis, stemming from her original stage name 'Marina and the Diamonds'. She has also used Diamantia (from the Greek διαμάντια) to refer to her fans, Emeralds for her Irish fans, and Crystals for Australian fans.

A common misconception is that "the Diamonds" referred to her "band", but Marina has always been a solo artist.

Background

Marina created the stage name in 2005, a translation of her surname, Diamandis, which is "Diamonds" in Greek. She told the BBC she did not want to use her full name as she felt "Marina Diamond" "sounded too serious". In the beginning of her career she would sign as "Marina Diamond", and was credited as "Marina Diamond" instead of "Marina Diamandis" on her early works, such as Mowgli's Road and Oh No! single releases

In March 2010, Marina explained the concept behind her stage name in a blogpost:

❝ I created the name 'Marina and the Diamonds' 5 years ago, and I never envisaged a character, pop project, band or solo artist. I saw a simple group made up of many people who had the same hearts. A space for people with similar ideals who could not fit in to life's pre-made mold. I was terribly awkward for a long time! I really craved to be part of one thing because I never felt too connected to anybody and now I feel I have that all around me ❞

She has said she believes "whatever she does or wherever she goes, her fans will always be by her side." and that her fans are "incredibly supportive and quite protective…even though I’m going off into a more left-field, alternative direction, they are with me."

Name Change

In 2019, with the release of LOVE + FEAR Marina changed her stage name to 'MARINA', she explained why in a press release:

❝ Changing my artist name to the single "MARINA" is something that feels natural to me and helps me to feel more able to present myself authentically, as a multi-faceted individual as opposed to an artistic persona. It's something I've struggled with in the past when so much of what defines an artist is tied up in their visual and musical identity. Sometimes the more nuanced aspects, or non-music related parts of a person, get lost within that.

I was signed to Warner Records at 22 years old and much of my self-definition has been explored through my work. Marina and the Diamonds was my artist name for 10 years but as I've developed in my work it's become important for me to present myself in a way that feels natural and human. Going under my first name is my way of achieving that. ❞