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Diana Hamilton

Diana: My ministry is different

Her powerful voice and spirit-inspired songs have made her a household name in the gospel music genre in Africa and Europe to the point where anyone meeting gospel artiste Diana Hamilton will assume she had a very privileged upbringing.

However, the multiple award-winning singer says this is very far from the truth. As the third female child in a family of 10, Diana told Showbiz in an interview on Monday that, due to the size of her family, she did not get things rosy growing up.

“As the third girl, I never got a new dress, I always got what was handed to me from my sisters. My shoes were also always bigger than my feet but I had to make do with what I was given. All I can say now is that God has been good to me,” she said.

Born to Apostle Felix Antwi, a former Executive Member of the Church of Pentecost, and Mrs Comfort Antwi, Diana said her entire family were into the gospel music ministry and as a result, she developed her passion for music at a very tende

 

“I knew I could sing from as early as I can remember. From the age of seven, I knew I could sing and I have been singing since. I first sang in front of a crowd when I was 13 years old,” she said.

She attended Morning Star School, Accra and St Louis Secondary School in Kumasi. She later trained as a nurse and worked for a while before relocating to the UK.

There, Diana later practiced as a nurse until her music career took off. “I was a full time nurse for years but now I do very little nursing. I gradually weaned myself off nursing when my music started coming up, so now I only do nursing when I have the time,” she said.

Although Diana is renowned in the United Kingdom for her spirit-filled concerts, she has never staged one in Ghana, an issue she hopes to change with her upcoming concert, dubbed The Diana Hamilton Experience, Live in Ghana, which comes off at the National Theatre on Saturday, 30 January.

“I got a lot of people asking me when I would bring the concert to Ghana. The concert will be just like what you see me do in Europe and other countries. We learn as we go along, spiritually we pray more and physically we learn more.

“We look back on what we have done and improve on it. The beauty of this is that I get to perform in my homeland, where I grew up, where everyone appreciates the songs I have done,” she said.

She added that the star-studded line up of supporting gospel artistes are bound to put on a splendid performance on the night. ”I have got Joe Mettle, Uncle Ato, Sammie Okposo from Nigeria and a host of other artistes as well as a wonderful team supporting this concert.

“My ministry is different, you cannot compare me to anyone else and neither can anyone else compare themselves to me. I know the communication I have had with God that is why the concert is called the Experience with Diana Hamilton.

“I just know that no one who comes to the concert will never leave the same so people will come and experience the presence of God. People will experience good music, dance and then worship God,” she said.

Diana who is mother to a set of twins told Showbiz that her passion includes making her own clothes, which inspires her to set up her own fashion line soon as well as donating to charity.

Diana has four albums to her credit, namely Osoro B3 Kasa, Ensi Wo Yie, Blessings and her latest album Yehowah, which was released in September, last year.

Her albums have netted her numerous awards including, the Best Female Artiste at the Africa Gospel Awards 2014, Best Artiste Europe at the Africa Gospel Awards 2011, Best Female Act and Best Gospel Act at the Ghana Music Awards Europe 2012 and Best Female Vocal Performance at the Ghana Gospel Industry Awards 2012.

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