ShaGasyia "Shea" Diamond (born March 17, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, and transgender rights activist. Her music is chiefly soul and R&B, and includes elements of blues, rock, hip-hop and folk. Her influences include Whitney Houston and Tina Turner.
Diamond was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to a fourteen-year-old mother and was raised by relatives in Memphis, Tennessee before living most of her teenage years and adulthood in Flint, Michigan. She was inspired to become a singer by Tina Turner and worked on her skills while directing her church choir. Diamond was in and out of men's correctional facilities in Michigan between 1999 and 2009. It was in prison that she wrote her song "I Am Her." While incarcerated, Diamond faced discrimination specifically for her identity as a trans woman. She was kept in protective segregation and lost privileges often to keep her away from the male population. Humiliation, isolation, and misgendering were used as punishment.
After watching a video of Diamond performing her song "I Am Her" a cappella at a Trans Lives Matter rally, pop songwriter Justin Tranter was so impressed by her honesty and raw vocal talent that they immediately got in contact with her and they began recording music together. Tranter went on to co-sign her to Asylum Records and executive produce and co-write her debut extended play Seen It All, released on June 29, 2018.
In 2017, Diamond covered "I'd Love to Change the World" by the English rock band Ten Years After for the television miniseries When We Rise. In December 2018 Diamond joined the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Rocks campaign. In February 2019 she was nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist. In June 2019 she was a headliner for the Washington, DC Capital Pride Concert. On June 7, 2019 Diamond released her single "Don't Shoot". Her song "I Am America", released on April 23 2020, provides the theme song for the HBO series We're Here and was included on Billboard's list of the best LGBTQ songs of 2020. Also in 2020, she released the singles "Stand Up" and "So Lucky".
