Born John O’Regan in Toronto in 1985, Diamond Rings is a rising star on the Canadian music scene. As far as genre goes, he falls into the pop-electronica category, and in his videos and stage shows he typically toys with traditional notions of gender identity. In 2011 he released an album called Special Affections that was long-listed for the 2011 Polaris Prize, and later he accompanied Swedish pop star Robyn on her North American Body Talk tour.
And just a couple of weeks ago he was voted Toronto’s Best Vocalist in Now Magazine’s annual Best of Toronto issue. So you could say he’s Regina’s version of Belle Plaine (except in a different musical genre).
Thursday Diamond Rings is in town to play a show at the Exchange. Backing him up will be the group Gold & Youth. To give you a taste, here’s the single “I’m Just Me” off Diamond Ring’s new album Free Dimensional.
