By Easwaran Rutnam

Singer Diana King, best known for her song ‘shy guy’ has taken to Instagram to expose her top after successful surgery to remove her breasts.

The non-binary singer said that she is happy with the outcome of the surgery and is happy to show herself to others.

Posting a video and photos on Instagram, Diana King said that the journey was the best part.

Last April, King launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise US$18,000 to help finance the procedure in keeping with her being “genderless.”

In her GoFundMe description, King identified herself as a Jamaican-born singer/songwriter from Spanish Town and also an American citizen.  She noted that as an “extremely private person” they had swallowed their pride to make themselves vulnerable and ask for help.

“I originally came out in 2012 as lesbian,  becoming the first from my country to publicly do so.   A few years ago, I came out again to myself, as non-binary “multi-spirit”- feminine, masculine, everything in between or just spirit. Genderless,” she wrote at the time.

According to the artist, she had been thinking about the issue for decades, but had suppressed it.

“After coming out I felt freed & became more open to knowing myself on a deeper level.  I wanted to kno why I was so uncomfortable in my body, why I didn’t quite fit with ‘lesbian’ & slowly I started to regain memories I had blocked.  I started to research and found others who were like me.  So in 2017 I decided to do top surgery,” they had explained.

King’s single, “Shy Guy”, co-written and produced by Andy Marvel was released in 1995. The song, which only took her 10 minutes to write, became a hit, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and being certified gold by the RIAA in the U.S.; the single also hit No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as reaching No. 1 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart, going on to sell nearly five million singles worldwide.

“Shy Guy” was also ranked by the Japanese radio station J-Wave as the No. 1 song of 1995. In the UK, it had a place in the top 10 for seven weeks. It served as a single from the soundtrack to the 1995 film, Bad Boys in addition to being the lead release off their debut album Tougher Than Love which was released on 25 April 1995. The album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Reggae, No. 85 on R&B, and No. 179 on the Billboard 200 charts. Two follow-up singles “Love Triangle” (No. 85 R&B) and “Ain’t Nobody” (No. 94 Pop, No. 63 R&B) followed that same year. In 1996, King collaborated with Nahki on the single “I’ll Do It”. Also in 1996, their version of “Piece of My Heart” was included on the soundtrack to the film The First Wives Club. (Colombo Gazette)

Additional input from news websites