Diana Marie is a singer-songwriter and worship artist in New York City. Born and raised in the Bronx, she attended Southeastern University but after graduating, moved back to New York to pursue a career in music. Today, she’s spending her time traveling, making and performing music, and participating in ministry in any way that God asks her to.

PEER: Tell me about your religious upbringing. Did you grow up in the church? Did you always know Jesus? 

DIANA MARIE: My upbringing is so interesting. I grew up Seventh-day Adventist. My dad’s mother, my grandmother, led my mom to the faith. She led my mom to the faith around the time I was born. So, I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist church, but I always say that I grew up in proximity to Jesus and not really knowing Jesus. All I knew were a few religious things. In that denomination, you go to church on Saturdays, and you can’t have pork and all these things. That’s all I really knew. I didn’t really know the passion of Christ. Really, the closest example I had was my mother. I had a fear of the Lord, because my mother instilled that in me, but I didn’t really know Him myself. 

I grew up singing all my life. When my mother was pregnant with me, she prayed for a daughter who would worship, and the Lord honored that request. I’m really the only musical one out of all my siblings. It’s funny. We were talking about it last night. She’s like, “Literally, it was God that did it.” So that was my upbringing, but again, I grew up in proximity. With that, I ended up going through a phase where I called myself a “fake baby atheist.” I was an atheist for a little bit. More agnostic than anything. I went through seasons where I was a prodigal daughter — prodigal daughter season one, prodigal daughter season two, is what I call it. I went through two seasons. That was my upbringing. My mom knew where I was in my walk, and I would tell her all the time, “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to go to church. This isn’t what I really even believe.” But as Latina moms are, “It’s my house, my rules. So, you’re coming with me anyway.” And I’m grateful for that. She let me have my questions. She let me have my battles. When it was time for me to leave the house, she let me do my own thing. She just always kept me in prayer: “I know what I prayed for, and I know what the Lord showed me. I know one day she’ll be back.”

I ended up picking up my life and moving when I was 19 years old. I went to college in upstate New York. That was prodigal daughter season one. In the middle of it, I found Southeastern University. It’s a college in Florida. I said, “Well, it’s a Christian school. I’m just going to put myself in a bubble and see if God is real, and if He is real, He’ll prove Himself to me.” So, I picked up my life. I moved to Florida by myself. I started going to the school. I hated it at first, but a few months in, the Lord arrested my heart. And there’s a journey within the last 10, 11 years that I’ve been walking with Him, but that’s kind of the story.

P: Nice! I love the prodigal daughter. That sounds like an album title or something.

DM: I feel like I’ve heard that from somewhere. 

P: I think a lot of people relate to that. Did your religious upbringing impact your musical dreams at all?

DM: Yes, it’s funny. Like I said, my mom prayed for a daughter who would worship, and even when I did grow up singing and all that, I would tell her you prayed for the wrong kid or you prayed for the wrong career. I wanted to do my own thing. I was a theater kid too, so I love to do theater. I was always interested in music, and I knew that it would have some sort of weight in my life, but I definitely did not think that I would be doing this for the Lord at all. It’s the funniest thing ever. My mom laughs about it all the time. She’s like, “You tried to run.” I ran every other way, but the Lord found me in the middle of my path. And growing up, I received so many prophetic words on what it was — literally what I’m doing now. I just didn’t want to choose that. Really, it kind of came about. I didn’t know what leading worship was. That wasn’t a thing where I grew up in the way that I grew up. It was when I moved to Florida and I went to Southeastern University, where I was surrounded by it, exposed to it, and gently pushed into it. But I would say within the last six years is when I’ve taken it like this is an assignment on my life, and this is what the Lord wants me to do. But within the last year and a half, almost two years, is when I finally gave God a full yes.

P: Oh, that’s interesting.

DM: There are a lot of layers.

P: At what moment did you realize music was more than a hobby and that it could become your calling, a full-time calling, something that you could grow to be full-time?

DM: When I got saved in 2015. There’s a difference between believing and surrendering. In 2015, I believed that I was launched into things, and there’s so many layers to that story, whether I should have been doing it, should have not been doing it. It was just like, “Oh, Diana, you sing, here’s a mic.”

I learned my way through certain things. I stumbled my way, rather, through certain things. But it was in 2020 — prodigal daughter season two, the finale — I went through a very difficult season. I was running from the Lord, and He had told me to move back to New York. I thought moving back to New York was going to be my punishment season, where the wrath of the Lord was going to fall on me, but instead, He surrounded me with community, and I met mercy in real time. I got connected with my management team now, who funny enough, are all my best friends. It was honestly through community in 2020 when I started to realize the words that were spoken over me were true, and He had sent the people to help facilitate that.

I would say 2020 is when He started breaking down my dreams for my life and started to implant His. I battled a lot of double mindedness, where it was kind of like, “Do I want to do this? Do I want to do not? Do I not want to do this?” I knew the weight of it. I knew the pressure. I knew the cost. This is a cross to carry. I’m from New York. There are so many creatives here. I’ve seen the pressure. I’ve seen the church world. I’ve seen how people have been hurt. I’ve seen how much work it actually is. It’s way more than what people may think. There are a lot of things that have happened behind the veil that people may not know about. But it was in 2024 when one of my best friends, who I got connected with in 2020, we’ve done ministry the last six years together, started a management company.

He was like, “Hey, I really do believe you’re supposed to be doing this thing. Just give it six months.” And in my head, I was like after these six months, he can leave me alone, and I’m just going to go live my traditional life. Within those six months, a lot of things happened. The Lord just kept confirming, “This is what you’re supposed to be doing.”

But a part of my story, too, is that I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I have ADHD and I struggle with panic attacks. Throughout the top of last year, I’ve been more open, honest, and vulnerable about it, especially on my social media. I was having panic attacks almost every single time that I was leading worship. I told the Lord, “Hey, if this is going to be what I’m going to struggle with, I’d rather just say no, and you give this to somebody else.” But in June last year, I did a worship night with Jonathan Stamper. He’s an artist. He lives in Texas. We did a worship night in Atlanta; there is a video that went viral last year. What people don’t know — a lot of people don’t know — is that in the middle of that worship night, I was having a panic attack. I go on my knees, and I start singing what ends up becoming my original song. Those were the only words that came out of me. I remember after that set, the Lord moved. I was supposed to sing the rest of the night with him. I ended up having to walk off the stage, and they were taking care of me in the back. After that set, I told the Lord, “God, I’ve given you these six months. I’ve given you the last few years, but it just feels like too much.” I was going on a vacation in July, that next month, and I said, “I’m going to take this vacation to kind of rest. I know what you’ve said all my life, but I need just one more thing in order for me to give a full yes, and even resign, or fully stop looking for a traditional life or something quieter.” A friend of mine, I hadn’t spoken to her in five or six years, messaged me. She was like, “Hey, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I just had two dreams with you. You were doing music, and you were sitting in a studio, writing,” and the Lord was revealing what I was going to be doing.

In July of last year, I said, “I’m going to grieve the life that I wanted, the anonymity, the hiddenness, the quiet life that I wanted. I’m just going to say yes.” I enjoyed that vacation. I rested. I wept. Everything. When I got back, I said okay God, you have my full yes. I’m going to get to work. I got back, and the video went viral. I feel like the Lord was just like, “I got your full yes. I’ll expose you really quickly so that you can’t take it back.” Honestly, it wasn’t even July yet, so in less than a year, I would say not my will, but yours be done. I’ll say yes. Even though I had been working towards music, but again, a lot of double mindedness. The Bible says that a person who’s double-minded is unstable in all their ways (James 1:8). That’s kind of how I was living.

P: Oh, I love that. I love that idea of “give it six months.” You talked a little bit about your creative process, specifically writing songs and worshipping. How does your faith and relationship with God influence your creative process, like writing lyrics, putting music together, and performing?

DM: It’s funny because I wasn’t a songwriter. I didn’t grow up that way. I wasn’t the kid that was writing songs since I was three years old. When I say I was not looking for this, I really meant that. It was when I moved back to New York and the Lord connected me to my community. His name is Gary, who ended up being my manager. God gave him a word and was just like, “Tell Diana to pick up her pen and start writing.” And I’d heard that in the past through — I call them my burning bush moments — different ways. But something about when I finally obeyed the Lord and coming back to New York was when I was like, “Okay, well, I literally have nothing left to lose. It’s COVID. I’ll pick up my pen and start writing.” The gift started cultivating itself in hidden places. It’s been six years that I’ve been learning and just putting my hours in, my 10,000 hours in, and I have still so much more to grow, so much more to learn. But even then, I feel like the Lord exposed that gift in me when He knew I would give it to Him. 

Scripture says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). It’s out of the abundance of the heart my hands write and that’s what’s in me now. I think if the Lord would have had exposed that any earlier, I wouldn’t be writing for Him. I wouldn’t have given that gift to Him. I think He knew when to expose it in real time. It’s been a journey, and I’ve loved it.

I think, as far as myself, I feel specifically called to write songs for the Lord and for the body, to edify the body. I know other creatives are called to different spaces, and I love that. I think for myself, I’ve had to reserve everything that I do specifically for Him. If He ever wants to use me in other ways and other capacities, cool, I’m with it. I’m down. But I think I’ve learned it’s reserved for Him and Him only. I think my process is inviting Him in. I know that people may want to hear, “Oh yeah, I lock myself in a room and all these things, and I practice this way.” I do those things, but first up is I invite Him in. I’m like, “Hey, I want to practice. I want to steward what it is that you’ve given me.” We’re students, though. We remain students.

P: I’m a big fan of always growing and learning. You never want to feel stuck. What helps you keep Jesus at the center of your music, especially when making worship music? 

DM: I think I just know that’s what I’m called to. I think the Lord has specifically reserved me for this. I keep turning to that flame, to that fire. It’s like, “Hey,” and not that I go to the Lord so that I can produce something. It’s just I stay in that place. I happen to produce something. My story has so many ups and downs, and I have learned the weight of disobedience, the cost of disobedience, and the cost of looking other directions. I’ve drank from other wells, and I’ve sat at other tables. I know the cost of looking left. I know the cost of looking right. I have learned to behold, and you become what you behold. The more I look at Him and the more I become like Him, the more I want to release what it is that He’s placed in me. I think that comes with my relationship with Him. I continue to tend to that, and not that it’s perfect. My walk is not perfect at all, but I don’t think He’s looking for that. He just wants honesty. He wants you to just keep coming to the table. And me continuing to come to the table, even if sometimes I have to crawl my way to the table, like, “Hey, you are my lifeline. And apart from the vine, I can do nothing.” I just make sure that I’m attached. I just make sure that I’m attached. If I see myself swinging a little low, “Hold on. Let me get back on. Let me get back on. Let me cling on a little harder.” That’s where I’m at.

P: What excites you about being a worship leader and artist in 2026?

DM: I think the Lord for me, I know what He’s called me to, and I have some glimpses of what it is that I feel like I’m going to be doing in the future. I think some people are ready for it. Some people aren’t. But I’m excited to be able to be the unique version that He designed me to be. There are people that are waiting for that too. I think there are a lot of artists now where they weren’t accepted before, but now He’s preparing the earth for them to be ready for them and the sound that’s within them. I like to say that I’m one of the wild ones, and I think the space is a little more open to the wild ones now. I think there are so many different sounds now being released. I think it’s amazing that creatives, especially in the worship space, are not wanting to limit themselves to one thing or one sound. They’re willing to explore. I don’t want to limit myself either. I want to know what it is that the Lord has placed within me, and I want to cultivate that. I think the space for the creative to just create and do it unto the Lord without any limitations, removing the weight of religion and boundaries and all that.

P: Are there any sounds that you want to experiment with?

DM: Right now, I am doing more congregational worship, and I love that. That’s a huge part of my heart. Just giving songs for the body to sing as one body. But also, what’s funny enough, my first project truly was a singer-songwriter project. The world doesn’t know me for that. That was just me trying. That was just my first time writing. Right now, I’m focusing on this assignment that the Lord has, but I know He’s put other desires in me to write and experiment with different textures, different sounds, and more storytelling still around the Lord, but more of my journey.

I think my approach to congregational writing is not that I deny my artistic ability. I’m a little more mindful of who I’m writing for and who I’m writing to, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I think there’s beauty even in those limitations. The Lord can pull so much out of you, but I’m also excited for those other moments where I believe the Lord is just going to let me share my story in a way that we might not sing on Sunday mornings. You might just be at home with your AirPods in. I’m excited to just work with different producers in the future, in due time, whenever He’s ready. Right now, I’m just in one season at a time.

P: I love asking advice from artists like you. We have a lot of young aspiring artists and musicians reading Peer. What advice do you have for those young aspiring musicians?

DM: Stay close to the Lord. He is the vine, you are the branch. Apart from Him, you can do nothing — not even create. Where else can you create from or gain your creativity from if it’s not from the Creator? Stay close and stay pure. I say this lovingly, I think we need more pure ones in the creative spaces — people with the fear of the Lord in their hearts and not selfishly ambitious, but righteously ambitious; after His dream, after His heart, and what He wants to release into the earth. For the creative, especially the young ones — older too — stay close, stay pure, stay holy, stay hungry.

In the Hot Seat with Diana Marie

P: How do you practice self-care when you’re feeling overwhelmed?

DM: People think I’m a huge extrovert, which I am on one hand, but I think I also need to go away often, like Jesus when He went away to be with the Father. I learned that’s where my character comes back, in times where I’m just alone at home. I think I’m getting better at practicing a rhythm of rest. I can get overwhelmed very easily, and I’ve learned what I need to do right now is just take a second and pull back. I think I’m in a very new season. There are a lot of things being pulled on me. I’m being pulled on a lot of things for different reasons, whatever the case may be. And I’ve just learned, “Hey, you’re feeling overwhelmed. Step to the side. Go home.” I don’t need to be at every function. I can just go home, be with the Lord, and honestly, really chill and watch a movie.

P: I definitely get that. It’s being an ambivert, I think.

DM: Yes, that’s the word. I’m definitely that.

P: What are you currently listening to?

DM: It’s so funny, because I am an artist and creative, music is the world that I’m in, but there’s seasons where I don’t listen to anything. I’ll listen to podcasts, an ambient pad, or brown noise to settle my mind. I think now I’m slowly going back into listening to different music. I love Anna Golden. She’s a phenomenal worship artist. I think she’s from Texas. She just came out with her album, so I’ve been listening to that.

P: Any podcasts?

DM: I love a good podcast. “With the Perrys,” with Jackie Hill Perry and Preston Perry. Those two. I listen to them weekly. They’re phenomenal.

P: What is a Bible verse that’s been on your heart recently?

DM: Lately I have been meditating on humility. What I’ve been reading this week is John 3 when Jesus’s public ministry begins. And John the Baptist, his disciples are like, “Hey, everybody’s going to this Messiah that you’re talking about.” He prepares the way and prepares the hearts of the people. This was the whole point. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, KJV). That’s where I’m at right now in my life.