KING DIAMOND Completes Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

Livia Zita, the 26-year-old wife of 54-year-old Danish heavy metal singer King Diamond (real name: Kim Bendix Petersen; MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND) — who underwent open-heart triple-bypass surgery last November — has issued the following update:

"Some of you have been asking for an update on King's health, so I thought I'll write what's been going on.

"King has just finished his cardiac rehabilitation program this past Friday, and graduated with flying colors. Thanks to the wonderful people at the rehab center, his exercise regimen helped him gain a lot of muscle, and start on the road of building up good endurance.

"We will start regular exercises now to get the endurance up to nice levels.

"The examinations by his heart surgeon and cardiologist revealed that his health is steadily improving, and they all expect him to feel better than ever, 15 years younger than he really is.

"I am immensely proud of what he has achieved in these short three months, stopped smoking entirely, changed diet and doing regular exercise among other things.

"I cannot say anything certain about when he will be back working on King Diamond-related things, but he is looking forward to finishing the DVDs eventually, and he is most certainly not stopping music.

"I hope this information was helpful. I can honestly say that his progress has been nothing short of amazing. He is the strongest person I know. He would also like to extend his huge gratitude to all of you, for your absolutely amazing support. It has really meant a lot to him.

"Enjoy his cardiac rehabilitation 'graduation' picture below."

A video update from King Diamond — which was filmed by Germany's Rock Hard magazine on September 27, 2010 in King's homebase of Frisco, Texas — can be viewed below.

KING DIAMOND's video for the song "Give Me Your Soul" can be viewed below. The band's first clip in 17 years was shot in September 2007 with director Bill Schacht from video company Aestheticom, which has previously worked with DIO, ALICE COOPER and DREAM THEATER, among other artists. Speaking to MTV.com, the group's frontman/namesake — who was suffering from a herniated disc at the time — said about the video shoot, "They limited what I had to do, of course, so I only did one day of shooting for 90 minutes, but just standing there moving a little bit in the full outfit was very difficult. And afterwards, I got one of those sharp attacks of pain that I hadn't had in a month and a half. The only thing I can compare it to is a really super-bad toothache or earache. And afterwards, I was like, 'OK, I'm not ready [to tour] yet.' "

KING DIAMOND received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill" off the group's latest album, "Give Me Your Soul … Please".

"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" entered the Swedish national chart at position No. 28. The CD also landed at No. 58 on the Danish chart (the second highest new entry on the chart behind VELVET REVOLVER).

"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" sold 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 174 on The Billboard 200 chart.

(Thanks: NJthrasher)