Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s.
She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994.
Her father was a steelworker, and her mother was an active participant in the gospel music of the family's African Methodist Episcopal church.
Battle attended Portsmouth High School where her music teacher and mentor was Charles P. (Phil) Varney.
In a Time Magazine interview with music critic Michael Walsh, he recalled first hearing the eight-year-old Battle sing, describing her as "this tiny little thing singing so beautifully."
"I went to her later", Varney recalled, "and told her God had blessed her, and she must always sing."
In that same interview, Walsh described Battle as "the best lyric coloratura in the world".
