Krall was born into a musical family in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. She began learning the piano at the age of four. In high school, she started playing in a small jazz group. When she was 15 she started playing regularly in several Nanaimo restaurants.

At age seventeen she won a scholarship from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and completed three terms.

In Nanaimo her playing attracted the attention of famed bass player Ray Brown (ex-husband of the late Ella Fitzgerald, long-time member of the Oscar Peterson Trio and Grammy-winning composer) and drummer Jeff Hamilton. After hearing her play, Brown and Hamilton persuaded Krall to move to Los Angeles, and study with pianist Jimmy Rowles, with whom she began to sing. This also brought her into contact with influential teachers and producers. In 1990, Krall relocated to New York.

Her father Jim Krall's large record collection helped to expose the young Krall to jazz legends. Diana lost her mother Adella to multiple myeloma in 2002, within months of also losing her mentors Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney. Diana's only sibling, Michelle, a former member of the RCMP, actively supports her older sister's career.

In 1993, Krall released her first album, Stepping Out, which she recorded with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton. It caught the attention of producer Tommy LiPuma, who produced her second album, Only Trust Your Heart (1995).

In August 2000, Krall was paired on a 20-city tour with Tony Bennett.

She also joined Ray Charles on his Genius Loves Company album in 2004 on the song, "You Don't Know Me."

In late May 2007, Krall was featured in a Lexus ad campaign.  She also sang, "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with piano accompaniment by legendary pianist Hank Jones

The tickets for Diana Krall Shanghai Concert  2008 are avaliable now!