Daniella “Lioness” Richardson was born and raised in St. Thomas, USVI, the third of four children. She graduated from the Charlotte Amalie High School in 2002, migrated to the USA, and began matriculation at the Florida Memorial University where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology in 2007. She later settled in Anguilla, BWI where she held the position of Graduate Integrated Science Teacher at the lone high school, Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, for five (5) years. She also began her pursuit of an MD Degree at the Saint James School of Medicine in Anguilla.
Music has always been a passion for her and she showcased her talent at church, at karaoke and wherever her presence was requested; weddings etc. She participated in the first ever, Digicel Star Search in Anguilla in December 2009 and came in second place. As a result, her talent was recognized by the biggest band in Anguilla, Better Band, whose name was later changed to Better Band Movements. She auditioned in 2010 and there started her Soca career. She became the female vocalist of the band and wrote her own songs for the album that year, Roll Ya Bottom and Spirit of Carnival. She traveled with the band to represent Anguilla in England in September of that year where they were well received. However, the band was dissolved shortly after and reformed as De Movements Band. She participated in and won third place in the Soca Monarch Competition in 2011 and 2012 then won both the Groovy and Power Soca Monarch titles in 2015. Since, the inception of her career, she rose to be the most acclaimed Female Soca artist in Anguilla and also traveled to St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Kitts, the USVI and St. Maarten/St. Martin on many occasions. She began working on pushing her music to a higher level via solo appearances, representing Anguilla at Atlanta’s Carnival celebration in Georgia, USA in 2014.
In March of 2016, following her completion of the Basic Sciences Certificate at Saint James, she relocated back to St. Thomas and was asked in May of that year to fill-in as a vocalist with the, then 6-time, Road March Champions, Spectrum Band. The arrangement soon became permanent and by the following year, her song My Life from the album We Come to Party (2017), won the band the 7th Road March Title; the official video was released the same year. She remained with them for 8 years. She is currently the female vocalist for It Is What It Is Live (IIWII) in St. Thomas, USVI.
Lioness is very spiritual and believes that once you keep God first and remain humble, anything is possible. She has two children, one girl, one boy and is currently a 7th grade Science Teacher at the Lockhart K-8 School in St. Thomas, USVI.