Namie Amuro

Early life and career

Amuro was born to Emiko Taira (June 30, 1950 – March 17, 1999), and an undisclosed Japanese father, in Naha, Okinawa on September 20, 1977. She is one of three children by Taira and her father. Taira had divorced when Amuro was four years old, and raised her three children solely in Okinawa. Taira worked as a nursery school employee and bar hostess to support her three children. Although she had no ambition to become a singer, she was discovered at age 12, while visiting a friend. Amuro was scouted by Masayuki Makino, the owner of Okinawa Actors School, a performing arts school, and eventually enrolled there. Two years later, Makino placed her in an idol group called Super Monkey's, with five other girls: Anna Makino, Hisako Arakaki, Nanako Takushi, and Minako Ameku. A year after their September 1992 debut with Toshiba–EMI, the group relocated to Tokyo, despite Amuro's mother's disapproval.

Super Monkey's did not gain much success and the group went through constant lineup changes. They changed their name to "Namie Amuro with Super Monkey's" in 1994 to reflect Amuro's rising popularity as an upcoming actress and fashion model. Aside from group's musical activities, Amuro had bit parts in Japanese television series and small films. The Super Monkey's experienced a large amount of success with their single "Try Me (Watashi o Shinjite)", produced by Italian eurobeat producer Dave Rodgers, and Japanese businessman Max Matsuura. Released on January 25, 1995, the song reached number eight on the Oricon Singles Chart, and stayed in the top 200 chart for 25 weeks. Despite the beginning success as a group, the other four members of the Super Monkey's formed their own sub-group, MAX, under the Japanese record label Avex Trax. As a result, Amuro released two more solo singles under Toshiba-EMI before moving to Avex Trax herself.

1995–97: Career breakthrough, marriage and motherhood

After signing with Avex Trax in 1995, the corresponding record company Avex Group enlisted Japanese musician Tetsuya Komuro to work with Amuro on her then-upcoming album. Amuro made her solo debut with Avex, releasing the single "Body Feels Exit" on October 25, 1995. It became a huge success in Japan, peaking at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and sold over 881,000 units in that region. Amuro's second single with Komuro, "Chase the Chance", became her first number single on the Oricon Singles Chart, and became her first single to sell over one million units there. For Amuro's success with those singles, she won the Golden Arrow Award in 1995. After a brief hiatus, Amuro released two more singles in 1996: "Don't Wanna Cry" and "You're My Sunshine". Both singles were successful in Japan, bringing her second and third consecutive number one singles, and both sold over one million units there. Amuro achieved huge success after the release of her first solo studio album, Sweet 19 Blues (1996). Released on July 22, it reached number one on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan, and has sold over 3.6 million units. She released the album's final single, the title track, on August 21, 1996; it achieved success by peaking at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart, and shifted over 400,000 units in Japan.

On November 27, 1996, she started work on her second solo studio album with Komuro, and released its lead single "A Walk in the Park". It gave Amuro her fourth number one single on the Oricon Singles Chart, and her fourth single to sell over one million units there. At the end of 1996, she was awarded the Grand Prix Award for her song "Don't Wanna Cry", the highest honor at the Japan Record Awards, making her the youngest artist to have won the award. On February 19, 1997, she released her single "Can You Celebrate?", which became her fifth number one single. The single became a huge success in Japan, eventually selling 2.29 million units there, making it the best-selling single by a solo female artist in Japan. After release her sixth consecutive number one single "How to Be a Girl" in May 1997, she released her second album Concentration 20 in July of that year. It became her third number one album in Japan, and sold over 1.9 million units there. For additional promotion, she embarked her Concentration 20 Dome Tour in Japan, which achieved commercial success. By early August 1997, the sales of Amuro's records reached 20 million.

During a press conference on October 22 of that year, Amuro confirmed her marriage to Japanese musician and TRF band member Masaharu "Sam" Maruyama. During the conference, she announced that she was three months pregnant with their first child. At the end of the year, she won the Grand Prix Award at the Japan Record Awards again for "Can You Celebrate?" and made her final appearance on the annual Japanese television music show Kōhaku Uta Gassen before beginning her one-year hiatus from the music industry. She legally changed her name to Namie Maruyama, but has continued to use her maiden name as her professional name.

1998–2001: Music comeback, personal struggles, Genius 2000, and Break the Rules

On May 19, 1998, Amuro gave birth to her son, Haruto. She returned to the music industry with the release of her single, "I Have Never Seen" (1998). It became her eighth number one single on Oricon, and sold over 650,000 units in Japan. She made her first televised appearance on Kōhaku Uta Gassen days later, performing a tearful rendition of her single "Can You Celebrate?". Working on her third studio album with Komuro and American producer Dallas Austin, she released its second single "Respect the Power of Love" on March 17, 1999. On the same day, news publication's in Amuro's hometown, Okinawa, reported that her mother, Emiko Taira, had been murdered. According to staff editors at The Japan Times, Emiko and her second husband were hit by an axe, owned by Kenji Taira, Emiko's ex-husband's brother. While her second husband survived with moderate injuries, Emiko was taken to hospital, and pronounced dead after noon on March 17. Kenji was then found dead in his car, after consuming insecticide. Upon hearing the news, Amuro postponed all promotional activities and flew back to Okinawa in order to identify her mother's body. A week later, the single debuted at the number two on the Oricon Singles Chart, beaten by the single "Dango 3 Kyodai". A third single, "Toi et Moi", was used for the Japanese animation movie Pokémon: The Movie 2000. Both singles proved successful, selling over 400,000 and 200,000 units in that region, respectively.

Amuro made her first single debut with Austin on "Something 'Bout the Kiss", released on September 1, 1999. It became a success in Japan, reaching number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and sold over 390,000 units there. In January 2000, Amuro released her fourth studio album Genius 2000; it reached number one on the Oricon Albums Chart, and shifted over 800,000 units there. That same month, Amuro confirmed her separation from husband Masaharu. For the first half of 2000, Amuro embarked on her Genius 2000 concert tour throughout Japan. She then released the single "Never End", in July, confirming work on her fifth studio album with Komuro and Austin. The single was used as part of the G8 Summit taking place in Okinawa, Japan that year. It was commissioned by late Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi, who asked Tetsuya Komuro to write a song conveying "a vision of harmony and interaction in the world in the 21st century". Obuchi later asked Amuro to perform the single at the summit.

Amuro's fifth studio album Break the Rules was released on December 20, 2000, and is her final full-length produced album with Komuro. It became her first studio album to miss the top spot, peaking at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart. Amuro's sales started to decline from this release, as the album only shifted 335,000 units in Japan. To promote the studio album, Amuro toured Japan in March 2001, and finished in May that same year. In August, she released the single "Say the Word"; it was her first single that she contributed to songwriting. This was her last solo single to be produced by Komuro, until years later, and was released in part of her upcoming greatest hits album. However, in December she worked with Komuro for the last time on "Lovin' It", a single released as part of Avex's Song+Nation charity project. The single featured Japanese rapper Verbal from the music group M-Flo.

2002–06: Decline in sales, Style, Queen of Hip-Pop and expansion into Asia

On March 13, 2002, she released her second greatest hits album Love Enhanced Single Collection. The singles featured on the compilation were re-arranged from the original versions. The album was successful, peaking at number three on the Oricon Albums Chart and sold over 300,00 units in Japan. In July 2002, Amuro was divorced from Maruyama, having cited irreconcilable differences According to reports, her separation was based on personal issues with Maruyama's family, and legally reverted to using her maiden name. She started work on her sixth studio album, and third collaboration with Austin, releasing the Diane Warren–written "Wishing on the Same Star" on September 11, 2002. The single saw a large slip in Amuro's sales, only shifting 95,000 units by the end of the year. In December 2002, Amuro was part of the Japanese musical project Suite Chic, collaborating with several Japanese artists including Verbal, Zeebra, Dabo and DJ Muro. The project released two singles, one studio album, and one remix album before their split in 2003.

Amuro returned to solo activities in mid-2003, releasing the singles "Shine More", "Put 'Em Up", and the double A-side singles: "So Crazy" and "Come". The single's saw an exploration of westernised musical styles with American producers, including R&B producers Full Force and the work of Austin. "Come" was used for the Japanese anime InuYasha, and is a re-arranged song that was originally recorded by Australian recording artist and TV personality Sophie Monk. At the end of the year, she released her sixth studio album and first album in three years, Style. The album became her lowest chart album on the Oricon Albums Chart, peaking at number four. It is also her lowest selling studio album, shifting only 222,000 units in that region. To promote the studio album, Amuro embarked on her So Crazy Tour Featuring Best Singles on November 29. The tour concluded on April 11, 2004. She extended the concert tour, marked as a promotional appearance, in Taiwan, and South Korea. Shortly after the tour, she released the single "All for You" on July 22, 2004, confirming work on her seventh studio album. This was followed by the double A-side single "Girl Talk" and "Girl Talk/The Speed Star", released on October 14, 2004. It was successful in Japan, peaking at number two, and sold over 107,000 units in that region; it became her first top three single in two years. Amuro chose not to appear on Kōhaku Uta Gassen, though she had been invited to perform at the event. She had previously attended the event nine years in a row.

On April 6, 2005, she released the single "Want Me, Want Me". The song was a success in Japan, reaching number two on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 103,000 units in that region. In May, following a three year split from Maruyama, Japanese publications reported that she would take back full custody of their child, Haruto. In August, she was granted full custody of Haruto with visitation rights by Maruyama. On May 29, she performed at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan for the fourth consecutive year in a row. She received two awards, "Best R&B Video" and "Most Impressive Performing Asian Artist", making her the first artist to receive awards four years in a row. She took home the "Inspiration Award" in 2002, "Best Collaboration" in 2003, "Best R&B Video" for 2004, and 2005 as well as "Most Impressive Performing Asian Artist" in the latter year. Amuro released her seventh studio album Queen of Hip-Pop July 13, 2005. The album was a success, reaching number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, and sold over 455,000 units in Japan. In collaboration with MGM Studios, Amuro was granted use of The Pink Panther character in the album; a female panther counterpart was created for the album as well.

In September 2005, Amuro embarked on her Space of Hip-Hop concert tour in Japan. Shortly after the commencement of the tour, she announced that she would contribute to the Japanese theatrical release of the film Sin City (2005). After viewing the movie, Amuro made an offer to the Japanese distribution company to sing its theme song; the company, feeling that her image fit the movie, accepted her offer. The theme song, "Violet Sauce", was later released as part of a double A-side single, "White Light/Violet Sauce", on November 16, 2005. It achieved moderate success in Japan, reaching number seven on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 72,000 units there. The movie's director, Robert Rodriguez, was impressed by the song and asked to be a part of it; he can be heard saying "Welcome to Sin City" towards the end of the song. Shortly after the single, she released Filmography 2001–2005' (2006), a compilation of twelve of her music videos between the years 2001 to 2005. Amuro collaborated with Japanese recording artists Zeebra, Ai, and Mummy-D on Zeebra's album, The New Beginning, released on February 15, 2006, in a song called "Do What U Gotta Do". On May 17, she released the double A-side single "Can't Sleep, Can't Eat, I'm Sick/Ningyo", which peaked at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and shifted over 80,000 units in Japan. In August 2006, she began her Live Style tour in 2006. On September 17, she performed to an audience of 12,000 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

2007–09: Resurgence of sales, Play, Best Fiction, and Past Amuro released the third single from her upcoming eight studio album, "Baby Don't Cry" on January 24, 2007; it was used as the theme song for the Japanese television series Himitsu no Hanazono. It was successful in Japan, reaching number three on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 144,000 units in that region, her highest selling single since "Say the Word". Based on ringtone sales, it became her first single to shift over one million units since "How to Be a Girl". Alongside this, she achieved the distinction in having a top ten single each year for 13 consecutive years, breaking the solo female artist's record in Japan by Kyōko Koizumi and Shizuka Kudō. At the end of 2007, it ranked at number seven on the RIAJ yearly ringtone sales charts. She then released the fourth and final single, "Funky Town", on April 4, 2007. It achieved moderate success on the Oricon Singles Chart, peaking at number seven, and shifted over 54,000 units. She was also featured on Japanese group, M-Flo's album, Cosmicolor, in a song titled "Luvotomy". Her eighth studio album, Play, was released on June 27, 2007. Play charted atop of the Oricon Albums Chart, becoming her first number-one album in more than 7 years. From August 18, 2007, to February 27, 2008, she embarked her concert tour in Japan, titled the Play Tour 2007. Originally consisting of 53 performances, it increased by 12 performances to 65 performances, making this her longest spanning tour. In early 2008, Amuro confirmed that she would promote Japanese hair company Vidal Sassoon through their new marketing campaign Fashion x Music x VS, with a new single. The single, though marketed as an extended play, was titled 60s 70s 80s, and consisted of three songs: "New Look", "Rock Steady", and "What a Feeling". It became a huge success in Japan, reaching number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 293,000 units in that region, her highest selling single since "Baby Don't Cry". It became her first number single since "I Have Never Seen". On March 25, 2008, Amuro was awarded "Best Female Video" for "Hide and Seek" (taken from Play) at the 2008 Space Shower Music Video Awards. "Hide & Seek" also won the award for "Best R&B Video" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, which was held at the Saitama Super Arena on May 31. In May 2008, Amuro recorded a collaboration with Japanese musician Double in a song called "Black Diamond". Despite lacklustre success on the Oricon Singles Chart, it sold over 500,000 ringtone units. On July 26, Amuro participated at the 2008 A-nation music concert; an estimated 25,000 people attended her performance. This was the first time she was invited to perform in seven years. On July 30, she released her third greatest hits album, Best Fiction. Featuring tracks between 2003 and 2008, Best Fiction sold 681,000 copies in the first week and debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart. Within its third week, Best Fiction sold over one million units, making her the first artist to have one million certified album in three consecutive decades. Best Fiction eventually spent six consecutive weeks at the number-one position, becoming the first album to do so in more than 14 years since the Dreams Come True's 1993 album Magic. By the end of 2008, Best Fiction became the second best-selling album behind Exile's Exile Love. In addition, it became the second best selling digital-format album by a Japanese artist behind Hikaru Utada's Heart Station. Best Fiction was awarded the Album of the Year award at the 50th Japan Record Awards. To promote the album, she embarked her Best Fiction 2008-2009 concert tour, starting at the Makuhari Messe. Amuro was invited again to the 59th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, but she declined. On January 20, 2009, Amuro begun working on her ninth studio album, and featured a new track entitled "Dr." through a Vidal Sassoon commercial. She then released the album's lead double A-side singles, "Wild/Dr.," on March 18, 2009. The song was a success, peaking at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, and sold over 119,000 units in that region. As a result, she also broke her own record of having all of her singles debut in the top 10 (on the Oricon Daily Singles Chart) for the last 15 years. Amuro collaborated with Japanese music group Ravex on a song for their album Trax (2008), entitled "Rock U". On October 1, Vidal Sassoon released new commercials featuring Amuro, and two tracks from her ninth studio album, "My Love" and "Copy That." On December 16, she released her ninth studio album, Past". "Higher" was going to be used as song for her new commercial for Coke Zero, but never aired on TV and "arigatou" was used as the song for her new Kose Esprique Campaign in an a capella version. Namie released her 2nd single and last for 2011 after "Naked/Fight Together/Tempest" on July 27. Her 36th single entitled "Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!/Love Story" went sale on December 7, 2011. Her official website announced her new live DVD / Blu-ray entitled "Namie Amuro: Live Style 2011" and its release date is on December 21, 2011. On November 30 the covers for her DVD / Blu-ray were revealed. Also they announced on November 16, the official Namie Amuro YouTube Channel and since then, the site has gained a lot of attention from her fans all over the world. Namie Amuro's single "Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!/Love Story", which both are the theme song for the drama series Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu, became the first double A-side single to occupy the first and second position in the Weekly Ranking of Recochoku since the day of release. Besides that, "Love Story" got the first position and "Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!" got the 5th position for its monthly chart. On November 27, Namie filmed her TV version of "Love Story" for the drama series Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu. On December 7, along with the release of her single, Namie launched her official Facebook page. The page includes a free download of the song "Arigatou: Thank the World for Love... Gift Song for 2011" which was originally featured on the single "Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!/Love Story". On December 12, MTV Japan and Space Shower TV aired the Live performances of "Make It Happen" and "Unusual" which was included in her "Namie Amuro: Live Style 2011" DVD. 2012: Uncontrolled and 20th Anniversary On January 21, she recorded a new song titled "Go Round". The song was included in her 37th single "Go Round/Yeah-Oh!", which was released on March 21. Her song "Love Story" received many forms of recognition: LISMO, an online music player provided by the cell phone company au, selected "Love Story" as the winner of LISMO Award; the karaoke company Daiichi Kosho announced that the song is the most popular Valentine's Day song for a female artist, along with Exile's "Lovers Again", while Recochoku announced that "Love Story" became the best-selling digital song for the year 2012 in 4 different categories. The song also won "Song of the Year by Download" at the 27th Japan Gold Disc Awards. In April, it was announced that Namie Amuro would release a new album, on June 27. The album includes A-sides of singles released between 2010 and 2012 as well as four new songs. Along with the album, 2012 coincides with her 20th year of her career. All of the new songs received music videos which were included in the CD/DVD version of the album. On May 27, the covers for the album were revealed and her Facebook also showed a painting, collaborated with "Annular Eclipse", of her cover image located on Alta Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was up for viewing until June 1. On May 29, her official YouTube page released a commercial preview of the music video for "In the Spotlight(TOKYO)", the lead track of her upcoming album. On June 27, Namie released her new album Uncontrolled. The album sold 292,000 copies in its first week of release, making the highest first week sales for a Japanese solo artist, until it was beaten by Keisuke Kuwata's compilation album, the album stayed on the top of the chart for 3 consecutive weeks, making her 1st studio album in her career as a solo artist, the album also became her 10th overall #1 album, while it became the 11th best selling album in Japan for 2012, with 517,000 copies sold. On September 16, a concert in Namie's hometown Okinawa was planned to coincide with her 20th Anniversary as a singer, with it being her 1st concert to feature guests with whom she collaborated over the past 20 years. The expected attendance for the concert was 27,000. However, due to a typhoon warning in Okinawa the concert was cancelled. It was not rescheduled because the date was supposed to be a special day. On October 31, Amuro released the digital single "Damage", which was the theme song for the film Fly with the Gold. The music video was released on December 2. On November 24, Namie started her "Namie Amuro 5 Major Domes Tour 2012 ~20th Anniversary Best~" this being her first dome tour in 15 years. The tour became the most attended dome tour for a female solo artist, with an attendance of 340,000. 2013–14: Feel and Ballada On March 6, 2013, Amuro released her 38th single, "Big Boys Cry/Beautiful", songs that were previously featured in her KOSE CM. This is her first single since White Light/Violet Sauce that does not come in a CD+DVD version and at the same time it is currently listed at Oricon as being Amuro's worst-selling single. Amuro released her eleventh studio album entitled Feel on July 10, 2013, through Dimension Point, a new label under Avex Trax. This is the first full-length studio album Amuro has released since "Uncontrolled" almost a year before. The album included "Big Boys Cry" from her thirty-eighth single "Big Boys Cry/Beautiful", however, the B-side of the single, "Beautiful" was not included in this album. "Contrail" was released as Amuro's sixth digital single on May 19, 2013 through Recochoku, "Contrail" is also included in the album, Feel. The album has 7 songs which were sung entirely in English and have a total of 6 music videos. Feel successfully became her 6th consecutive number one album on the Oricon's weekly albums charts, with 247,000 copies. On the first day of release, the album sold 111,458 copies, surpassing "Uncontrolled" in terms of first day sales, and also became the highest first day sales for solo female artists in 2013. In support of the album, on August 16, 2013, Amuro started her "Namie Amuro Feel Tour 2013" which ended on December 23, 2013. Also in 2013 Amuro was featured on a remake of TLC's 1995 #1 hit song "Waterfalls". She re-recorded the rap part in homage to the late Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes. However, the remake was met with controversy & backlash from American fans. The song was only released in Japan. On June 4, 2014, Amuro released Ballada, her first greatest hits album to feature only ballad tracks. The album includes 15 of Amuro's popular ballads, which were elected by fans through a vote held on Amuro's official website. It also features a ballad version of "Contrail" as a bonus track. To commemorate the release of Ballada, Amuro re-recorded two of her biggest hits from the 90s, "Sweet 19 Blues" and "Can You Celebrate?". She also created new music videos for "Sweet 19 Blues", "Can You Celebrate?", "HimAWArI" and "Four Seasons". A total of 17 music videos are included in the DVD and Blu-ray editions. In support of the album, Amuro held a nationwide tour titled "namie amuro LIVE STYLE 2014". The tour began on August 22, 2014, and concluded on December 18, 2014, with a total of 36 shows. On November 12, Amuro released a new single titled "Brighter Day". The single included "Sweet Kisses", the theme song for the KOSE COSMEPORT "OLSE D' OR" TV commercial and "Still Lovin' You", the theme song for the KOSE ESPRIQUE TV commercial. In November 2014, Amuro collaborated with Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai for a song on Tsai's 13th studio album, Play. The song, "I'm Not Yours", was highly anticipated and well received by Amuro and Tsai's fans alike. In February 2015, an also highly anticipated music video of "I'm Not Yours" was released with both singers featuring in the music video. 2015–present: Genic and maxi-single releases On April 8, 2015, Amuro announced that she would be releasing her eleventh solo/twelfth recorded studio album Genic on June 10. The album is her first one independent from the management company Vision Factory, from which she separated in mid-January after 22 years. The album has a total of 14 new songs and 5 music videos, with the album style being a complete departure from Feel. To promote the album, Amuro went on the 'Namie Amuro Livegenic 2015-2016' Tour, which started in September and ended in February. On November 3, amidst a week-long rumour, Amuro announced her 41st solo single "Red Carpet". The single consists of an A-side, "Red Carpet", and a B-side, "Black Make-Up". The single was released on December 2, 2015. May 18, 2016, saw Amuro's 42nd single release "Mint" with B-side "Chit Chat" and instrumentals of both songs. Rumours of a new song, titled "Hero" surfaced around the time leading up to the release of previous single "Mint". "Hero" was originally determined to be the B-side to "Mint" but was shelved for unknown reasons. "Hero" is the theme song for NHK's broadcasting of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The song, along with B-side "Show Me What You've Got", was released on the July 27, 2016. The theme song "Dear Diary" and the insert song "Fighter" of Death Note: Light Up the New World (2016) is performed by her. Discography Dance Tracks Vol. 1 (1995) Sweet 19 Blues (1996) Concentration 20 (1997) Genius 2000 (2000) Break the Rules (2000) Style (2003) Queen of Hip-Pop (2005) Play (2007) Past