 AsiaFinest
Namie Amuro
 English
name: Namie Amuro
Date of birth: September 20, 1977
Height: 5' 2 " / 158cm
Weight: 88lbs / 40 kg.
Blood Type: O
Measurements: 30":23":33.5" / 75cm:59cm:85cm
Birth Place: Okinawa, Japan
Ethnicity: 75% Japanese, 25% Italian
At the age of 15, Amuro, along with a group of classmates, formed the
pop group known as the Super Monkeys. Although moderately successful in
their home prefecture, Okinawa, a move to Tokyo (presumably at the behest
of their record label, Toshiba EMI) garnered more exposure for the Super
Monkeys, and Namie in particular, so much that the group came to be known
as 'Namie Amuro with Super Monkeys'. Namie soon embarked on a solo career,
in the process moving from Toshiba EMI to the avex trax label (also home
of popular Japanese acts such as Ayumi Hamasaki, BoA, Do As Infinity and
Every Little Thing). The remaining Supermonkeys regrouped, renamed themselves
MAX, and became a successful group in their own right.
Amuro exploded onto the Japanese music scene with Body Feels EXIT, with
the aid of legendary Japanese producer Tetsuya Komuro. From then, every
single Tetsuya Komuro produced for Amuro became a major hit ranking high
on the charts. During her most successful time during the 90s, she won
the hearts of the teenage girls, inspiring them with her style. The girls
had brown-reddish hair or highlights, very thin eye brows and wore assorted
make-up. They also wore short skirts and knee-high boots, which was the
symbol of Amuro, and were called Amuras.
In 1996 she became the youngest artist in history to be awarded the Japan
Record Awards Committee's Best Artist Prize with sales totals for CDs
climbing over a total of 10 million copies in a single year. She also
won the same award in 1997 and also the best single award for Can You
Celebrate at the 39th Japan Record Awards.
In late 1997, she held a press conference announcing her marriage to TRF
member, Masaharu Maruyama (SAM) and her pregnancy. She ended the year
with her last performance on the annual Kohaku Uta Gassen special. On
May 19, 1998, she gave birth to her only child, Haruto. On December 23
of the same year, she released her comeback single I HAVE NEVER SEEN which
debuted at #1.
In 1999, she started working with American producer Dallas Austin. Her
work with the producer brought a harder R&B style to her music. However,
1999 was a painful year for Namie; during the promotion of the single
RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE, her mother (who was remarried) was brutally
murdered by her mother's mentally unstable brother-in-law. In July of
2000, she released the single "NEVER END" which she performed
in front of several world leaders including then president Bill Clinton
at the G8 Summit. In 2001, Namie and her producer, Tetsuya Komuro ended
their working relationship after the release of her 4th original studio
album, "break the rules." She released "Say the word"
on August 8 the same year, which she for the first time, wrote the lyrics
for. At the end of that year, as part of avex's SongNation project, which
was Tetsuya Komuro's nonprofit charity project to raise money for the
victims of 9/11, she collaborated with the rapper VERBAL of m-flo for
the song "lovin' it," which was released as the last of the
three collaboration singles (the others being "A song is born"
(Ayumi Hamasaki and KEIKO of globe) and "Meaning of Peace" (Kumi
Koda and BoA)).
In 2002, Namie fully immersed herself into the Japanese R&B scene
releasing music under the pseudonym, SUITE CHIC. Under the SUITE CHIC
project she collaborated with several of Japan's popular hip hop and R&B
artists. They released two singles, an original album and one remix album
before ending the project in 2003.
Namie returned to solo activities on her own in 2003 with the single "shine
more." The subsequent singles "Put 'Em Up" and "SO
CRAZY" were produced by American R&B producers Dallas Austin
and Full Force respectively. At the end of the year, she released her
first original album in three years "STYLE." From November 29,
2003 to May 15, 2004 she performed throughout Asia on the "Namie
Amuro SO CRAZY" tour featuring BEST singles 2003-2004, where she
wrapped it up with 3 concerts in Seoul, South Korea and Taipei, Taiwan.
She was the first major Japanese artist to hold a concert in South Korea
after the normalization of cultural relations. Shortly following the tour,
she released the ballad "ALL FOR YOU." The song peaked at #6,
but sold double the amount of her last single. In late August, she went
on a private fan club tour focusing on the songs from her latest album
which were not performed on her current public tour. She also unveiled
two new songs on the tour "GIRL TALK" and "the SPEED STAR"
which would be released the next month as a double a-side single. When
it was released the song charted at #1 on the Oricon daily chart for three
days. It was the first time any of her singles had placed #1 in 5 years.
The song ultimately placed #2 for the week and repeated the sales success
of her previous single.
At the end of the year, Namie shocked fans by choosing to not appear on
Kohaku Uta Gassen. Her decision to decline the offer also surprised critics,
who actually felt she had at least earned her right to perform at the
event that year. She had previously attended the coveted event nine years
in a row. Following the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, Namie participated
as the only Japanese representative at MTV Asia Aid. She secretly donated
approximately 90,000 USD to UNICEF for children who were affected by the
disaster. In January, Namie surprised fans again when a new song popped
up in a Suzuki Chevrolet commercial. The new song entitled "Queen
of Hip-Pop" was assumed to be her next single until in April, she
released the song "WANT ME, WANT ME." An overtly sexual song,
it received harsh criticism from Western listeners of Japanese music.
However, the song was a well received hit at home debuting at #2 and charting
with her highest debut sales peak in 3 years.
In May, Namie had both professional and personal gains. Following a three
year split from her former husband SAM, she took back full custody of
their child, Haruto. They had previously agreed that SAM would be the
child's sole guardian. At the end of the month, she performed at the MTV
Japan Video Music Awards for the fourth consecutive year in a row and
this year, clinched two awards. She took home the award for "Best
R&B Video" as well as a special award for most impressive performance
in Asia. Between these two events, she announced the release of her sixth
original studio album entitled, "Queen of Hip-Pop".
In collaboration with MGM Studios, Namie has licensed for the use of the
Pink Panther character to be used in conjunction with the album. A female
panther counterpart has been created in her image for the album as well.
There seems to be no connection with the usage of the Pink Panther and
the possible Japanese release of the American remake. Upon release, the
album charted at #2. The album has since become her best selling album
in 5 years, eclipsing the sales of her three previous albums. In September,
Namie kicked off her 7th national public tour entitled, "Space of
Hip-Pop."
Shortly after the start of her tour, it was announced that she would contribute
to the Japanese theaterical release of the American motion picture adaptation
of "Sin City." After viewing the movie, Namie made an offer
to the Japanese distribution company to sing the theme song to the movie.
The company felt that her image fit the movie and accepted her offer.
When director Robert Rodriguez heard Namie's contribution to "Sin
City" he asked to be a part of it, amazed at how well it fit the
movie. He can be heard saying "Welcome to Sin City" at the start
of it. The song entitled, "Violet Sauce" is about love and violence
and was used as the theme song for the Japanese release of "Sin City".
Currently, Namie is popping up in homes across the nation in animated
ads for Lucido-L hair wax products. Her latest single, "White Light/Violet
Sauce", was released on November 16 and is the first single for her
upcoming album.
| We highly recommend you get Name Amuro's Queen of Hip-Pop album.
Finally pleasing her fans with a new full-length LP, Namie Amuro
returns with all together 12 power tracks on this electrifying First
Press Edition. Her last release STYLE hit the album shelves in December
2003 and now after a successful warm up with her recent teaser single
Want Me,Want Me, she blesses all music lovers with more absorbing
melodies including Free, Alarm, and WoWa. Among the highly recommendable
tracks is also her dynamic title song Queen of Hip-Pop that is brimming
with dance beats. With so much top material to back her up, Amuro
no doubt is as ready as ever to supply the J-pop market with even
more red hot summer hits! |
Click to Purchase
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