Namie Amuro
Namie Amuro (/ˌnɑːmiˈeɪ/ NAH-mee-AY; Japanese: 安室 奈美恵, romanized: Amuro Namie; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a teen idol, and transitioned into a leading pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentation. Due to her career reinventions and longevity, she is known as an icon across Japan and Asia.[1][2][3][4] She has been referred to as the "Queen of Japanese Pop", and her influence domestically has drawn equivalent comparisons to artists such as Janet Jackson and Madonna in Western pop culture.[5][6][7][8]
Namie Amuro
Namie Maruyama (legally, 1997–2002)
- Singer
- dancer
- model
- actress
- entrepreneur
- lyricist
1992–2018
1
- Eastworld/Toshiba–EMI (1992–1995)
- Avex Trax (1995–2013)
- Dimension Point (2013–2018)
- Super Monkey's (1992–1995)
- Suite Chic (2002–2003)
Born in Naha, Okinawa, Amuro debuted as the lead singer of the idol group Super Monkey's in 1992 when she was 14 years old. Despite early sales disappointments, Amuro's rising popularity helped to score a major hit with the 1995 Eurobeat single "Try Me (Watashi o Shinjite)".[9][10][11] Signing to Avex Trax for her solo career, Amuro catapulted to fame with a string of number one singles including "Chase the Chance" and "Don't Wanna Cry". A close partnership with renowned producer Tetsuya Komuro resulted in a dance-pop sound with Western influences. Her first four releases, including Sweet 19 Blues (1996) and Concentration 20 (1997), each received multi-million certifications. Her 1997 single "Can You Celebrate?" remains as the best selling single by a solo female artist in Japanese music history.[12][13][14]
In the early 2000s, "Never End" became Amuro's last successful single before a decline in sales, and her music began evolving from pop to R&B as she reined in creative control of her career. This transition was marked by the Suite Chic project in 2002 and her sixth studio album Style (2003). Amuro's eighth studio album, Play (2007), with the hit single "Baby Don't Cry", began a period of commercial resurgence. Her comeback was solidified with the 2008 single "60s 70s 80s" and its parent release Best Fiction. She continued to experiment musically in the 2010s, dabbling in EDM and recording in English, beginning with her tenth studio album Uncontrolled (2012). It featured the million-certified single "Love Story". She later founded her own management company, Stella88, and record label, Dimension Point.
Amuro finished her career with the 2017 greatest hits album Finally, which became the best selling album of the decade and made her the only artist to achieve a million-seller in each of their teens, 20s, 30s and 40s.[15] She officially retired from the music industry on September 16, 2018. As it coincided with the closure of the Heisei era (1989–2019), she became labelled as the representative "Heisei diva" with many calling it the "end of an era", in both senses.[16][17]
Having sold more than 40 million records, Amuro is recognized as one of the best-selling artists in Japan by Oricon.[18] She has received accolades from the Japan Record Awards, Japan Gold Disc Awards, MTV Video Music Awards Japan and the World Music Awards.
Life and career[edit]
1977–1995: Early life and career beginnings[edit]
Namie Amuro was born on September 20, 1977, at Okinawa Red Cross Hospital in Naha, Okinawa.[19] She is one of four children of Emiko Taira.[20] Through her mother, Amuro is a quarter Italian.[21][22] Having divorced when Amuro was only 4 years old, Taira raised her children solely in Okinawa – she worked as a nursery school employee and a bar hostess to support her family.[23] Although Amuro had no ambition to become a singer, she was discovered at age 12, while visiting a friend.[22][23] One year later, Amuro was scouted by Masayuki Makino, the owner of Okinawa Actors School, and eventually she was enrolled there.[21][22][24] In 1991, Makino placed her in an idol group named Super Monkey's, with four other girls: Anna Makino, Hisako Arakaki, Minako Ameku and Nanako Takushi.[24][25][26] The sixth member, Rino Nakasone, joined the group one year later.[24] On September 16, 1992, Super Monkey's released their debut single, "Koi no Cute Beat/Mr USA".[27] However, Anna Makino left the group at the end of that year.[24][26] In 1993, the remaining members of Super Monkey's moved to Tokyo.[22][24]
Super Monkey's did not gain much success and the group went through constant lineup changes.[24][26] In 1994, the group changed their name to Namie Amuro with Super Monkey's to reflect Amuro's rising popularity as an upcoming actress and fashion model.[21][22][26] Aside from group's musical activities, Amuro had bit parts in Japanese television series and small films. 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.[9][10][11] 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.[28] 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.[29] As a result, Amuro released two more solo singles under Toshiba-EMI before moving to Avex Trax herself.[30]
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.[31][32] It became a huge success in Japan, peaking at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and sold over 882,000 units in Japan.[18][33][34] Amuro's second single with Komuro, "Chase the Chance", became her first number-one single on the Oricon Singles Chart and her first single to sell over 1 million units in Japan.[18][35][36] For Amuro's success with those singles, she won the Golden Arrow Award in 1995.[37]
Artistry[edit]
Amuro has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. By 2000, the English language started to heavily mix in with her music, starting with Genius 2000. In several tracks, Amuro would record her vocals in Japanese (and additionally in English), whereas back-up vocalists would provide English translations and marry the two together.[63] By Play, the singer would start to record tracks with less electronic synths and beats, particularly with the album track "Baby Don't Cry". According to Mills, he felt that the song focused more on her vocals than the production.[288] Her final three studio albums, Uncontrolled, Feel and Genic, had multiple full-length English tracks and, although it received positive remarks for experimentation, she was frequently lambasted for her incomprehensible deliveries in most songs.[289][290][291]
Throughout her career, Amuro has covered a wide range of musical styles and genres. Her music through the 1990s were influenced by eurobeat and the rise of J-pop music.[41][292] Additionally, she identifies Madonna and Janet Jackson as her inspirations, despite constant comparisons with sound and imagery by critics and publications alike.[120][293] Sweet 19 Blues stuck with J-pop elements, but she began to experiment with Western genres such as R&B, jungle, acid house, house and jazz.[41] From Genius 2000, she worked with American producer Dallas Austin, resulting in a fully adapted hip hop record with elements of J-pop. She carried this sound on with Style (2003), another record produced by Austin, and eventually onto Queen of Hip-Pop (2005).[293] Amuro's transition from J-pop to "more mature, transatlantic" R&B was noted by critics, and the aforementioned title "Queen of Hip-Pop" was used by the Japanese media to identify her (the term "Hip-Pop" is Amuro's combination of hip-hop and pop).[294]
In 2007, Amuro released Play, which was highlighted as one of her key re-inventions of her entire career.[288] Sonically, the record relied on R&B and hip hop elements, but started to involve contemporary dance-pop music. To an extent, Tills from AllMusic compared the effort to the works of Jennifer Lopez and En Vogue.[288] Uncontrolled (2012) saw yet another transition with her sound, leaving R&B and focusing on electronic dance music. Additionally, this saw her first experimentation with full-length English language tracks.[295] Unlike her previous records, Uncontrolled ventured into Western practitioners to helm the collection, including the likes of The Nervo Twins, Henrik Nordenback, Christian Fast and Peter Mansson.[208] This trend also moved onto her follow-up album Feel, where she worked with artists such as Hook n Sling, Dsign Music and Zedd.[219][290] Her final studio album, Genic (2015), was her first record not handled by Japanese producers, and her second record to include almost all tracks entirely in English (after her 2013 album Feel).[219][242]