About Namie Amuro

Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie?, born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese singer, dancer, and former child actor/singer. At one time known as the "Queen of J-pop", Amuro has transcended fads and controversy to become one of Japan's most prolific and enduring musical acts. Born in Naha, Okinawa, Amuro debuted at the age of 14 as an idol in the girl group, Super Monkey's. Largely unsuccessful, the group grew popular during their final year together with the single, "Try Me ~Watashi wo Shinjite~" (1995). Amuro would leave the group after two more singles and begin a solo career with then small indepedent label, Avex Trax. Under the guidance of producer, Tetsuya Komuro, Amuro quickly gained major success scoring several million selling hits and creating a cultural phenomenon dubbed, Amura. However, in late 1997, Amuro announced a pregnancy and engagement, putting her career on hold.

She came back to music in 1998 with the top charting single, "I Have Never Seen," but slowly faced declining sales. She unofficially severed ties with producer, Tetsuya Komuro in 2001, shortly after taking on the project Suite Chic that would transform her from a pop idol to a R&B artist. Since reinventing herself, Amuro has achieved newfound interest. Her latest studio album, Play (2007) debuted atop the charts and was followed by "60s 70s 80s" (2008), her first top charting single in 10 years.

Over a decade since her musical debut, Amuro has remained one of the longest surviving popular female acts in Japan. She is the only Japanese female artist to have achieved a top 10 single each year for 13 consecutive years.She also continues to successfully combat social stigma as a now divorced working single mother.On July 30, 2008, Amuro will release her first greatest hits package entitled, Best Fiction (2008) since transitioning to R&B music. Later this year, she will tour Japan in support of the album. Estimates predict that she could play to an audience as high as 400,000, potentially the largest audience of her career.

Childhood and Idol Beginnings

Namie Amuro was born in Naha, Okinawa, Japan. She was raised solely by her mother, Emiko Taira, who had divorced her father when Amuro was four years old. Taira worked as a nursery school employee and bar hostess to support her children.

Amuro did not have ambitions to become a performer early in life. Instead she wanted to become a stewardess. However, at the age of twelve, Amuro was discovered while visiting a friend by Masayuki Makino who owned and operated a performing arts school.Amuro eventually joined Okinawa Actors School and after only two years of study, Makino placed her in an idol group called Super Monkey's along with five other girls. They made their major label debut in September 1992 on Toshiba-EMI. A year later, the group relocated to Tokyo which Amuro's mother was against.

The Super Monkey's were largely unsuccessful, shuffling in and out several members. They changed their group name to Namie Amuro with Super Monkeys in 1994 to reflect Amuro's individual rising popularity. Aside from group activities, she had bit parts in TV dramas and small films. The group reshuffled a final time in 1995 and released the single, "Try Me ~Watashi wo Shinjite~" produced by Max Matsuura. The single became their first and last top ten hit as a group. It would later win them a Golden Arrow Award. [9] The other four members of the Super Monkey's continued to perform with Amuro as background dancers but formed their own group, MAX and debuted on the Avex Trax label. Amuro would release two more solo singles under Toshiba-EMI before making the move to Avex Trax herself in October 1995.

She released the single, "Body Feels Exit" the same month she left her former label. It was the first single produced from her working relationship with producer, Tetsuya Komuro. Komuro had actually approached Amuro in 1993 after seeing a commercial her group had starred in.It was through her former producer, Matsuura, that Amuro was able to switch recording companies and begin working with Komuro. A second Komuro-produced single, "Chase the Chance" was released two months later. It would be her final single performed with her former group and become her first chart topping million selling single.

1995-1997: The Amura Boom

Throughout 1995 and 1996, Amuro accumulated three consecutive number-one million-selling singles including "Chase the Chance," "Don't wanna cry," and "You're My Sunshine". Following four successful singles, she released the groundbreaking Sweet 19 Blues (1996) album to massive success selling over 3,000,000, and appeared in two films on the big screen. By then Amuro's success had transcended her music into Japanese fashion culture. Her signature tanned skin, dyed hair, miniskirts and boots created a generation of imitators dubbed Amuraa by the media.Amuraa often romanized as Amurer or Amuler. Amuro is often accredited for the creation of Ganguro which is said to be an offspring of the Amura boom.

At the end of 1996, she was nominated for, and won the Grand Prix Award, the highest honor at the Japan Record Awards, (Japan's equivalent to the Grammy's Best Song Award.) for her hit "Don't wanna cry". She is the youngest artist to have won the award.

Amuro began 1997 with her career defining single, "Can You Celebrate?" Released in February, the single sold over 800,000 copies its first week.In 2005, Oricon, Japan's equivalent to America's Billboard charts, recognized the single as the largest selling single from a female artist between 1996 and 2005. UNtil 2008, this single is still the best selling single by a solo female artist in Japanese music history with sales of 2,296,200 copies. After the release of another single "How to be a girl" and a second album, Concentration 20 Amuro toured Japan's four domes during the summer of that year.

In the fall, Amuro shocked Japan when she announced at a press conference that she was married to Masaharu Maruyama, known as Sam, and was three months pregnant. Sam was already a familiar name to the public as part of the popular group, TRF. At the end of the year she would win the Grand Prix Award again for "Can You Celebrate?" and make her final appearance on Kouhaku Uta Gassen (Kouhaku singing contest) before beginning her one year leave of absence .

1998-2001: Career Refocus

After giving birth to her child in 1998, Amuro returned to the music scene with the single "I Have Never Seen" (1998). She made her first televised appearance on Kouhaku Uta Gassen days later performing a tearful rendition of her hit "Can You Celebrate?" (1997). On the first week of the Oricon year, the new single debuted at the top position.

As a second single entitled "Respect the Power of Love" (1999), was released on March 17, 1999, news had broken out that Amuro's mother had been slain the same day in Okinawa. Upon hearing the news, Amuro canceled her promotional schedule and flew back to Okinawa in order to identify her mother's body.[5] A week later, the single debuted at number two breaking a string of consecutive number one hits. A third comeback single, "Toi et Moi" was released in July of that year and was quickly followed by another single, "Something 'bout the Kiss." The latter single featured production by American Hip-hop/R&B producer, Dallas Austin. Austin along with longtime producer, Tetsuya Komuro, would produce her first album since her hiatus Genius 2000 (2000) released in January of 2000. Upon release the album debuted at number one but came short of selling a million copies.

Amuro spent the first half of 2000 touring in support of the Genius 2000 album. She would begin the second half with a single entitled, "Never End" released in July. The single was used as part of the G8 Summit taking place in Okinawa, Japan that year. It was commissioned by late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi who asked producer Tetsuya Komuro to write a song conveying "a vision of harmony and interaction in the world in the 21st century".[17] Obuchi later asked Amuro to perform the single at the summit.[18] Amuro ended 2000 with a new album entitled, Break the Rules, released in December. The album was a commercial disappointment peaking at number two and selling just 334,520 copes, a sharp decline from her previous album. A double a-side single cut from the Break the Rules album, entitled "Think of Me / No More Tears" was released in January, 2001. It charted in the lower half of the top ten. Amuro went on a national tour to support the album in March and ending in May.

In August, Amuro released the single "Say the Word". For the first time, she took an active role in the production of the song and wrote the lyrics herself. The single also unofficially marked an end to the working relationship between her and longtime producer, Tetsuya Komuro. However, in December she worked with Komuro for the last time on a charity single entitled, "Lovin' It." The charity single featured Hip-hop artist VERBAL of the group m-flo who would later help her make a transition from pop to R&B.