Ayumi Hamasaki: Difference between revisions
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On [[May 30]], Hamasaki flew to [[Hong Kong]] to shoot a short movie for [[glitter / fated]]. The film featured [[Hong Kong]] [[actor]] [[Shawn Yue]] as the leading male role, counterpart to Hamasaki. The film was suppose to be directed by [[Andrew Lau]], however, he was going to be in America at that time thus changing the plan. It was also said that Lau will be doing a special collaboration with Hamasaki, although the details are still unknown. The PV of glitter was aired on MTV Japan on [[July 10]], [[2007]], ending with a cliffhanger, tying into the second part of the short film, where fated was played. On July 14, [[glitter/fated|fated]] was played on MON, continuing the story of "Distance Love" with a sad ending. |
On [[May 30]], Hamasaki flew to [[Hong Kong]] to shoot a short movie for [[glitter / fated]]. The film featured [[Hong Kong]] [[actor]] [[Shawn Yue]] as the leading male role, counterpart to Hamasaki. The film was suppose to be directed by [[Andrew Lau]], however, he was going to be in America at that time thus changing the plan. It was also said that Lau will be doing a special collaboration with Hamasaki, although the details are still unknown. The PV of glitter was aired on MTV Japan on [[July 10]], [[2007]], ending with a cliffhanger, tying into the second part of the short film, where fated was played. On July 14, [[glitter/fated|fated]] was played on MON, continuing the story of "Distance Love" with a sad ending. |
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The release of [[glitter / fated]] tied another record for Hamasaki, who now has a #1 single every year for 9 consecutive years (1999-2007). She is tied with [[Akina Nakamori]] |
The release of [[glitter / fated]] tied another record for Hamasaki, who now has a #1 single every year for 9 consecutive years (1999-2007). She is tied with [[Akina Nakamori]]. |
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On [[April 1]], [[2007]], it was rumored that Hamasaki and her boyfriend of seven years, [[Nagase Tomoya]] of [[TOKIO]], were engaged. The wedding was to take place as early as October; however, with their hectic schedules, it was expected not to occur until December.<ref>http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070428-00000004-gen-ent</ref> However, on [[July 13]], [[2007]], Hamasaki separated with Nagase and announced on her blog that the split was due to her love for him growing into something more of a brotherly love. Since then, it is rumored that she'd moved from their home. <ref>http://www.japannewsreview.com/entertainment/celebrities/20070714page_id=676</ref> |
On [[April 1]], [[2007]], it was rumored that Hamasaki and her boyfriend of seven years, [[Nagase Tomoya]] of [[TOKIO]], were engaged. The wedding was to take place as early as October; however, with their hectic schedules, it was expected not to occur until December.<ref>http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070428-00000004-gen-ent</ref> However, on [[July 13]], [[2007]], Hamasaki separated with Nagase and announced on her blog that the split was due to her love for him growing into something more of a brotherly love. Since then, it is rumored that she'd moved from their home. <ref>http://www.japannewsreview.com/entertainment/celebrities/20070714page_id=676</ref> |
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On [[September 19]], [[2007]] Hamasaki released her new single [[talkin' 2 myself]]. It debuted at #1 on the weekly charts with over 70,325 copies sold, making it Hamasaki's 17th consecutive #1 single and 29th #1 single in total. [[talkin' 2 myself]] outsold the #2 single ([[SHINE / Ride On (TVXQ song)|SHINE / Ride On]] by [[Korean]] native boy band [[TVXQ]]) by 36,634 copies. However, The first week sales of "talkin' 2 myself" were 39,840 copies less than ''glitter / fated'', despite the fact that Oricon have stated that more people actually considered buying the single. ''talkin' 2 myself'' was the lowest first week sales for Hamasaki's original single since the release of her 5th single [[Depend on you]] in [[1998]] which sold 36,840 copies in it's first week. |
On [[September 19]], [[2007]] Hamasaki released her new single [[talkin' 2 myself]]. It debuted at #1 on the weekly charts with over 70,325 copies sold, making it Hamasaki's 17th consecutive #1 single and 29th #1 single in total. [[talkin' 2 myself]] outsold the #2 single ([[SHINE / Ride On (TVXQ song)|SHINE / Ride On]] by [[Korean]] native boy band [[TVXQ]]) by 36,634 copies. However, The first week sales of "talkin' 2 myself" were 39,840 copies less than ''glitter / fated'', despite the fact that Oricon have stated that more people actually considered buying the single. ''talkin' 2 myself'' was the lowest first week sales for Hamasaki's original single since the release of her 5th single [[Depend on you]] in [[1998]] which sold 36,840 copies in it's first week. |
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Hamasaki celebrated her 29th birthday on [[October 2]], [[2007]]. A special online party also took place for her fans. The party was held on the popular online [[simulation]] [[Second life]]. Her party was held on Avex Island, a piece of "land" in the metaverse that is owned by Hamasaki's record label. Ayu's latest single was distributed at this event. Before this, a rumor was widely spread that a new song was distributed at this event, but there were no official reports given on this and the rumor was proven false. |
Hamasaki celebrated her 29th birthday on [[October 2]], [[2007]]. A special online party also took place for her fans. The party was held on the popular online [[simulation]] [[Second life]]. Her party was held on Avex Island, a piece of "land" in the metaverse that is owned by Hamasaki's record label. Ayu's latest single was distributed at this event. Before this, a rumor was widely spread that a new song was distributed at this event, but there were no official reports given on this and the rumor was proven false. {{fact}} |
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According to a recent Team Ayu message, she is currently recording a new song. |
According to a recent Team Ayu message, she is currently recording a new song. {{fact}} |
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==Cultural impact== |
==Cultural impact== |
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Revision as of 07:42, 28 October 2007
Ayumi Hamasaki |
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Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎 あゆみ, Hamasaki Ayumi, born October 2, 1978) is an award-winning J-Pop singer. Commonly known simply as "Ayu", Ayumi Hamasaki is one of the most popular and influential Japanese pop singers, and has been dubbed “The Empress of JPop”.[1] She was born and raised in Fukuoka and moved to Tokyo to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Since her debut in 1998 with her first single poker face, she has sold more than 45 million records in Japan alone, with the releases of her eight full-length studio albums, one mini-album, four compilation albums, 42 singles, and several non-studio albums, being the top selling solo and female artist and the fourth top selling Japanese artist in history.[2] With the release of her 40th single Blue Bird, Hamasaki's single sales have passed the 20 million mark, making her the first solo and female singer to reach that milestone.[3]
With the release of her 39th single Startin' / Born to be... in 2006, Hamasaki became the female solo artist with most #1-hits. To date, Ayumi has 29 #1 singles (30 #1 singles including a song is born w/ KEIKO) and 39 singles in the Top 10 of the Japanese Oricon charts. She has 17 consecutive #1 singles to date (starting from Free & Easy). Hamasaki is also the first Japanese artist to have her first original eight studio albums top the charts.[4]
Biography
Although Hamasaki lived with her mother, she was primarily raised by her grandmother.[5] She has vague recollections of her father as he left the family at around the time she was five, and she has not seen him since. She grew up in a very liberal household where she was expected to do what was important for her without her mother interfering in her affairs, as she was always out working to support the family.[6]
In her youth, Hamasaki started her modeling career as a model for a local food bank.[5] During high school, she was considered a delinquent because she dyed her hair and wore short skirts, both of which were considered extremely unconventional in Japan at that time. She did not enjoy her time at school much and did not get along well with the teachers or students. She found studying a very easy thing to do, but eventually dropped it because she believed that education wasn't necessary to make a living.[5]
Occasionally, Hamasaki would go from home Fukuoka to Tokyo for short periods of time, to do various modeling jobs and during her stays,[6] she would make friends with older men she met at work. After graduating from junior high school, she had her mind made up to go to senior high school in Tokyo. She took entrance exams to Horikishi Gakuen (art/entertainers school) together with her friends, and she was the only one in the class to fail — much to the surprise of herself.
When taking the entrance exams again, Hamasaki ventured from her former talent agency SOS (targeted mostly at young models) to Sun Music, because the chief of SOS felt she would not do well because of her short height and peculiar facial features and would do much better in other activities, such as talking on radio shows. It is believed that Hamasaki found these remarks hurtful, and began to look into cosmetic surgery.
Hamasaki reportedly used the pseudonym Kurumi Hamazaki once during her works, as she acted in low budget dramas like Miseinen and b-movies like Like Grains of Sand; however, she did not find success.
Hamasaki recalls the times of her activities in show business as a terrible period. She felt she simply couldn't quit her agency as she lived in the agency dormitory at the time, and she needed her jobs to make a living. She remembers the confusion she felt when acting in dramas with people she had seen on television back in Fukuoka. Also, she was unable to understand many of the girls in the business, who acted flamboyantly towards photographers during photoshoot works and were often selfish, which gave her the impression that they were very silly. This resulted in her having a lot more boys as friends rather than girls.
In order to release pressure and forget about her confusion, Hamasaki would spend her free time wandering the streets of Tokyo, shopping, and dancing at clubs in the Shibuya district with her friends.
She finally decided to leave show business after finding out about certain aspects that did not feel right to her. For example, many photos from some of her photo shoots were not used afterwards, and while working on television productions, not all of the footage would end up in the final product.
Hamasaki decided to drop out of high school at fifteen, something she vaguely remembers by sending a fax message with the words "I quit." written on paper. The reason for quitting was because she did not want to see the people and teachers anymore, feeling conspicuous among them, as her appearance and looks were different to others' in the entertainment school.
Around the time when Hamasaki dropped out of both high school and the talent agency, where her contract was soon to expire, her mother was coming to Tokyo to start a new job. Ayumi went on to live with her together in the apartment her mother rented. As peaceful days entered her life again, she would once more go back to spending long hours drinking with friends in the lowly slums of Tokyo's entertainment districts.[6]
Professional career
1995: Nothing from Nothing era
The first steps Hamasaki gave on music was in the rap scene. On December 1, 1995, Hamasaki's first album along side with Dohzi-T, DJ Bass Nothing from Nothing was released. There's poor information about this era in Ayu's life, but it is known that there was virtually no promotion for the album. After failing to chart in Oricon, the project was most probably dropped by the company Nippon Columbia.
Hamasaki met her future producer, Masato Matsuura in a disco club called Velfarre.[7] which was owned by the Avex company. As she had not known him nor seen him in person, when he was introduced to her as the executive director of Avex, Hamasaki mistakenly greeted a person sitting next to him, as she had heard he was much younger than he was. She later met Matsuura again at Velfarre club in Tokyo. He picked one song for her to sing (which was by Tetsuya Komuro). Afterwards, he asked Hamasaki if she wanted to pursue a singing career. Not feeling confident in singing, she stated firmly that she didn't want to.
After a while, Hamasaki lost contact with Matsuura.[6] She had given him her phone number before, so he left few messages on her answering machine, but as she quickly forgot his name, she didn't do anything about it. One day, when she was walking through the center street of Shibuya, she received a phone call from Avex. She was put through to Matsuura and as they talked, she initially expressed new interest in singing, because she didn't have any other activities, but as Matsuura mentioned vocal training and singing classes, she resigned again. A week later, she changed her mind once more and went to Avex offices herself.[6]
Hamasaki was contracted to take vocal training in Tokyo but she stopped attending as she found it too rigid.[8] She kept skipping the classes but didn't tell Matsuura about it. When he started calling her, she would switch off the phone, knowing that she'd be asked about the classes.[6] When he finally found out, for a more relaxed atmosphere Matsuura sent Hamasaki to New York, an event she would later say was exactly what she needed. Impressed by the writing style in her letters to him, Matsuura suggested that she try her hand at writing her own lyrics for her songs.[6]
1999: A Song for XX and Loveppears era
Hamasaki has never had any formal instruction in lyric writing, but is able to draw on her emotions to write her lyrics. Her producer, Max Matsuura, has stated repeatedly that she has a gift which only develops with practice and that it is highly unusual for such a young artist to be so articulate and mature in her writings. Also, Hamasaki's song writing abilities have been repeatedly compared to those of Utada Hikaru, although their styles are in fact markedly different.
In 1998 , Ayumi's debut single, "poker face", was released. Her grandmother died shortly before her debut single was released - it's now believed that, due in part to that, Ayumi strongly dislikes the song. The single debuted #22 on the Oricon charts and sold 43,000 copies, and started to gain more fame since then. At the release of her 3rd single, Trust, she got into the Top 10 of the charts for the first time. Depend on You which is Hamasaki's 5th single was the main theme of video game Thousand Arms. She got her first #1 spot on the charts with her debut album A Song for XX, released on January 1, 1999. A Song for XX held the top spot for a total of 5 weeks and quickly became certified platinum.
Her first #1 single also came in 1999 with the release of Love ~Destiny~, song produced by Tsunku. Since the release of the 9th single, Boys & Girls, her singles changed format from 8 cm to 12 cm discs (which could hold more data), following the trend of the music industry. As a result her singles began to feature more tracks, namely, remix tracks. Boys & Girls its first week didn't get the 1st spot on the charts (mainly because of known rival Ami Suzuki and her single "Be Together"), but in the second week she reached the 1st place; Boys & Girls is her first certified million seller single. Be Together ended up selling around 800,000 copies total. However, Boys & Girls sold over one million copies.
Her 10th single "A" is at the moment her best-selling maxi with more than 1,600,000 copies sold. Oricon recently announced "A" as the 6th highest selling single from a female artist during the last 10 years. In November 1999, she released her second album, Loveppears, less than a year after her first. The album sold over two million copies. However, a controversy arose due to the front cover of the album which featured her topless with only her hair covering her breasts. The single Appears was released the same day. Following the release of Loveppears, were two recut singles from the album because of her big success. Those singles were Kanariya, released in December, and Fly High, released in March of the following year. The song Trauma was also a popular hit.
2000: Duty era
In 2000, she became a spokeswoman for Kosé, a cosmetics company in Japan. When she appeared in commercials to promote Kosé's lipsticks, a record 500,000 lipsticks were sold in only two days.[9] Her single "Vogue", which was used as background music, also benefitted from this commercial, selling over 700,000 copies. She also became a spokesperson for Tu-Ka and promoted their cell phones. At this moment she was already very popular, being featured in articles about her successful life and style.
From April to June of 2000, she released one single per month, Vogue, Far Away, and Seasons, which would later be coined as The Trilogy because of the similar themes in lyrics and connected music videos. September saw the release of her third full-length album Duty. Like her previous studio albums, Duty topped the charts and went on to sell 3,000,000 copies, making it her highest selling original studio album. On the same day, the limited pressing single, Surreal and her Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A were released, both topping the charts in the Single and DVD Charts respectively. These three releases on the same week made her the first artist to top three charts on the same week.
2001–2002: A Best and I am… era
To round off the year 2000, the single M was released, and became her fourth million selling single, selling over 1,300,000 copies. The song M saw Hamasaki take more creative control of her music, as she started to compose some of her songs under the pseudonym Crea. The following year, a controversy was started when the label forced Ayu to release Never Ever followed by her compilation album A Best. Its release date was changed to put her in direct competition with Utada Hikaru's second album Distance. Though Distance topped the charts first week, A Best topped the following week, and although both albums sold over 4,000,000 copies, this change staggered the sales of both albums. Distance and A Best were the 1st and 2nd best selling albums of 2001 respectively. However, it was made clear in interviews that it was not her wish to release the best album, as she felt that was too early to release a best album. Matters were made worse with all the public attention on the "competition" between the two.
Later in 2001, her second eurobeat remix album became the second remix album in Japanese history to top the charts, following Misia's Little Tokyo. When her 4th album's release was delayed, stock prices for Avex Trax began to decrease, showing the amount of influence she wielded. It was estimated around that time that she was responsible for 40% of the Avex Trax's profit.[10] In December, her duet with Keiko of Globe was released as a single for Avex's nonprofit project, Song Nation, which raised money for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. On the first day of 2002, her fourth album I am... was released, and like its predecessors Loveppears and Duty, it achieved triple-million status, with sales of 2.3 million copies.
2002–2003: A Ballads and Rainbow era
The release of "Free & Easy" in April saw a complete shift in the trend of Hamasaki's singles, away from multiple remix tracks. The single only featured two remixes alongside the title track. The single also threatened to break her string of consecutive number ones, as Mai Kuraki's "Feel fine!" single (released on the same date), briefly topped the daily charts. However, "Free & Easy" eventually claimed the top spot only the weekly chart. Her fifth million-seller single "H" was released in July of that year. Like "A", this single featured multiple a-sides; however, unlike "A," this single did not contain any remixes. Her followup single "Voyage" had an extended music video to promote it — a short film titled Tsuki ni Shizumu (or Sinking into the Moon), which featured Hamasaki acting for the first time since her idol days. Voyage set a new record for Hamasaki for it topped the Oricon Chart for a total of 3 weeks. This makes Voyage the first and only single from Hamasaki which has stayed at the top spot for so long.[11]
The much-hyped studio album Rainbow was released in December. Though Rainbow broke the one million mark in the first week, it was the first of Hamasaki's albums since A Song for XX that failed to sell two million units. The album featured more of Crea songwriting and composition like the previous album, and saw her first use of English phrases in her songs (other than her song "Limit" on her first album Nothing from Nothing). The album had a massive promotional campaign, where the buyers of the more-expensive initial pressings could access a password-only website that featured a part of the instrumental version of the title track Rainbow that was not on the album. Once accessed, fans could submit their own lyrics and suggestions for the song. Over 100,000 people accessed the website. The song was later featured on her ballad compilation album A Ballads, which was released on March 2003. Though promoted extremely well, A Ballads experienced slow but steady sales, and has recently passed the million threshold. Many of the songs on the album had already been featured on her previous compilation album, A Best, and the album featured only two new songs, possibly leading to these low sales.
2003–2004: Memorial Address and My Story era
In July, & was released — her first single in nine months. Like the single H, "&" featured three prominent tracks, but also featured the b-side "theme of a-nation '03". This was Hamasaki's last single to sell over 500,000 units on the Oricon Charts. The follow up single, "Forgiveness" would continue Hamasaki's string of number one singles, but underperformed saleswise in contrast to her previous efforts, barely selling 220,000 copies in contrast to the sales of "&", which netted sales of over 570,000. After the releases of the Forgiveness (August) and No Way to Say (November) singles, she released her first mini-album, Memorial Address, which only featured three new songs. Memorial Address was unique because all of the songs, except for the title track (which was a bonus track), had a music video. Memorial address was also her first album to be available in CD only or CD+DVD formats. Memorial address made her the only female solo artist to have a million selling mini-album.
In the spring of 2004, Hamasaki released Moments in both a CD only and CD+DVD combination, something which she continues to do now. It was featured in her last Kose Visee commercial before her contract with the cosmetics company ended. In July that year, internal strife in her recording company, Avex Trax, occurred. A feud between Max Matsuura and Avex's then-president Tom Yoda, regarding Avex business practices, caused chaos and also sparked rumors that Hamasaki and other popular artists in Avex Trax including Hiro, Every Little Thing, Hitomi, and Do As Infinity might leave the record company and follow Max Matsuura. As a result, the stock prices for Avex Trax began to plunge; when Hamasaki sided with Matsuura (stating that whatever he does, she would do too), Yoda ended up resigning, effectively ending the feud. However, because of this, she also announced she would not participate in the major music awards anymore. She also announced that she felt she was receiving the same awards every year, and by forfeiting her right to claim awards she was giving opportunity to new singers.[10]
In December of 2004, she released her sixth studio album My Story which was certified million-status, selling over 574,000 copies in the first week, and netting sales of over 1,140,000 copies, making it the second highest selling female album of the 2005 Oricon year.
2005–2006: (miss)understood era
Hamasaki's 35th single, "Step you/is this Love?," was released in April. It was a double a-side single ("Step You" used in TV spots for Panasonic and "Is This Love?" for Morinaga chocolates). The single topped the daily, weekly, and monthly Oricon charts. It held the #1 spot on the weekly charts for 2 weeks in a row. This single went on to sell over 345,000 copies, her highest selling single since her 2003 single "No Way to Say" and for the year of 2005.
Her 36th single "Fairyland" was released on August 3, 2005. It debuted at #1 on the Oricon charts. The single was coupled with (c/w) the rock-track "Alterna." It is also her first single to feature different cover art for the CD version and the CD + DVD version.
Hamasaki's 37th single "Heaven" was released on September 14, 2005. The song was used as the theme song of the movie Shinobi: Heart Under Blade. The single had also included "Will", which she co-composed under the name of CREA. It was her 12th consecutive #1 single starting with "Free & Easy" in 2002.
Her 38th single "Bold & Delicious/Pride" followed with its release on November 30, 2005. This single carried a remarkably different flavor, bringing with it a completely new sense of music style away from her previous works. She had listened to some of Sweetbox's songs and had asked Geo (the composer), if she could use some of his music. The single had low first-week sales of about 84,000, and barely held the #1 position for the week although it continued her streak of #1 singles. This was the single that tied her with Seiko Matsuda for the most #1 singles by a solo female artist: 25.
Hamasaki’s 7th studio album, (miss)understood, was officially released on January 1, 2006. It debuted with sales of about 650,000 copies reaching the #1 spot on the World Global Charts, a first-time feat for her personally. [12]
2006: Secret era
Hamasaki's thirty-ninth single Startin' / Born To Be... was released on March 8, 2006. The single debuted at #1 on the Oricon chart with sales of 116,000, and thus broke the record of most #1 singles in Japan for a solo (female) artist previously held by Seiko Matsuda. It was her 26th #1 single. However, Seiko still holds the record of the most consecutive No.1 singles for a female artist, a record that she has been holding for two decades and not likely to be broken anytime soon (Ayumi has 16 consecutive number 1 singles as of July 2007).
She then embarked on the "Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2006 ~(miss)understood~" which spanned three months with its first date in Saitama on March 11, 2006 and made its last stop at Yoyogi on June 11, 2006. With 30 concerts, it was her largest tour to date. The last concert of the tour was recorded and released on DVD in November. It entered both the music-DVD and general-DVD charts at the top position.
Hamasaki released her 40th single "Blue Bird" on June 21, 2006. "Blue Bird" scored the #1 position on the daily Oricon chart. Just a single day after going on sale, Oricon confirmed the single had outsold its competition already, securing the weekly #1 for Hamasaki's 15th consecutive number one single and 27th total number one single,[13] selling 160,572 copies in its first five days.
Hamasaki released her eighth full-length album, Secret on November 29, 2006. Originally, the album was slated to be released as her second mini-album with seven songs overall. The speculation proved to be false when her official website announced a change of plans and that Secret would be a full-length album in October 2006. The album was completed on November 8. Hamasaki also raised media attention for the music video of "Jewel," which shows 100 million yen (almost $900,000 U.S. dollars) worth of diamonds, jewels, and Swarovski crystals. The video is one of the most expensive videos ever made. On that same day, she sang "Jewel" in an orchestra version on 130,000,000 Choose Best Artist 2006. The album debuted at the top spot of the Oricon weekly chart with first week sales of 386,280 copies, outselling the number two album for a large 160,129 copies.
Secret is also believed to be Hamasaki's most successful album yet in worldwide sales. Not only did Secret top the Japanese charts, the album was an instant number-1 hit in countries as Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China surpassing the (miss)understood international success, being in Taiwan the #1 Japanese album of the year with a 3.54% of total sales.
2007: A Best 2 and Tour of Secret era
On February 28, 2007, Hamasaki released two compilation-albums entitled A Best 2 -Black- and A Best 2 -White-. They are both released as Limited edition 1CD+2DVD-packages, as well as a normal edition 1CD package. The songs included on this album are from her evolution single to her Bold & Delicious / Pride single, including a few album tracks. A Best 2 -Black- includes sad, dark songs, a black cover for the limited edition, and a new song entitled "part of Me" which will be featured in a new Panasonic CM. The backstage footage of her Best of Countdown Live 2006–2007 A can be found on the DVD for the Black edition, as well the PVs or promotional clips for the songs included.[14] The white edition of A Best 2 will feature up beat songs, as well as the live footage of her CDL 2006–2007, and promotional clips for the respective songs on the album.[14]
From March to the end of June, Hamasaki held an Asia tour, Tour of Secret, visiting not only Japan, but also Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong.[15] According to her official fanclub Teamayu, the Japanese version of the tour will promote her album Secret, while the ones held in the respective countries will bring back more of her older songs.
The concert was already highly anticipated since it is her first time venturing outside of Japan. As a result, tickets were sold out to the Taiwan concert in less than two hours.[16] Similarly, tickets were sold out in less than three hours in Hong Kong[17] and six hours in Shanghai, China[18]. In her Hong Kong concert, many notable and highly regarded musicians and performers attended the show including Andy lau, Joey Yung, Eason Chan, Jill Vidal, Jacky Cheung, Niki Chow and many other personnels such as music producers and choreographers. Many of the celebrities stated that they know the concert will be good and that they want to learn how to make a good concert.
On the release day of A Best 2, the -Black- version reached to the top #1 position on the Oricon Charts while the -White- version reached #2. By the 2nd day, both versions switched positions as -White- got the #1 position while the -Black- got the #2 position. A Best 2 first day sales totaled a whopping estimate of 170,000 copies.
The first week sales figure of A Best 2 gained a total of 950,000 copies. -White- version sales totaled to 475,284 and -Black- version sales totaled to 470,057 respectively, while holding the first and second positions of the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart.Also both of the CDs ended up at the top of the United World Charts. Both albums reached to #3 & #4 positions on the Oricon Yearly Albums Chart.
Setting yet another record, Hamasaki's is the first time in 36.5 years that a female artist has occupied the #1 and #2 spots on the Oricon album charts at the same time. And she is the only artist ever to do this also in the United World Charts.[19]
Post A Best 2 era
On May 16, 2007 it was announced Ayumi Hamasaki's new single would be used in a commercial for "Zespri Gold Kiwi". The following day, it was announced on Tower Records in Japan that the new single would be called glitter / fated, and would be released July 18, 2007.[20] glitter is said to be a "shimmering up-tempo track", while fated is described as a "medium-tempo rock ballad", and will be the theme for the movie "Kaidan" [1], which shares the same director as The Ring 2.[21] The single will also contain the track Secret.
On May 30, Hamasaki flew to Hong Kong to shoot a short movie for glitter / fated. The film featured Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue as the leading male role, counterpart to Hamasaki. The film was suppose to be directed by Andrew Lau, however, he was going to be in America at that time thus changing the plan. It was also said that Lau will be doing a special collaboration with Hamasaki, although the details are still unknown. The PV of glitter was aired on MTV Japan on July 10, 2007, ending with a cliffhanger, tying into the second part of the short film, where fated was played. On July 14, fated was played on MON, continuing the story of "Distance Love" with a sad ending.
The release of glitter / fated tied another record for Hamasaki, who now has a #1 single every year for 9 consecutive years (1999-2007). She is tied with Akina Nakamori.
On April 1, 2007, it was rumored that Hamasaki and her boyfriend of seven years, Nagase Tomoya of TOKIO, were engaged. The wedding was to take place as early as October; however, with their hectic schedules, it was expected not to occur until December.[22] However, on July 13, 2007, Hamasaki separated with Nagase and announced on her blog that the split was due to her love for him growing into something more of a brotherly love. Since then, it is rumored that she'd moved from their home. [23]
On September 19, 2007 Hamasaki released her new single talkin' 2 myself. It debuted at #1 on the weekly charts with over 70,325 copies sold, making it Hamasaki's 17th consecutive #1 single and 29th #1 single in total. talkin' 2 myself outsold the #2 single (SHINE / Ride On by Korean native boy band TVXQ) by 36,634 copies. However, The first week sales of "talkin' 2 myself" were 39,840 copies less than glitter / fated, despite the fact that Oricon have stated that more people actually considered buying the single. talkin' 2 myself was the lowest first week sales for Hamasaki's original single since the release of her 5th single Depend on you in 1998 which sold 36,840 copies in it's first week.
Hamasaki celebrated her 29th birthday on October 2, 2007. A special online party also took place for her fans. The party was held on the popular online simulation Second life. Her party was held on Avex Island, a piece of "land" in the metaverse that is owned by Hamasaki's record label. Ayu's latest single was distributed at this event. Before this, a rumor was widely spread that a new song was distributed at this event, but there were no official reports given on this and the rumor was proven false. [citation needed]
According to a recent Team Ayu message, she is currently recording a new song. [citation needed]
Cultural impact
Fashion
Hamasaki has been considered the fashion leader amongst Japanese females ever since reaching superstar status in 2000, especially amongst Japanese high-school girls. Regularly appearing in leading Japanese fashion magazines such as ViVi, Cawaii and Popteen, she became a trend-setter with her unique style. Japanese streets were filled with young females trying to imitate her style with fashion items such as oversized sunglasses and fake fox tails. Her influence in Japanese fashion has seen her win an unprecedented three consecutive Nail Queen awards and five Best Jeanist awards, and was inducted into the respective Halls of Fame for her achievements. Japan's cosmetics giant, Kose, has also used Hamasaki in many endorsements for Visee cosmetics pieces such as mascara and lipstick.
In Oricon's 2006 spring and summer polls, she was named the most fashionable female artist. She has appeared on the cover of Vogue twice, once modeling for an entire spread featuring Bulgari, and the other for popular designers Dolce & Gabbana. Numerous pieces were designed for Hamasaki. She was recently featured in a spread for Dior jewelry and luxury items featuring an Ayumi in a manner of timeless and classic elegance, as compared to her usual "popstar" appearance. Hamasaki is also often seen with designer goods from major fashion houses from all over the world such as Louis Vuitton, Alexander McQueen, Juicy Couture, and Christian Louboutin.
Lyrics
As the lyricist of all of her songs, Hamasaki is well known for her deep and poetic lyrics, setting her apart from other pop stars. As others concentrate on matters of love and heartbreak, recurring themes in Hamasaki's lyrics are loneliness, self-doubt, and hope, themes which deeply resounded with the younger generation of Japan. "Seasons" won the Best Lyrics Prize at the Japan Record Awards in 2000.
Music videos
Besides her CD releases and tours, Hamasaki has also become known for her expensive, innovative music videos. Often making videos for album tracks as well as singles, these PVs (promotion clips) have become selling points in themselves, now packaged along with her albums and singles. This was considered a smart move by industry insiders in light of flagging CD sales and rampant piracy.
Hamasaki's videos have a wide range of themes, including horror, supernatural, and comedy. fairyland and Blue Bird's PVs both had an overall feeling of lightness to them. 1LOVE's PV, in sharp contrast, depicted a dark environment and showed Hamasaki pole dancing. M's PV depicted a church in the winter, overlying themes of sadness, while the PV for Blue Bird's B-side, Beautiful Fighters had a humorous feel to it, showing Hamasaki and her dancers messing up at various jobs.
The PVs of three songs, fairyland, my name's WOMEN, and JEWEL are among one of the most expensive music videos ever made, making Hamasaki the only non-American to have such a distinction.
Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty
See Ayumi_Hamasaki_x_Hello_Kitty.
Symbols
Ayumi Hamasaki uses some symbols to represent her own name or some of her singles/songs. Usually, when typed, the symbols are just replaced with the special symbols.
Her main symbol, a stylized A, is used to represent her full name while symbols such as the H and M were used for once only to represent their respective singles. Variations to the original have been used on some of Hamasaki's albums such as My Story, (miss)understood and Secret
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Daily Chart Positions | Weekly Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Nothing from Nothing | N/A | 198 |
| 1999 | A Song for XX | 1 | 1 |
| 1999 | Loveppears | 1 | 1 |
| 2000 | Duty | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | I am... | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | Rainbow | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | Memorial Address | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 | My Story | 1 | 1 |
| 2006 | (miss)understood | 1 | 1 |
| 2006 | Secret | 1 | 1 |
Compilations
| Year | Title | Daily Chart Positions | Weekly Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | A Best | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | A Ballads | 1 | 1 |
| 2007 | A Best 2 -Black- | 1 | 2 |
| 2007 | A Best 2 -White- | 1 | 1 |
Awards and records
| Years | Awards and Records |
|---|---|
| 1998 |
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| 1999 |
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| 2000 |
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| 2001 |
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| 2002 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2004 |
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| 2005 |
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| 2006 |
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| 2007 |
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References
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ayumi_hamasaki/
- ^ thePPN:All Time Top 50 Sales (Japan)
- ^ Oricon Style – Ayumi Hamasaki is the first to break 20,000,000 single sales in solo history
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/061206_03.html
- ^ a b c http://homepage2.nifty.com/morimasa/rockin.html Rockin' On Japan Interview
- ^ a b c d e f g http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/ayumi_hamasaki/cover3.html
- ^ TIMEasia.com: Japan – Empress of Pop (Page 3)
- ^ http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48885 Cawaii! Magazine
- ^ TIMEasia.com: Japan – Empress of Pop (Page 2)
- ^ a b http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33729 Translation of Japan Vibes magazine article containing an interview with Ayu
- ^ http://www1.coralnet.or.jp/isikuro/datab/cds2002.gif
- ^ http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums-week03-2006.htm (miss)understood Charting Position (Worldwide)
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/25664/ Reference to total number 1 singles and consecutive number 1 singles
- ^ a b http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~dhmighty/
- ^ http://www.avexnet.or.jp/ayu/news/070101.html
- ^ http://www.ettoday.com/2007/02/13/340-2054709.htm
- ^ http://61.129.65.8:82/gate/big5/enjoy.eastday.com/e/20070209/u1a2619858.html
- ^ http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/dailynews14.html
- ^ http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2007/03/06/03.html
- ^ http://search.tower.jp/results.php?TYPE=ALL&STR=fated&GOODS_SORT_CD=101&SEARCH_GENRE=ALL&BUTTON=DUMMY&MT=
- ^ http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVCD-31274 Cd Japan:18 May 2007
- ^ http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070428-00000004-gen-ent
- ^ http://www.japannewsreview.com/entertainment/celebrities/20070714page_id=676
- ^ a b c d e f g http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/gdisc/index.html
- ^ http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=16899&string=Ayumi
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/23188/ Oricon Style
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/29388/ Oricon Style
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/28681/ Oricon Style Awards
- ^ http://beauty-cdn.oricon.co.jp/news/43854/
- ^ a b http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/43071 Oricon Style
- ^ http://chuspo.chunichi.co.jp/00/hou/20070306/spon____hou_____001.shtml Chunichi News
- ^ http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt200703/gt2007030612.html Sanspo
- ^ http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums-week11-2007.htm Media Traffic
- ^ http://beauty.oricon.co.jp/news/20070328.html
- ^ http://beauty-cdn.oricon.co.jp/news/43854/
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/43503/
- ^ http://contents.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/45957/
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/special/070711_01.html
- ^ http://beauty-cdn.oricon.co.jp/news/46670/
- ^ http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64609
- ^ http://shop.mu-mo.net/st/event/0705gift/index.html
- ^ http://www.rthk.org.hk/special/18poppoll/#prize6
- ^ http://ip.tosp.co.jp/Portal/i.asp?I=KOIM001&P=10
- ^ http://www.sanspo.com/sokuho/0514sokuho052.html
- ^ http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59366
- LOVE AYU fan site (portuguese)
- ayumi hamasaki official website (Japanese/Chinese/English)
- Oricon Style
- HMV
External links
- Official sites
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