Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson and entrepreneur. She has sold over 50 million records, making her the best-selling Japanese solo artist of all time. Hamasaki has several domestic record achievements for her singles, such as the most number-one hits by a female artist.

About Ayumi Hamasaki in brief

Summary Ayumi HamasakiAyumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson and entrepreneur. She has sold over 50 million records, making her the best-selling Japanese solo artist of all time. Hamasaki has several domestic record achievements for her singles, such as the most number-one hits by a female artist and the most million-sellers. During the height of her career, Hamasaki was dubbed the \”Empress of J-pop\” because of her popularity in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Following an ear infection in 2000, she has suffered worsening hearing loss and gradually became completely deaf in one ear. She is the first female recording artist to have ten studio albums since her debut to top the Oricon and the firstArtist to have a number-1 album for 13 consecutive years since her first album. Her remix albums, Super Eurobeat Presents Ayu-ro Mix andAyu-mi-x II Version Non-Stop Mega Mix, are recognized as one of the best selling remix albums of alltime. She also co-hosted the SoundLink \”magazine\” Hōkago no Ōsama for the Nintendo Satellaview once a week with Shigeru Izumiya from August 1995 to March 1996. Her father had left the family when she was three and never again came into contact with her. She was raised as an only child by her mother and grandmother.

She described herself as a “strange kid” who “liked to be alone”. She left her family at 14 and moved to Tokyo as a model under SOS, a talent agency. Her modeling career did not last long; SOS eventually deemed her too short for a model and transferred her to Sun Music, a musicians’ agency. Under the name of \”Ayumi\”, Hamasaki released a rap EP, Nothing from Nothing, on the Nippon Columbia label in 1995. She attempted to further her studies at Horikoshi Gakuen, a high school for the arts, but dropped out in the first year. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, she released her debut single \”Poker Face\” and debut major-label album A Song for XX. Her next ten albums shipped over a million copies in Japan, with her third, Duty, selling nearly three million. Since 2006, after her album A Best was released, album and single sales have declined. Her first compilation album, A Best, is her best- selling album, with more than four million copies sold in Japan. She starred in B-movies such as Ladys Ladys!! Sōcho Saigo no Hi and television dramas such as Miseinen, which were poorly received by the public. After hearing Hamasaki sing karaoke, an Avex-owned disco club At Velfarre, she was introduced to her future producer, Max Mitsuura, through a friend.