Ayumi Hamasaki 浜崎あゆみ
Ayumi Hamasaki in Taiwan, March 2007
Background information
Birth name	浜崎 あゆみ, 濱崎 歩[1] (Hamasaki Ayumi)
Also known as	Ayu, Crea
Born	(1978-10-02) October 2, 1978 (age 33) Fukuoka, Japan
Origin	Fukuoka, Japan
Genres	Pop, electronic dance, rock, classical
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, lyricist, actress, model, spokesperson, businessperson
Years active	1994–1996, 1998–present
Labels	Nippon Columbia Avex Trax Drizzly
Website	www.avexnet.or.jp/ayu

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Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎 あゆみ, Hamasaki Ayumi^?, also 濱崎 歩; born October 2, 1978) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia.^[2][3] Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, she released a string of modestly selling singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for ××. The album debuted atop the Oricon charts and stayed there for four weeks, establishing her popularity in Japan.^{[fn 1]}

Hamasaki's constantly changing image and tight control over her artistry has helped her popularity extend across Asia; music and fashion trends she has started have spread to countries such as China, Singapore, and Southeast Asia. She has appeared in or lent her songs to many advertisements and television commercials. Though she originally supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, she later reconsidered and eventually opposed her status as an Avex "product".^[4]

Since her 1998 debut with the single "Poker Face",^{[fn 1]} Hamasaki has sold over 50 million records in Japan, making her the best selling solo singer in Japanese history as well as one of the country's most successful songwriters, ranking her among the best-selling singers in the country.^[5] As a female singer, Hamasaki holds several domestic records for her singles, such as the most number-one hits overall by a female artist, the most consecutive number-one hits by a solo artist,^[6] the highest sales, and the most million-sellers.^{[7][fn 2]} Since 1999, Hamasaki has had at least one single each year topping the charts (except 2011, which she released a mini-album, Five, without any singles).^[8] Hamasaki is the first female singer to have eight studio albums since her debut to top the Oricon and the first artist to have a number-one album for 13 consecutive years since her debut.^[9][10]

Life and music career[link]

Childhood and early endeavors[link]

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Hamasaki was raised as an only child by her mother and grandmother. Her father had left the family when she was three and never again came into contact with her.^[11][12] Hamasaki's mother worked to support the family, so Hamasaki was primarily taken care of by her grandmother.^[11]

At age seven, Hamasaki began modeling for local institutions, such as banks, to supplement the family's income. She continued this career path by leaving her family at fourteen and moving to Tokyo as a model under SOS, a talent agency.^[11] 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 was dismissed from the label when the album failed to chart on the Oricon.^[13] After this failure, Hamasaki took up acting and 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.^[12][14] From August 1995 to March 1996, Hamasaki also co-hosted the SoundLink "magazine" Hōkago no Ōsama (放課後の王様^?, After-school King) for the Nintendo Satellaview once a week with Shigeru Izumiya.^[15][16] Growing dissatisfied with her job, Hamasaki quit acting and moved in with her mother, who had recently moved to Tokyo.^[11]

Hamasaki was initially a good student, earning good grades in junior high school. Eventually however, she lost faith in the curriculum, thinking that the subjects taught were of no use to her. Her grades worsened as she refused to put her mind to her studies. While living in Tokyo, she attempted to further her studies at Horikoshi Gakuen, a high school for the arts, but dropped out in the first year. Hamasaki did not attend school or have a job, so she spent much of her time shopping at Shibuya boutiques and dancing at Velfarre, an Avex-owned disco club.^[11][12]

At Velfarre, she was introduced to her future producer, Max Matsuura, through a friend. After hearing Hamasaki sing karaoke, Matsuura offered her a recording deal, but Hamasaki suspected ulterior motives and turned the offer down.^[12] He persisted and succeeded in recruiting her for the Avex label in the following year.^[12][17] Hamasaki started vocal training, but skipped most of her classes after finding her instructors to be too rigid and the classes dull.^[12] When she confessed this to Matsuura, he sent her to New York to train her vocals under another method. During her foreign sojourn, Hamasaki frequently corresponded with Matsuura and impressed him with her style of writing. On her return to Japan, he suggested that she try writing her own lyrics.^[12]

1998–1999: Rising popularity[link]

Hamasaki made her debut under Avex on April 8, 1998 with the single "Poker Face". It—and the following four singles—were not major hits. Hamasaki's debut album, A Song for ×× (1999), was likewise "unassuming":^[18] the tracks, composed by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Akio Togashi (of Da Pump), and Mitsuru Igarashi (of Every Little Thing), were "cautious" pop-rock songs.^[12][18] However, Hamasaki's lyrics, introspective observations about her feelings and experiences that focused on loneliness and individualism, resonated with the Japanese public.^[19] The songs gained Hamasaki a growing following, and the release of the album was a success: it topped the Oricon charts for five weeks and sold over a million copies.^[13][20][21] For her achievements, she earned a Japan Gold Disc Award for "Best New Artist of the Year".^[22]

With Ayu-mi-x (March 1999), the first of a series of remix albums, Hamasaki began moving beyond the pop-rock of A Song for ×× and began to incorporate different styles including trance, dance, and orchestra.^[18] Hamasaki began to experiment with different musical styles in her singles as well, releasing dance tunes and ballads as well as remixes on the singles which spanned reggae and house. The singles were milestones: Hamasaki earned her first number-one single ("Love: Destiny") and first million-selling single ("A").^[8][23] Her second studio album, Loveppears (November 1999), not only topped the Oricon charts, it sold nearly 3 million copies.^[20] The album also showcased a change in Hamasaki's lyrics. Though the lyrics of Loveppears still dealt with loneliness, many of them were written from a third-person perspective.^[19] In support of Loveppears, she held her first tour, Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A.