Mai Kuraki

Mai Kuraki (倉木 麻衣) (born October 28, 1982) is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer.

Mai Kuraki was born on October 28, 1982, to entrepreneur, film director and actor, Isomi Yamasaki.

Her grandfather is Saneharu Yamasaki, a poet, and her aunt is Reiko Takizawa, an actor.

Upon hearing Whitney Houston's music and seeing the dance moves of Michael Jackson, Kuraki dreamed to be a singer.

While in high school, with the help of her father, who was a friend of the music label, Giza Studio, Kuraki sent a demo tape to the label and contracted a record deal with them.

However, before Kuraki made her debut in Japan, she made her American debut.

Under Giza USA and Bip!

Records, Kuraki released the single, "Baby I Like" under the stage name Mai K. The cover of Yoko Black. Stone song, even impressed executives from the major label East West Records, prompting the label to distribute it.

However, the song failed to chart on the Billboard charts and Giza sent her back to Japan.

After coming back to Japan, Kuraki began working on her J-pop materials.

After releasing her US debut single "Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single "Love, Day After Tomorrow" in 1999.

Kuraki also holds the record for being the only female artist to have all of her singles consecutively debut in the Top 10 since her debut in 1999, and is the 38th best-selling Japanese music artist of all time.

To date, Kuraki has seven number-one albums (five originals and two compilations) and two number-one singles.

She released her Japan debut single, "Love, Day After Tomorrow", on December 8, 1999.

In 2000, she released her debut album, Delicious Way, which debuted at number-one and sold over 2.2 million copies in its first week.

The album has spawned four top-three singles, "Love, Day After Tomorrow", "Stay by My Side", "Secret of My Heart", and "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Eventually, the album sold over 3.5 million copies nationwide and became the best-selling album in Japan in 2000, and has been the ninth best-selling album in Japan of all-time.

The single entered the Oricon single chart at number 18, and eventually peaked at number 2, selling 1.4 million copies and becoming the fourth best-selling single of 2000 in Japan.

In June 2000, Kuraki's debut studio album, Delicious Way was released to a commercial success, debuting at number one in Japan and selling 2,210,000 copies in its first week, which still has been the biggest first week sales for the debut album in Japan as of 2020.

Her second album, Perfect Crime (2001) debuted atop in Japan and has sold over 1.3 million copies nationwide.

After the success in Japan, Kuraki targeted the American market again, with the English-language studio album Secret of My Heart (2002), however it failed to enter any charts in the United States.

Her third Japanese album, Fairy Tale was released in 2002 and topped the Oricon albums chart.

The album has spawned one number-one song, "Winter Bells".

Her fourth album, If I Believe become her fourth consecutive number-one album in Japan.

Her first compilation album, Wish You the Best (2004) sold nearly a million copies and became the seventh best-selling album of 2004 in Japan.

Kuraki's succeeding albums, Fuse of Love (2005), Diamond Wave (2006), and One Life (2008) were released to less commercial success.

In 2009, Kuraki saw a revival in her popularity with the increased television appearances and the promotion.

Her eighth studio album, Touch Me!, debuted atop in Japan, becoming her first number-one album in five years.

Her second compilation album, All My Best (2009) topped the chart in Japan, making her one of the two artists who sent two albums at the top spot on the chart in the year.

Her next studio albums, Future Kiss (2010) and Over the Rainbow (2012) both reached top three in Japan.

Her third compilation album, Mai Kuraki Best 151A: Love & Hope (2014) managed to peak at number two in Japan and became the ninety-fifth best-selling album in Japan of the year.

Delicious Way has sold over three million copies and was certified 3x million as well as won "Rock album of the Year" at the 16th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards.

Her eleventh studio album, Smile (2017) sold less than her previous albums, partly due to the lack of the promotion.

Released in 2017, the single "Togetsukyo (Kimi Omou)" peaked at number two in Japan and became the best-selling single for a solo female artist in 2017.

The single marked Kuraki's second revival in charts, succeeded by the compilation album, Mai Kuraki x Meitantei Conan Collaboration Best 21: Shinjitsu wa Itsumo Uta ni Aru! (2017), which peaked at number four in Japan and charted on the year-end album chart in 2017 and 2018.

Her twelfth and thirteenth albums, Kimi Omou: Shunkashūtō (2018) and Let's Goal!: Barairo no Jinsei (2019) were both moderate success, reaching top three in Japan.

Her fifth compilation album, Mai Kuraki Single Collection: Chance for You was released in 2019, in celebration of her 20th anniversary.

In 2021, Kuraki released her fourteenth studio album Unconditional Love, which peaked at number four in Japan and spawned a number-one single "Zero kara Hajimete".

Kuraki is best known for singing the theme songs for the Japanese television anime series, Case Closed.

As of October 2020, she has recorded twenty-three songs for the series and earning her a Guinness World Record for singing the most theme songs for the same television series.