Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model, spokesperson, and entrepreneur.

Born and raised in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Hamasaki moved to Tokyo at 14 in 1993 to pursue a career in singing and acting.

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.

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.

From August 1995 to March 1996, Hamasaki also co-hosted the SoundLink "magazine" Hōkago no Ōsama (After-school King) for the Nintendo Satellaview once a week with Shigeru Izumiya.

Growing dissatisfied with her job, Hamasaki quit acting and moved in with her mother, who had recently moved to Tokyo.

Hamasaki initially earned good grades in junior high school.

Eventually, she lost faith in the curriculum, thinking that the subjects 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.

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.

He persisted and succeeded in recruiting her for the Avex label in the following year.

Hamasaki started vocal training but skipped most of her classes after finding her instructors too rigid and the classes dull.

When she mentioned this to Matsuura, he sent her to New York to train her vocals under another method.

In 1998, Hamasaki released her debut single "Poker Face" and debut major-label album A Song for ××.

The album debuted at the top of the Oricon charts and remained there for five weeks, selling over a million copies.

This rapid rise to fame is typically attributed to her insightful style of lyric-writing in contrast to her young age; this would continue to be a defining aspect of her work, listeners praising her poetic way of conveying relatable subjects.

Her next ten albums shipped over a million copies in Japan, with her third, Duty, selling nearly three million.

A Best, her first compilation album, further established her position as a crowning artist with more than four million copies sold in Japan.

It was at this time that she represented more than 40% of her record label's income.

After A Best, Hamasaki went on to experiment with her music style and lyricism, incorporating English into her work from Rainbow onwards.

Later albums would range from electronic dream-pop to rock genres, with Hamasaki herself saying she does not feel tied to follow music trends, instead focusing on what she enjoys and wants to create "whether it is trendy or not".

This perspective would continue to resonate with the public throughout her career, with her albums consistently placing in the top ten of the Oricon charts to present day; she currently holds the record for the most albums to place in the top ten by a female artist in Japan, with 54 of her releases reaching that distinction.

Hamasaki has sold over 50.70 million units in Japan, making her the best-selling Japanese solo artist in history.

Hamasaki has several domestic record achievements for her singles, such as the most number-one hits by a female artist (38); the most consecutive number-one hits by a solo artist (25), and the most million-sellers.

From 1999 to 2010, Hamasaki had at least two singles each year topping the charts.

Hamasaki is also the first female recording artist to have ten 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.

In addition to this, Hamasaki's remix albums Super Eurobeat Presents Ayu-ro Mix and Ayu-mi-x II Version Non-Stop Mega Mix, are recognized as two of the best selling remix albums of all time worldwide.

Born in Fukuoka, 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 had no further contact with the family.

Hamasaki was primarily taken care of by her grandmother due to her mother working full-time.

She described herself as a "tomboy" when she was a teenager, and as a "strange kid" who "liked to be alone".

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.

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.

By 2002, Hamasaki had earned the nickname "Empress of J-pop" due to her popularity in Japan and throughout Asia, as well as being referred to as "the voice of the lost generation".

Due to her success and relevance throughout her career, she is considered one of the top solo female artists of the Heisei era for her influence on the music industry and various fashion trends.