May'n

Mei Nakabayashi (中林 芽依), better known by her stage name May'n (メイン), is a Japanese singer from Nagoya.

Nakabayashi was born in Nagoya on October 21, 1989.

She had become interested in music at an early age, and had been singing at least since she was three years old.

She had also had an interest in anime series such as Sailor Moon since her childhood, particularly after an occurrence where she heard the series' theme "Moonlight Densetsu" at a karaoke bar.

Aspiring to become a singer since childhood, she began her music activities in 2003 upon passing an audition held by talent agency Horipro International.

In 2003, at the age of 13, she participated in the 28th "HoriPro – Talent Scout Caravan – Love Music – Audition" (ホリプロ・タレントスカウトキャラバン・ラブミュージック・オーディション.) and out of the 34,911 hopefuls, became one of the four who survived the final eliminations.

She made her major debut in 2005 under the Universal Music label with the release of her first single "Crazy Crazy Crazy".

Nakabayashi debuted under the Universal Music Japan label with the release of her first single "Crazy Crazy Crazy" on April 27, 2005; the single was later re-released on June 1 of that year with an additional track.

This was followed by the release of the digital single "Happy" in December of that year.

Her second single, "Sympathy", was released on August 3, 2005.

She then released her third single "Fallin' in or Not" on September 27, 2006, the title track of which was used as the ending theme for the anime series Love Get Chu.

She would release two more singles under Universal Music, before transferring to Victor Entertainment in 2008.

That same year, she had her break as the singing voice of the character Sheryl Nome in the anime series Macross Frontier.

May'n's musical style varies in genre, ranging from pop and rock, to dance music and R&B.

Her music has been featured in anime series such as Macross Frontier, Aria the Scarlet Ammo, Accel World, Aquarion Logos, and Restaurant to Another World.

She has also performed at several music events in Japan, Asia, Europe, and North America.

Nakabayashi transferred to Victor Entertainment in 2008 and began using the stage name May'n. That same year, she gained popularity after being cast as the singing voice of the character Sheryl Nome in the anime television series Macross Frontier.

She later released two singles for the series, "Diamond Crevasse / Iteza Gogo Kuji Don't be late" (ダイアモンド クレバス/射手座☆午後九時Don’t be late) and "Lion", with each placing in the Top 3 on the Oricon Weekly Chart in their debut week.

She was invited to perform "Iteza Gogo Kuji Don't be late" and "Northern Cross" at Animelo Summer Live 2008.

She then gave her first live performance outside Japan in Singapore at Anime Festival Asia in November of that year.

She has since become a regular guest at this event as well, also appearing at its iterations in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

In January 2009, May'n released the mini-album May'n Street, which reached number 2 on the Oricon Weekly Chart in its first week.

She then released the single "Kimi Shinitamō Koto Nakare" (キミシニタモウコトナカレ) on May 6, 2009; the title track is used as the opening theme to the anime series Shangri-La.

Her first full album Styles was released in November 2009; the album reached number 7 on the Oricon Weekly charts.

In January 2010, she performed her first solo Nippon Budokan concert, which sold out in only one day.

In March of the same year, she held her first tour of Asia, with concerts in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

This was followed in July by a 17-city summer tour of Japan.

She released her second album Cosmic Cuune in November 2010 as her character Sheryl Nome.

In late 2010, she was chosen to record the theme song for the film Incite Mill -7 Day Death Game-.

In February 2011, she released her 3D live documentary movie May'n The Movie: Phonic Nation, and later that month released her third album If you..., which made number 7 on the Oricon Weekly Chart.

In March of that year, she held her second solo Budokan concert.

She then made an appearance at Japan Expo in Paris.

She also sang the song "Mr. Super Future Star", which was used as the theme song for the Capcom game E.X. Troopers.

In 2011 and 2012, May'n collaborated with music artist Daisuke Asakura for the singles "Scarlet Ballet", which was used as the opening theme to the anime series Aria the Scarlet Ammo, and "Chase the world", which was used as the opening theme to the anime series Accel World.

She released her fourth album Heat on March 21, 2012.

In 2013, she represented Japan at the ABU TV Song Festival in Vietnam.

She represented Japan in October 2013 at the ABU TV Song Festival 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam with her single "Vivid".

She was scheduled to make an appearance at Animax Carnival Philippines in December 2013, but the event was cancelled as a result of the effects of Typhoon Haiyan.

In 2014, May'n released her fifth album New World.

She then returned to the United States with a solo concert in San Francisco and a performance at Union Square for J-Pop Summit Festival 2014.