Utada Hikaru is a Japanese American singer/songwriter who by the age of 15 had already risen to the top of Japan's music industry. Born on January 19, 1983, Utada was exposed the music industry at an early age by her parents who were both musicians. The recording studio was often like a second home to her because of the long hours she had to spend there due to her parents' work. Growing up, Utada lived in both Tokyo and New York. These aspects of her early life would later influence her musical compositions.
At age 12, Utada made her first professional recording as part of the musical project, U3. Soon after, she made a series of releases under the name Cubic U. In 1998, Utada moved to Tokyo to attend the American School in Japan, from which she later graduated. During her time in Tokyo, Utada was still writing and recording for Toshiba EMI. On December 9, 1998, Utada Hikaru released her debut Japanese single, Automatic/Time Will Tell. She became an instant hit. The single sold over 2 million copies and was followed by the million selling single, Movin' on Without You.
On March 10, 1999, Utada Hikaru released her debut album, First Love. First Love sold over 7 million copies in Japan alone and over 10 million copies worldwide making it the best selling album in Japanese music history. A re-cut single from the album, also titled First Love, was released and reached #2 on the Oricon charts. By age 16 Utada Hikaru was already a household name in Japan.
In 2001, 2 years after her massive debut success, Utada returned with her sophomore album, Distance. There was controversy concerning the album as it was to be released on the same day as Hamasaki Ayumi's first best album, A-Best. Hamasaki, then the top selling idol in Japan, was forced by her label Avex Trax to deliberately release her best album on the same day as Distance. Both artists denied that there was a rivalry. On March 28, 2001, Distance was released. In the album's first week of sales, it took the #1 spot. In the second week, Hamasaki's A-Best topped the charts. In the end, Distance became the best selling album of 2001 and the #4 best selling album in Japanese history.
In 2002, Utada released DEEP RIVER, another #1 selling album featuring the theme song of the popular video game Kingdom Hearts, Hikari. The album became the #8 best selling album in Japanese history. She also surprised the Japanese public by marrying her long time music video director, Kiriya Kazuaki, 15 years her senior. Following the success of the album, Utada took a break from the Japanese music scene, only releasing the single COLORS in 2003 and her first best album, Utada Hikaru SINGLE COLLECTION VOL. 1 in 2004. The compilation became the best selling album of 2004.
In 2004, Utada once again shocked the public by announcing that she was to debut in the United States. On July 3, 2004, she released the single Easy Breezy. Fans were shocked to see the shy singer in the promotional video, poolside and in a bikini. On September 8, Utada released her debut English album, EXODUS (released under the name Utada and not Utada Hikaru). Though the album only sold 55,000 copies in the U.S, it sold over a million copies in Japan. Utada also noted that the development of EXODUS influenced the sound of her later releases.
In 2006, Utada Hikaru returned with her fourth Japanese album, ULTRA BLUE, which featured the Kingdom Hearts II theme song, Passion. Though the album reached #1 on the Oricon charts and became the #7 album of the year, it also became her first album to sell less than a million copies, selling about 900,000 copies. To promote the album, Utada embarked on a nationwide tour titled "UTADA UNITED 2006".
In 2007, Utada released the single Flavor of Life, an insert song for the popular dorama, Hana Yori Dango 2. The single became the most downloaded ringtone in Japanese music history with over 5.5 million copies sold. In addition, the single sold over 670,000 physical copies, becoming the #2 best selling single of the year. On March 19, 2008, Utada Hikaru released the album HEART STATION, her fifth consecutive album to reach #1 on the charts. The album sold over a million copies, becoming the #5 best selling album of 2008 as well as the most downloaded album of the year (with 15 million full downloads).
In 2009, Utada once again returned in the US music scene with the album, This Is The One. The album reached #69 on the US Billboard Top 200 Charts. This made Utada only the 7th Japanese artist to accomplish this and the first one in 23 years. The album was also a digital success, reaching #2 on the iTunes pop albums chart as well as #18 overall (the first Japanese artist to accomplish this). In Japan, the album reached #3 on the Oricon album charts and topped the foreign album charts at #1 for 5 consecutive weeks. By the end of 2009, Utada was named the most influential artist of the decade by Tokyo Times. In early 2010, Utada held her first US Tour, Utada In The Flesh, which included 2 dates in London.
In August 2010, Utada Hikaru announced that she was taking a break from music. She will release Utada Hikaru SINGLE COLLECTION VOL. 2 on November 24, 2010 with 5 new songs.
