Kaori Asada (浅田 香織, Asada Kaori?, born 16 April 1973 in Kyoto, Japan), known by her stage name, Bonnie Pink (ボニー・ピンク, Bonī Pinku?), is a Japanese singer / songwriter. She lived in New York during 1998 and speaks English (many of her songs are entirely in English). She writes and composes all her songs, and plays guitar and piano. Kaori Asada has said that the name Bonnie Pink is random and that she thought the words were cute together. There is no special meaning behind the name, she chose it because it was easy to remember.[1]
Bonnie Pink was quite famous in her early years during the 90s and the early 2000s, but she slowly drifted out of popularity. However, in 2006 her hit single "A Perfect Sky" went to the top of the charts and brought her back into the J-Pop spotlight and her latest albums have become very popular and major successes for the singer.
History
Bonnie Pink debuted in 1995 with her single, "Orenji", under her real name, Asada Kaori. Her first album, Blue Jam, was released that same year under the Pony Canyon record label. She described it as a "mixture of bitter honey, blues music, momentary silence, irresistible madness, teardrops, sourgrapes, hopeful bombs, big big love, and a few green apples" in the jacket. It introduced her unique style of music that has been defined as an off-beat mix between jazz, blues, pop, and rock. The next year she met Tore Johansson, Swedish producer for The Cardigans, who became her good friend and produced much of her work. The song "It's Gonna Rain!" was the fifth ending of the anime Rurouni Kenshin. She wrote her third album, Evil & Flowers (1998), while in isolation in the Swedish countryside. She hoped to find inspiration there, but became depressed. She put her feelings of frustration into the songs.
On her fourth album, Let Go, she worked with Mitchell Froom, New York producer of Elvis Costello, Cibo Matto, and Suzanne Vega. He gave her co-production credit for the album because he was so impressed with her. Her fifth album, Just a Girl, came out in 2001. The next year she collaborated with other artists and released re*PINK, a remix album. Present came out in 2003 and Even So in 2004. Golden Tears, which features the single "So Wonderful", came out in 2005. Bonnie released a new single "Love is Bubble" in May 2006. Her June 2006 single "A Perfect Sky", featured in an Anessa makeup commercial with popular model Yuri Ebihara, reached number 2 on the Oricon singles charts, making it the most successful single in Bonnie Pink's career. Her new "Best Of" album sold out quickly at Amazon Japan and reached number two on the Oricon charts and continued to chart in the top 30 becoming one of the top selling albums of the year. In November 2006, she was featured in M-Flo's single "Love Song." The single was a hit for both M-Flo and Bonnie Pink, it debuted at number 7 on the Oricon charts which is a big leap from M-Flo's previous singles and gained Bonnie Pink another top 10 single.
Her song "Cotton Candy" was used as the ending theme for the anime Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor in 2005 and "Love is Bubble" was the theme song for the Japanese movie Memories of Matsuko (嫌われ松子の一生), which also casts her. Her single, "Last Kiss", which appears as the last song on her greatest hits album, was the ending theme to Gantz, a popular anime title of 2004.
Bonnie Pink's single "Anything for You, although not as successful as "A Perfect Sky", still reached #9 on the Oricon charts, achieving moderate success. Bonnie Pink, shortly after releasing her previous single, began performing on popular TV music shows and promoting her latest single, "Water Me", which is the theme song for the popular drama Watashitachi no Kyōkasho (Our Textbooks) a dark, melancholy drama about a young girl's suicide and the effect on her school. The single "Water Me" reached #6 on Oricon on its release date and #8 on the weekly charts. On July 7, 2007, Bonnie Pink performed at Live Earth in Kyoto.
Bonnie Pink's latest album Thinking Out Loud was released on July 25, 2007. It is her first album to be sold in both CD and CD+DVD formats. First press of both editions come with an access ticket containing the AD/Password to reserve tickets for her tour, Bonnie Pink Tour 2007 "Thinking Out Loud" Final at Nippon Budokan on a special designated website. The CD pre-orders made the album #1 on the Amazon.com Japan Top Sellers. The album debuted at #4 on the Oricon Daily Charts and #5 on the weekly charts selling approximately 53,605 copies. As of September 5, 2007, her album has sold approximately 90,000 copies. It is expected to pass the 100,000 mark, which means it will reach "Gold" status from the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Bonnie Pink was on her 'Thinking Outloud Tour' from late 2007 to early 2008.
The English version of Bonnie Pink's single "Ring a Bell" is only available through digital download. "Ring a Bell" was used as the theme song for the American release of the Xbox 360 game Tales of Vesperia. The single was released in Japan and America on iTunes to celebrate Bonnie Pink's 35th birthday. Its Japanese counterpart, "Kane wo Narashite" was released on August 6, 2008. Bonnie Pink's thirtieth single entitled "Joy / Happy Ending" was released on 8th April 2009.
Discography
Studio albums
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Other albums
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References
- ^ http://www.nt2099.com/INTERVIEWS/bonniepink/bonniepink.pdf
External links
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Bonnie Pink |
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B.P.V. Vol.1 · B.P.V. Vol.2
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