Utada Hikaru
- "Utada" redirects here. For Utada Hikaru's parents, see Teruzane Utada and Keiko Fuji. For the Machine Robo Rescue characters, see Machine Robo Rescue#Characters.
| Utada Hikaru 宇多田ヒカル |
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|---|---|
 Utada Hikaru in Kanto, 2004
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Hikaru Utada 宇多田光 (surname, Utada) |
| Also known as | Hikki, Utada, Cubic U |
| Born | January 19 1983 |
| Origin | New York City, New York United States  |
| Genre(s) | Japanese Pop, R&B, Ethereal Wave, Dance, Rock,
Ambient, Instrumental, & |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Arranger |
| Years active | 1996 - 1999 (Cubic U) 1998 - present (Utada Hikaru) 2004 - present (Utada) |
| Label(s) | EMI Music Japan Universal Music Group The Island Def Jam Music Group |
| Associated acts |
Keiko Fuji, Timbaland |
| Website | Hikki's Official Website Utada's Official JP Website Utada's Official EN Website |
- This is a Japanese name; the family name is Utada.
Utada Hikaru (宇多田ヒカル? born January 19, 1983), also known by her fan-nickname of Hikki (ヒッキー Hikkī?), is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter, arranger and record producer.
She has been hailed as one of the most successful, influential and acclaimed musicians in Japanese music history. With the
release of her seven studio albums, including one compilation and two all-English, 24
solo singles (18 Japanese and 6 English) and several VHS/DVD releases, she has sold a
combined estimated total of some 36,000,000 records in Japan as of 2007, making her the 9th most successful musical act ever in
Japan.[1][2] Her worldwide total sales of albums, singles and VHS/DVDs to date is well past 40,000,000 units. Her
unusual success has been, in large part, because of her fluent bilingual skills in English and Japanese, having been raised in
New York City and Tokyo. She is widely known outside Japan
for her two theme song contributions, Simple &
Clean/Hikari and Passion/Sanctuary, in the first two installments of the
multi-million selling
Utada became an unprecedented musical icon across Asia after her debut, First Love, began shattering a number of major music industry records in 1999, and has shown extremely consistent and strong sales of albums, singles and chart presence since. She has won the Nihon Golden Disk (Japan's most-esteemed musical award) "Song of the Year" award for thirteen of her singles since 2000, a record for a solo or group artist. In addition, she has won the Golden Disc "Pop/Rock Album of the Year" award for all four of her Japanese studio albums.[3] Utada is also the only solo or group artist in Japanese, and possibly world, music history to hold the #1 position five times on a Year-End chart in a territory (four albums and one single from 1999-2004)[citation needed].
In 2003, HMV Japan announced that Utada Hikaru is the #24 Japanese pop artist in its survey of "Top 100 Japanese pop artists" of all time, making her the youngest artist with the highest rank in that survey.[4] In 2006, Utada Hikaru also ranked #10 in HMV's "Top 30 Best Japanese Singers of All Time".[5] And in July 2007, it was announced by her label EMI records that Utada's 18th Japanese-language (23rd overall) single Flavor of Life had sold the most digital units to date of any song release worldwide.
Utada's names
Utada's name variations have been a source of some minor confusion in the past. Her legal name at birth is Utada Hikaru (宇多田光 Utada Hikaru?). For her original U.S. debut album, she used the name Cubic U. However, she gained very little fame at this stage in her career. For her Japanese recordings, she has used the name Utada Hikaru (宇多田ヒカル?), with her given name in katakana. Unlike most Japanese artists, she became well known in the English-speaking world under this surname-first name ordering, since her name has been romanized only in that order for the Japanese domestic market. In Japan, it was known that her nickname growing up in the U.S. was "Hikki". However, due to her immense popularity in Japan, she became better known under this nickname in Japan than in the United States. After her successes in Japan, she re-entered the U.S. market simply as Utada (sometimes Iwashita). On a few rare occasions, she has been credited in full on U.S. domestic albums as either "Hikaru Utada" or "Utada Hikaru". Her legal name in Japan was Hikaru Iwashita (岩下光 Iwashita Hikaru?) due to her marriage to Kiriya Kazuaki (whose real name is Kazuhiro Iwashita). However, she does not use this name for most public purposes. Her legal name in the United States has not been clear, especially since the announcement of her divorce on March 2, 2007.
Biography
Early life
Utada Hikaru was born in New York to Japanese parents with roots in the Japanese music industry. Her father, Teruzane Utada, was a record producer. Her mother, Junko Utada, was an enka singer, performing under the stage name “Keiko Fuji.” Junko Utada’s mother, and Hikaru’s grandmother, was a blind shamisen player (ごぜ, or goze).
Utada Hikaru made her first professional recording at the age of twelve. She did her recordings with her mother, releasing songs under a band named “U3” (also known as Utada 3) until 1996 when she started her first solo project, “I’ll be Stronger.” The “Cookin’ With Moses Vocal” from this project was called the “Cookin’ With Gas Vocal” on the promotional release.
“I’ll Be Stronger” was the first song Utada Hikaru wrote. It was released under the artist name “Cubic U,” a mathematical reference to her being the third Utada ‘power,’ which was Hikaru’s pseudonym before becoming a superstar in Japan. The song failed to release in the United States, and in 1997, she started her next project.
1996-1999: The End and the Beginning
Precious
Cubic U released her debut single “Close to You,” which was a cover of The Carpenter’s song. She then released her debut album Precious, but it failed to be released in the United States due to restructuring issues at her then record label Capitol Records.
In an MTV interview (on MTV’s You Hear It First, October 2004), Utada explained: “Someone in Japan heard it—at a Japanese record company—and he said, ‘Oh, can’t you write in Japanese? You speak Japanese…’ And I didn’t want to say ‘no,’ so I had to try it!”
She released Precious in Japan on January 28, 1998, and then later re-released it on March 31, 1999 to much better success. It has sold 702,060 copies to date in Japan, making it a significant hit for an all-English album in that market.
First Love
Utada moved to Tokyo in late 1998 and attended Seisen International School, and later the American School in Japan, while continuing to record on a new contract with Toshiba-EMI.
She soon made her mark on Japanese music with her phenomenally successful single, “Automatic / Time Will Tell.” Over 2,063,000 units have sold cumulatively of its two versions, making it the 2nd most successful single by a solo female artist in Japanese music history, behind Namie Amuro’s "Can You Celebrate?," and the most successful debut single ever released in the country.[citation needed]
Two months later, “Movin' on without you,” which was a tie-in with a popular Nissan Car television commercial, was released and would clear 1-million confirmed units with its two cumulative versions: another 8cm and 12cm dual release (peaking at #1 and #5, respectively). This was soon followed by her much-anticipated official studio debut album which came out the following month, March 1999, titled First Love, which sold over five million copies from March to April 1999, placing Utada among the 100 wealthiest people in Japan. First Love was not only the fastest selling debut album in Japanese history, but also had the highest initial first-week and overall sales for a debut album, achieving multi-platinum status in its first week of release. Utada would be noted in the Guinness Book of World Records 2000 for being the “Most Popular Singer in Asia.”
Since the "Automatic / Time Will Tell" single were actually two separate products (8cm and 12cm versions), she only managed to reach #4 and #2 on the Oricon Style singles chart. “Movin’ On Without You” would achieve the #1 ranking on Oricon, and would become her second platinum single and first #1 single.
A month after the album First Love was released, the song "First Love" was released as a single, mostly because of popular demand, and sold 804,000 units cumulatively of its 8cm and 12cm version (with a #4 and #6 peak on Oricon). First Love was Utada’s only album to have merely three single releases, all her subsequent work would contain at least four singles.
In addition to the album reaching #1 status on the daily, weekly and monthly charts of the Oricon Top 200, Utada also broke the record for units sold of a single album in Japan by the year’s end (over 7.648 million units), all by age 16, which record she still holds to this day.
First Love is the most commercially successful debut album, and most commercially successful album overall by a Japanese artist, in Japanese music history, having sold over 10 million copies throughout Asia, with nearly 8 million copies sold in Japan alone.[citation needed]
2000-2003: Hikaru's continuous success in Japan and marriage
Distance
Eight months after "First Love" was released, Utada then released her fourth Japanese-language single, "Addicted To You." It broke the million mark in its first week, making it the fastest selling single of all time by a solo or female artist in Japan.
It also hit #1 on the Oricon Singles Chart for two consecutive weeks (a personal first) and eventually sold 1,784,000 copies. It remains her most successful single of all time. "Automatic/Time Will Tell" isn't considered to be her highest-selling single going by Oricon chart rules because it was released in two separate versions versus this one.
On April 19, 2000, Utada released her first of only two singles for that year, "Wait & See ~Risk~." It also reached #1 on the Oricon and sold another astounding total: 1,662,000 copies. The figure that should have almost guaranteed her a #1 on the Oricon Yearly Singles chart, but instead placed her at a high #3. It became her largest-selling single that year.
A month later, she released a half single "Remix: Fly Me to the Moon" in English and Toshiba-EMI released an animated music video for the single version of Fly Me to the Moon. The single was a limited edition release of 20,000 units, but sold out rapidly while hitting a chart peak of #16 on the Oricon.
The follow-up "For You / Time Limit," her second double A-sided single, was released in late June and proved much more successful by becoming her fourth #1 hit (her second single to reach #1 two consecutive weeks). It was her last single in 2000 and it eventually sold 888,650 units.
In July-August 2000, Utada decided to go on her first major headlining tour entitled Bohemian Summer Circuit Live 2000. Utada returned to New York City after "For You / Time Limit"'s release to attend Columbia University as a freshman, but finding her break into Japanese music scene "easier than expected", she left after a year to pursue her career.[6]
In early 2001, Utada released what would be the final Distance era single, "Can You Keep a Secret?" on February 16, 2001. It brought her #1 hit count up to five (her third single to stay #1 two weeks), and became her fifth single to exceed a million units in sales, raking in an eventual 1.484 million units.
A month later, she released her highly anticipated second album, "Distance," on March 28, 2001, after nearly a two year hiatus. It was awarded with the largest first-week sales for any album in J-music history, with over 3.02 million units sold.[7] At the end of 2001, it became the most sold album for any J-music artist worldwide or in the residential industry, with 4.469 million copies sold in Japan alone. She had the #1 single and album of the year as well in Japan, for Distance and its last released single, "Can You Keep A Secret?" Distance is also the fourth best-selling album of all time in Japan.[8]
The video for Utada's 2001 song "Can You Keep a Secret?" received some attention as part of "International Week," which coincided with the 2001 EMAs on the American channel MTV2. The video's airplay was likely Utada's first chance of exposure in the United States.
Deep River
After Distance, Utada quickly released the singles "Final Distance", "Traveling", "Hikari",[9] and "Sakura Drops / Letters" for her 2002 follow-up album, Deep River. With the exception of "Final Distance" (#2 peak), they all became instant #1 smashes on the Oricon singles chart, selling a combined total of about 2.8 million physical units by the end of 2002 .
In May 2002, she became sick right before the release of Deep River. She was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor, and then underwent surgery.[10] During this period, she had to put on hold her TV appearances and other promotional activities.
In June 2002, just over a year and a month after "Distance", the album was released. While there were no TV appearances, she promoted her album in magazine and radio interviews. The Oricon count of the album was another amazing first-week sales debut for Utada, with 2.35 million sold for the week post its release day, or 1.89 million by Planet's count.
Oricon reports that sales eventually surpassed 3.60 million, meaning she was the only singer or group in Japanese music history to have three consecutive albums surpass the triple-platinum (3 million) sold mark, by RIAJ standards. It was also her third consecutive time to hold the #1 position on Oricon's Yearly Albums chart.[11] Once again, she had the #1 album of the year, but had the #2 single with "traveling", behind Ayumi Hamasaki's "H". Deep River is also the eighth best selling album of all time in Japan.[8]
In 2001, Utada did a duet with Foxy Brown, "Blow My Whistle", which is featured on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack.
Marriage
On September 7, 2002 Utada married Kazuaki Kiriya, a photographer and film director who was fifteen years her senior. Kiriya had directed several of her music videos, including "Final Distance", "traveling", "Hikari", "Sakura Drops", "Deep River", "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro", "Be My Last", "Passion", and "Keep Tryin'". Also, "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro" is the theme song of Kiriya's directorial debut, Casshern. They divorced in March 2007 (see below).
Pre-Exodus
In 2003, Utada's promotional and personal life schedules got more active due to her marriage and an imposing agreement with Island Records in America to release a proper full-English debut album. New Japanese-language singles would therefore come few and far between, but Utada did release "COLORS" on January 29, 2003, which was her only single release for 2003, and her longest charting single with a 45 week trajectory on the Oricon Singles chart.
It went well against the tide of slowing Japanese music industry sales, selling 881,000 and placing at a high #3 on the Yearly Singles chart. The most recent figures show that this single surpassed 893,000 units, although this would be her last single until 2007 to be certified double-platinum, or that sold over 500,000 units.
She then released her first singles compilation album Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.1 on March 31, 2004, after heavy media, record label, and fan demand. It would set a new array of records for Utada's already legendary discography. It became the best-selling album of 2004 in Japan, making her the only solo or group artist to reach #1 four times on the yearly charts. It was the first compilation album to reach #1 in six years on the yearly charts, and the first compilation album to reach #1 in twenty six years by a female artist.[12]
The single collection debuted with 1.4 million units sold in its first week and would eventually go on to sell over 3.4 million units. Its success was a particularly amazing achievement, since it received very little promotion and contained no new material or photos. Moreover, it charted longer on the Oricon Albums chart longer than any other Utada release to date, over 2 years. It was also her first to debut at #1 on the United World Charts, the first time in music history for any Asian artist.[13] The album would go on to sell over 2.572 million units in Japan, making it the 36 best-selling album ever in the country.[8]
A month later, on April 21, she released her only Japanese single in 2004, "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro", which was a heavy power, acoustic-piano ballad that topped the singles chart for two consecutive weeks and sold 365,000 units by the year's end. The title translates to "When Someone's Wish Comes True", and it is also the main theme song for Casshern, her ex-husband's directorial debut.
Both "Colors" and "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro" would eventually be included in Utada's fourth 2006 studio album, Ultra Blue.
2004-2005: Journey to North America and Europe
Exodus
On October 5, 2004, Utada Hikaru released her North American English-language debut album, Exodus, under the name "Utada". It was released nearly a month earlier, on September 9 in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. In an MTV interview, Utada said: "I don't think it's the music that I'm concerned about. It's obviously that I look really different and there really aren't any completely Asian people [who are popular singers in the U.S.] right now."[14]
Exodus became Utada's fourth consecutive release to debut at #1 and boast 500,000+ first-week sales. It had a chart run
of twenty weeks on the Oricon and saw her reach #1 on the World United Charts a second time.[15] It sold considerably less than her three previous Japanese releases as
Utada Hikaru, possibly due to its heavy experimentation in other music genres such as dance
and
In spite of enlisting the help of Timbaland to produce and co-write some songs, her American debut as an Island Def Jam Music Group artist was met with indifference by the American market, almost due to the fact that there was virtually no promotion on her record label's part, selling a minimal 30,000 units. Despite the failure in the international markets, this album topped the charts in Japan, though again, it sold less than her releases as Utada Hikaru.
"Easy Breezy" was released as the lead single in early August 2004, peaking at #9 Billboard Hot Dance/Club Airplay chart, followed up by "Devil Inside" a month and two weeks later. "Exodus '04" was released at the end of June 2005. The fourth single from her Exodus album, "You Make Me Want to Be a Man", was released in October 2005. "Devil Inside" became a club smash in the U.S. and topped the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Airplay charts, and remains her most successful single release in the U.S..
"Exodus '04" also charted with a lesser #24 peak. Maxi singles featuring remixes from The Scumfrog, Richard Vission, JJ Flores and Peter Bailey were also released. Both the Exodus album and "You Make Me Want to Be a Man" single were released in the UK, with different artwork from the USA and Japanese versions. In October 2005, it became another #1 on the Billboard Dance chart. The song was also featured on the Japanese Nintendo DS Launch Campaign. In early 2007, rumors circulated that an English follow-up album was in the works, and this has been confirmed on September 25, 2007 when Utada posted that she was in New York discussing her next English album.[16]
2005-present: Ultra Blue revolution
Ultra Blue
A year after the international releases and promotion of Exodus, Utada returned to the Japanese music scene with the release of a single track single, "Be My Last," originally rumored to be a double A-side. The title track was used as the main theme for the movie Spring Snow (春の雪 Haru no Yuki). Despite topping the Oricon charts, "Be My Last" did not meet commercial expectations, failing to sell over 30% of pre-ordered shipments. However, "Be My Last" became the second most downloaded song via PC of 2006 in Japan.
In mid-December, she released another single "Passion", commonly known around the world as the theme song for the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II. The single reached #4 on the Oricon Top 200 singles charts, selling 112,000 copies total.
In addition to "Passion", Utada composed an English song, "Sanctuary", that was used in the Kingdom Hearts II advertisement and game releases worldwide. Although the same background music is used in both songs, their lyrics and the layering of background vocals are notably different.
After a less than spectacular comeback in 2005, Utada released another single titled "Keep Tryin'" on February 22, 2006." Keep Tryin'," a bittersweet experimental pop track, was the promotional song (January - April 2006) for LISMO! au LISTEN MOBILE SERVICE's CM. "Keep Tryin' c/w WINGS" peaked at #2 on the Oricon charts, selling a mere 125,000 copies total. However, the digital sales were Utada's highest (until Flavor of Life surpassed them), approaching two-and-a-half million downloads, spending the most weeks atop OnGen's digital charts, for a total of two and half months."Keep Tryin'" also reached number one on iTunes Japan's year-end chart.
"This is Love", the opening track from Utada's than-upcoming Japanese studio album ULTRA BLUE, hit the radio May 7th, 2006. The song became available for download May 31st, making it Utada's first digital sales-exclusive single, "This Is Love." This release was used to promote "ULTRA BLUE," which debuted on radio May 29, 2006 and was released June 14, 2006 physically and June 28 digitally.
Unlike all of her previous Japanese-language albums, ULTRA BLUE does not have an eponymous track to the album title. Instead, the ballad "BLUE" was recorded. The song featured Utada's new experimental pop and dance tone found in the album's last physical single "Keep Tryin'." This sound became a central theme to the album.
Ultra Blue sold 500,317 copies in the first week, easily topping the Oricon Daily, Weekly and Monthly charts, and outplacing the #2 album, Angela Aki's HOME by an impressive 475,000+ units in its first week of release. In addition, it was Utada's third #1 album debut on the United World Charts.[15]
This also gave Utada her sixth consecutive chart-topping album to sell in excess of 500,000 units for first-week sales, setting a new record. It also charted a second week at #1 on the Oricon Daily and Weekly charts, selling a further 157,000 units. By July 13, barely a month post its release, her record label Toshiba EMI published a report confirming Ultra Blue had sold over one million copies worldwide and four million digital ringtones already.
After fifty-two weeks on the Oricon Albums chart, ULTRA BLUE sold 907,536 units in Japan and was certified triple-platinum by the RIAJ, making it the highest-selling original studio album by a Japanese female artist in 2006.[17]
Ultra Blue was also Utada's first album to be available on the iTunes Japan online music store, where it was immensely successful, charting at #4 on the 2006 yearly download rankings.[18] It was the best selling original studio album by a female artist in 2006, and the seventh best selling album of the year according to 'Oricon Style' magazine rankings.[19][verification needed] The EMI Group released their Annual Report for 2007 on July 29th, and with it comes news that Utada’s album “ULTRA BLUE” had sold 1.3 million units worldwide, making it one of EMI’s 10th best-selling album of the past year.[20][21]
Utada United and "Boku wa Kuma"
The "Utada United 2006" nationwide tour commenced June 30, 2006 and ended on September 12, 2006 after Utada's performances at Yoyogi. Surprisingly, this was Utada's only other concert tour besides her debut tour with the "Bohemian Summer 2000" concert series, although she did perform one concert at the Budokan Dome in 2004. Aside from her Japanese work, the tour's set list featured three tracks from her 2004 English-language album, Exodus. The dates were all cumulatively announced, and ticket sales started on May 28, 2006 with the majority of venues selling out in less than two hours. On September 20, 2006, Exodus was re-released in Japan for ¥1,470. Also released in September 2006 was the "Utada Hikaru Single Collection" Volume 4, which included all of the music videos for all the Ultra Blue singles, in addition to "A Making" segment for each of them. It also featured live internet footage of "Be My Last" and "Passion" which were performed in late 2005. For the week of October 8, 2006, it entered the Oricon Music DVD charts at #1, selling an approximate first-week estimate of 22,000 units.[citation needed]
On November 22, 2006, Utada released an anticipated new single, "ぼくはくま ( Boku wa Kuma?, lit. I'm a Bear)." The song tied with "Passion" as her lowest charting single, placing #4 in its first week, and had the second lowest first-week sales of her career behind "Automatic / Time Will Tell". However, it was her first single since "Dareka no Negai Ga Kanau Koro" to chart more than three consecutive or non-consecutive weeks in the "Top 10 Oricon Singles" chart. By the end of May 2007, "Boku wa Kuma" had sold 147,041 copies. Despite low first week sales, it stayed in the top twenty for nine consecutive weeks, selling more than 10,000 copies each week until its seventh.[22] Despite initially slow sales, it has been her most successful single since "Be My Last" (2005) and has surpassed the sales of her previous two singles, "Passion" and "Keep Tryin'".[22]
"Flavor Of Life"
In early 2007, Utada's official site announced her 18th Japanese single "Flavor of Life," which was released February 28, 2007."[23] The ballad version of "Flavor Of Life" was featured as the insert song for the second season of the popular Japanese drama, Hana Yori Dango.
"Flavor of Life" was a major comeback for Utada, garnering the largest overall success in her career with the most combined airplay, physical sales, and downloads. "Flavor of Life," her twelfth #1 Oricon single, was the most physically successful female single in the past three and a half years (since Ayumi Hamasaki's, "H"), with first week sales of 270,000+ units. By its seventh week of charting, Utada's total CD single sales surpassed 15 million, making her the #3 solo or female artist in sales. "Flavor of Life" also became a top fifteen hit on the world charts for three weeks on Japanese airplay and sales alone. An annual EMI record report on July 29th, 2007 mentioned the immense digital success of “Flavor Of Life,” citing it as one of the reasons that EMI’s digital revenue has expanded by 69% this year in Japan.[20][21]
In April 2007, "Flavor Of Life" became the highest-selling Japanese downloaded single of all time. Combining its digital downloads with physical CD sales, it sold well past 8,300,000 copies in total, marking the all-time combination sales record for a single in Japan.[24] In late June 2007, Oricon announced that "Flavor of Life" was the second best-selling single of 2007 so far, making Utada only one of two female solo artists in the top 10 of this particular half-year listing. "Flavor of Life" also swept the download charts, with "Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-" becoming the most downloaded song for the first half of 2007, and "Flavor of Life" -Original Version- as the second most downloaded.[25]
Divorce
On 2 March 2007, Utada Hikaru and her husband Kazuaki Kiriya were officially divorced, thus ending their four and a half year marriage. They announced the divorce on Utada's blog the following day. Both stated that many factors contributed to the divorce, including personal changes, different viewpoints on the future of their marriage, and, more importantly, lack of communication due to the nature of their jobs. Kiriya hoped that Utada's fans would continue to support her and that the divorce would not affect her reputation and sales. He stated that they could not "emotionally depend on each other" and wished for everybody to support Utada.[26][27]
"Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry"
On April 20, 2007 Hikki's Official Site disclosed the name of a new song, "Kiss & Cry," which can be described as an 'effervescent summer dance/pop track' that sampled part of the bridge melody from "Hotel Lobby,' the seventh track from her 2004 English album, "EXODUS".[23] "Kiss & Cry" was featured in the 2007 "Freedom Cup Noodles CM," the same tie-in of her first Japanese digital 2006 single, "This is Love." On June 31, "Kiss & Cry" became her second digital single to be released in Japan. Her blogs had officially stated that this song would be grouped with a Double or Triple A-side CD single to be released sometime in the summer.
On June 29, her official site disclosed the name of the new Double A-side (her fourth to date) single: "
Following the anticipated news of the new single, Utada's entire discography was added to the iTunes UK online store, including her most recent single, "Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)-2007 Mix-.
After multiple delays,"Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry" debuted August 29th, 2007 on Japan’s Oricon Daily Singles Charts and eventually overall at #3 on the Weekly rankings with 93,518 copies sold. On the fourth day of physical sales, coinciding with the release of the major tie-in Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy's first film Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, the single rebounded from the #3 position up to the #1 on the Oricon Daily Singles Chart, but would claim a lower #3 position on the weekly charts. On its second week of charting, "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry" rose to #2 on the charts and has sold upwards of about 145,000 units. In its first seven weeks of charting, the single has yet drop out of the Top 20 of the Physical Singles chart, and in addition, Oricon reports that it has now cumulatively sold 215,374 copies, making it the #2 female single of 2007 in Japan behind her own "Flavor of Life," and the #3 single on the September monthly chart. When the sales of "Boku wa kuma" (70,256 units in 2007), "Flavor of life" and "Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry" are added together, Utada's total 2007 CD single sales are 928,441 units, the highest for a female or solo Japanese artist.
New English album
On September 25, 2007, Utada stated in her blog that she is currently in New York talking with producers and executives at Island/Def Jam about recording her second English album (confirming rampant rumors earlier this year about a possible follow-up to Exodus).[16] Official schedules for promotion, recording, and release have yet to be announced.
"Stay Gold"
Quite quickly after the Evangelion tied-in single, in early October rumors of a new Utada song being used in the background music of an Asience hair products commercial song flew across the Internet. On October 3, 2007, it was revealed by Kao (the company that owns Asience hair products), after aggressive contact by several Japanese sites, that the song is indeed a new Utada song, officially entitled "Stay Gold," a possible reference to the Stevie Wonder song of the same name and Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay" poem. There is no news of confirmation whether this is a song to be included on a new CD single or album, or even just to be a new promotional airplay or digital single, from either Utada or her record label.
Despite the announcement of an upcoming English album project, the commercial by ASIENCE Hair Products, which began airing on October 3 that featured "Stay Gold" came as a great surprise to many fans, critics, and online blogs and sites, as Utada usually states in some form of media several weeks or months in advance the announcement of any new songs she plans to release. [1] Information regarding this song's future release has yet to be confirmed, but it seems likely it'll be released in CD format as her 20th Japanese language single and her third for 2007. According to the Utada News Blog, a second CM featuring this same song is due to be released on October 11th, and an article from Listen Japan's website on October 3 confirms Utada as the #1 digital artist of 2007, selling a total 10 million downloads of the two song versions of "Flavor of Life" (7.7 million alone) and the three tracks from her "Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry" single. [2]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | USA | World | |||
| 1998 | Precious | 4 | — | — | |
| 1999 | First Love | 1 | — | — | |
| 2001 | Distance | 1 | — | — | |
| 2002 | Deep River | 1 | — | — | |
| 2004 | Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1 | 1 | — | 1 | |
| 2004 | Exodus | 1 | 160 | 1 | |
| 2006 | ULTRA BLUE | 1 | — | 1 | |
Other Songs
Day of Nattō-- On her blog in July 2007, she stated that she recorded this song, and that she stayed up all night writing it. This song is possibly to be included on an upcoming single.
Sukiyaki-- She covered the song
Save the Best for Last-- She sang the chorus of the song originally by Vanessa Williams on her 20th birthday. Mentioned that it's her 'weapon song' during karaoke sessions. (UH Live Streaming 20 Dai wa Ikeike!)
I Love You-- On her Bohemian Summer 2000 tour, she covered Ozaki Yutaka's I Love You as a tribute to him.
Playback part 2-- A cover of legendary Japanese idol, singer, and actress Momoe Yamaguchi's classic, also performed on her Bohemian Summer 2000 tour.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams-- She covered Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams along with Passion on the Christmas of 2005. It was available as an internet download for a short period of time.
Other covers and specials were released as vinyls, singles, or DVDs.
Awards, honors & records
| Years | Awards |
|---|---|
| 1999 |
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| 2000 |
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| 2001 |
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| 2002 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2004 |
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| 2005 |
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| 2006 |
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| 2007 |
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References and notes
- ^ MUSIC STATION 2005年 アーティスト別トータルセールスTOP50.
- ^ All Time Top 50 Sales (Japan). Wiki. ThePPN.
- ^ The Japan Gold Disc Award. Record Industry Association of Japan.
- ^ Top 100 Japanese pops Artists - No.24 (Japanese) (2003-11-07).
- ^ 日本のシンガーTOP30 - 第10位 (Japanese) (2005-12-21).
- ^ Rising Stars of Asian America.
- ^ Christopher John Farley (2001-09-15). Diva on Campus. Time. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
- ^ a b c Successful Albums Ranking: Top 267 (歴代アルバムランキング TOP267) (Japanese). www.musictvprogram.com.
- ^ The English version of "Hikari", known as "Simple and Clean", was included in Utada's COLORS single.
- ^ "Japanese teen pop star home after bout with side effects of ovarian surgery", AP Worldstream, May 11, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. (English)
- ^ Oricon Chart album result 2002. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
- ^ 宇多田ヒカル Oricon Style Special Comment (Japanese).
- ^ United World Chart (2004-04-17).
- ^ Alyssa Rashbaum (2004-10-05). Utada. MTV. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
- ^ a b United World Chart (2004-09-25).
- ^ a b Bon jour!. www.u3music.com (September 29, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-26.
- ^ アルバム 年間ランキング (Japanese).
- ^ Utada Hikaru. Wiki. ThePPN.
- ^ Oricon. Album Annual Ranking (アルバム 年間ランキング, Album Annual Ranking?) (Japanese).Oricon Style. Retrieved 2007-6-26.
- ^ a b Utada @ EMI Annual Report 2007. www.utada-online.net (July 29, 2007).
- ^ a b EMI Annual Report 2007, 2007, pp. 18, <http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/dynamicdoc/document.cfm?CompanyID=EMIL&DocumentID=1798&PIN=&Page=20&Zoom=1x&Section=44002#44002>. Retrieved on 2007-08-26
- ^ a b Boku wa Kuma. Wiki. ThePPN.
- ^ a b Hikki's WEB SITE (Japanese).
- ^ 宇多田シングル最多の630万ユニット販売.
- ^ a b c Nihongo. recochoku.jp (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ Important announcement (大事なお知らせ) (Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ Hikki Texts: Important announcement (translated). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ New Single: Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry. www.utada-online.net (June 28, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ The Japan Records Award - 1999 (Japanese). http://www.jacompa.or.jp/index.html (1999). Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
- ^ Announcing the Top 100 Big Artists of the 20th Century as chosen by listeners and J-wave (リスナーとJ-WAVEが選んだ20世紀のビッグ・アーティスト100人を発表！) (Japanese). www.j-wave.co.jp (1999). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ 1999 Chart (1999年のチャート) (Japanese). www.j-wave.co.jp (1999). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ Winners of the World Music Awards. www.montecarloresort.com (May 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ 2004 World Music Awards Winners. www.billboard.com (September 16, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ a b (発表！ 音楽ファン2万人が選ぶ『好きなアーティストランキング』) (Japanese). www.oricon.co.jp (July 20, 2004). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ 2005 Favorite Artist Ranking (2005年好きなアーティストランキング) (Japanese). www.oricon.co.jp (2005). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ ^ 日本のシンガーTOP30 - 第10位
- ^ (松任谷由実、アルバム女性部門5冠達成！) (Japanese). www.oricon.co.jp (June 30, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ (宇多田ヒカル、2年1ヶ月ぶりのアルバム首位獲得で史上初の快挙！) (Japanese). www.oricon.co.jp (June 20, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ 06'好きなアーティストランキング『音楽ファン2万人に聞いた好きなアーティストとは？！』 (Japanese).
- ^ Million Artist Card Release (「ミリオンアーティストカード」登場). shop.mu-mo.net. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ (夏に向け、清涼飲料水のCM曲が好調). contents.oricon.co.jp (July 17, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-08-26. |language=Japanese}}
- ^ http://utada-online.net/blog/
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
- Capitol Records
External links
- Hikki's Website — official EMI Music Japan site (Japanese)
- Hikki's Website — official EMI Music Taiwan site (Chinese)
- Utada.com — official U.S. Island Records/Universal Music Group site (English)
- Utada.com — official Japanese Island Records/Universal Music Group site (Japanese)
- U3Music Inc — official Utada Hikaru/Utada Message/Blog site (Japanese)/(English)
- Yesasia Article – Utada Hikaru career overview (English)
- Utada Discography Gallery - Picture gallery of Utada's CDs and DVDs (English)
Listening
- Utada Hikaru audio (click headphones to listen to individual tracks)
Videos
| Utada Hikaru |
|---|
| Albums |
|
Japanese:
First Love • Distance Deep River • Ultra Blue Compilation Album: Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1 |
| Japanese Singles |
|
"First Love" Singles:
Automatic / Time Will Tell Movin' on without you • First Love "Deep River" Singles: Final Distance • traveling Hikari • Sakura Drops / Letters New Singles: Boku wa Kuma • Flavor of Life Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry "Distance" Singles:
Addicted To You • For You / Time Limit Can You Keep A Secret? "Ultra Blue" Singles: Colors Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro Be My Last • Passion • Keep Tryin' Digital Singles: This Is Love • Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) -2007 Mix- |
| English Singles |
|
"Exodus" Singles:
Easy Breezy • Devil Inside Exodus '04 You Make Me Want To Be A Man Special Singles: REMIX: Fly Me To The Moon |
| Theme Songs |
| Various |
| Full discography • Albums • Singles |
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