Ayumi Hamasaki born October 2, 1978, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress.Also known as "Ayu" to her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of pop" or "the Empress of J-Pop" due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan.Born and raised in Fukuoka, Hamasaki moved to Tokyo at the age of fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, Hamasaki, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, released a string of modestly performing singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for XX. The album debuted atop the Oricon charts (Japan's primary music charts, similar to the Billboard charts) and held that position for four weeks in a row, establishing Hamasaki's popularity in Japan.
Since her 1998 debut with the single "Poker Face", she has sold around 50 million records, making her one of Japan's best-selling singers.With the release of her thirty-ninth single, "Startin'/Born to Be...", in 2006, Hamasaki became Japan's female solo artist with the most number-one singles. In addition, the release of Hamasaki's 2008 single "Mirrorcle World" made Hamasaki the only Japanese female artist to have a number-one single every year for ten consecutive years.She is also the first Japanese artist to have her first original eight studio albums top the Oricon charts,as well as the Japanese female artist with the most number-one singles, most Top 10 singles, highest singles sales, and most million-seller singles (this record for most million-seller singles is shared with band Pink Lady and fellow J-pop singers Namie Amuro and Hikaru Utada.
Hamasaki began her modeling career at the age of seven, modeling locally for institutions such as banks to earn money for the family. At the age of fourteen, she moved from Fukuoka to Tokyo to take various modeling stints as well as acting jobs in such productions as television dramas like Miseinen and b-movies like Gakko II and Ladys Ladys!! Soucho Saigo no Hi. She did not meet with much success in these endeavors: she was deemed by her talent agency as too short to be a model, and the projects she acted in were not well-received by the general public.Although Hamasaki originally got good grades, she eventually decided that the subjects she was taking were of no use to her; consequently, her grades dropped drastically and she became a delinquent.
As her modeling and acting endeavors met with little success, Hamasaki's talent agency decided to repackage her as a singer; her first professional musical endeavors were in the rap scene. Nothing from Nothing, her first album, was released in December 1995 under the Nippon Columbia label. When the album failed to chart on the Oricon, the label dropped her.Shortly afterwards, Hamasaki left high school; with no job, she spent much of her time shopping at Shibuya boutiques and dancing at Velfarre, an Avex-owned disco club.
At Velfarre, Hamasaki was introduced to her future producer, Max Matsuura, through a mutual friend. Matsuura offered Hamasaki a recording deal immediately after hearing her sing, but Hamasaki suspected Matsuura of ulterior motives and turned the offer down.Nonetheless, Matsuura persisted in offering her a contract until the following year, when Hamasaki finally signed on to the Avex label and began taking vocal training.Finding the instructors too rigid and the classes too dull, however,Hamasaki skipped most of her classes. When she confessed to Matsuura that she had skipped the classes, he sent her to New York for training. While there, Hamasaki corresponded with Matsuura who, impressed with her writing, suggested she try writing her own lyrics.
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