Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎 あゆみ
Hamasaki Ayumi, born
October 2,
1978) is a
Japanese singer originally from
Fukuoka. In her homeland she is commonly called by her nickname
Ayu. Since 2001, she has been arguably the single most successful
J-Pop singer in terms of sales and popularity, though the same can be said about
Utada Hikaru. She has an aversion to singing in the
English language, and writes her own lyrics. She is one of Japan's most prolific recording artists, having released 7 albums and 34 singles as of August 2005. One reason for this is that her record company releases most of her albums in multiple versions, such as
trance remix,
eurobeat remix and orchestral versions. Recently she started to write some of her own music with the pen name
CREA named after one of her beloved dogs; her single 'M' was the first time she ever wrote music and lyrics altogether.
At one point, four of Hamasaki's albums were among Japan's top ten best-sellers. She is also the only individual to win the Japan Recording Award (日本レコード大賞) three years in a row, in 2001 (for "Dearest"), 2002 (for "Voyage"), and 2003 (for "No way to say").
Before her musical debut in 1998 with the single "Poker Face," Hamasaki was a
tarento, a kind of Japanese
idol who appears in photo-books, TV commercials and so on. Even though her major label debut was in 1998, she released one album and one single in 1995 featuring her song Nothing from Nothing.
Her record label
AVEX Records also commissioned a series of remix albums called
ayu-mi-x featuring DJs from around the world.
Due to a restructuring of management, AVEX is considering dropping Hamasaki from their label.
Discography
Studio Albums
(1995/12/01 - NOTHING FROM NOTHING not in avex discography) - #Failed to Chart
1999/01/01 - A Song for XX - #1
1999/11/10 - LOVEppears - #1
2000/09/27 - Duty - #1
2002/01/01 - I am... - #1
2002/12/18 - RAINBOW - #1
2003/12/17 - Memorial address - #1
2004/12/15 - MY STORY - #1
Singles
from NOTHING FROM NOTHING
1995/??/?? NOTHING FROM NOTHING - #Failed to Chart
from A SONG FOR xx
1998/4/8 "poker face" c/w "FRIEND" - #20
1998/6/10 "YOU" - #20
1998/8/5 "Trust" - #9
1998/10/7 "For my dear..." - #9
1998/12/9 "Depend on you" c/w "Two of us" - #6
from LOVEppears
1999/2/10 "WHATEVER" - #5
1999/4/14 "LOVE~destiny~" c/w "LOVE~since1999~" - #1
1999/5/12 "TO BE" - #4
1999/7/14 "Boys & girls" - #1
1999/8/11 A ("monochrome"/"Trauma"/"too late"/"End roll" - #1
1999/11/10 "appears" - #2 Limited pressing - 300,000 copies
1999/12/8 "kanariya" - #1 Limited pressing - 300,000 copies
2000/2/9 "Fly high" - #3 Limited pressing - 300,000 copies
from Duty
2000/4/26 "vogue" c/w "ever free"- #3
2000/5/17 "Far away" - #2
2000/6/7 "SEASONS" - #1
2000/9/27 "SURREAL" - #1 - First edition only
2000/11/1 "AUDIENCE" - #2 - Limited pressing - 300,000 copies
from I am...
2000/12/13 "M" - #1
2001/1/31 "evolution" - #1
2001/3/7 "NEVER EVER" - #1
2001/6/16 "Endless sorrow" - #1
2001/7/11 "UNITE!" - #1
2001/9/27 "Dearest" - #1
2002/3/6 "Daybreak" - #2 - Limited pressing - 300,000 copies
from RAINBOW
2002/4/24 "Free & easy" - #1
2002/7/24 H ("independent"/"July 1st"/"HANABI") - #1
2002/9/26 "Voyage" - #1
from Memorial address
2003/7/9 & ("ourselves"/"Greatful days"sic/"HANABI~episode II~) c/w "Theme of a-nation '03" - #1
2003/8/20 "forgiveness" - #1
2003/11/6 "No way to say" - #1
from MY STORY
2004/3/31 "Moments" (CD/CD+DVD) - #1
2003/7/28 "INSPIRE" c/w "GAME" (CD/CD+DVD) - #1
2003/9/29 "CAROLS" (CD/CD+DVD/SACD/DVD Audio) - #1
from the upcoming album
2005/4/20 STEP you/is this LOVE? (CD/CD+DVD) - #1
2005/8/5 "fairyland" c/w "alterna" (CD/CD+DVD) - #?
Non-Regular Singles
2000/12/6 - the other side ONE ~previously unreleased version~ - #33
2001/1/31 - the other side TWO ~previously unreleased version~ - #10
2001/1/31 - the other side THREE ~previously unreleased version~ - #12
2001/1/31 - the other side FOUR ~previously unreleased version~ - #11
2001/2/28 - "poker face" c/w "FRIEND" (12 cm re-release) - #31
2001/2/28 - "YOU" (12 cm re-release) - #25
2001/2/28 - "Trust" (12 cm re-release) - #29
2001/2/28 - "For my dear..." (12 cm re-release) - #33
2001/2/28 - "Depend on you" c/w "Two of us" (12 cm re-release) - #27
2001/2/28 - "WHATEVER" (12 cm re-release) - #28
2001/2/28 - "LOVE~destiny~" c/w "LOVE~since1999~" (12 cm re-release) - #20
2001/2/28 - "TO BE" (12 cm re-release) - #26
2001/11/21 - excerpts from ayu-mi-x III CD:001 - #44
2001/11/21 - excerpts from ayu-mi-x III CD:002 - #34
2001/11/21 - excerpts from ayu-mi-x III CD:003 - #36
2001/11/21 - excerpts from ayu-mi-x III CD:004 - #35
2001/11/21 - excerpts from ayu-mi-x III CD:005 - #32
2001/11/21 - excerpts from ayu-mi-x III CD:006 - #30
2001/12/12 - "a song is born" - #1 (a duet with KEIKO (globe))
2002/?/? - "Connected" (System F presents ayu) - Released in Germany only
Compilation Albums
2001/03/28 - A BEST - #1
2003/03/12 - A BALLADS - #1
Remix Albums
1999/03/17 - ayu-mi-x - #4
2000/02/16 - SUPER EUROBEAT presents ayu-ro mix - #2
2000/03/08 - ayu-mi-x II version US+EU - #2
2000/03/08 - ayu-mi-x II version Acoustic Orchestra - #3
2000/03/08 - ayu-mi-x II version JPN - #6
2000/03/29 - ayu-mi-x II version Non-Stop Mega Mix - #6
2001/02/28 - ayu-mi-x III Acoustic Orchestra Version - #4
2001/02/28 - ayu-mi-x III Non-Stop Mega Mix Version - #3
2001/09/27 - SUPER EUROBEAT presents ayu-ro mix 2 - #1
2001/09/27 - Cyber TRANCE presents ayu trance - #3
2002/03/20 - ayu-mi-x 4 + selection Acoustic Orchestra Version - #9
2002/03/20 - ayu-mi-x 4 + selection Non-Stop Mega Mix Version - #4
2002/09/26 - Cyber TRANCE presents ayu trance 2 - #3
2003/09/25 - ayumi hamasaki RMX WORKS from SUPER EUROBEAT presents ayu-ro mix 3 - #13
2003/09/25 - ayumi hamasaki RMX WORKS from ayu-mi-x 5 non stop mega mix - #18
2003/09/25 - ayumi hamasaki RMX WORKS from Cyber TRANCE presents ayu TRANCE 3 - #14
2005/03/24 - MY STORY Classical - #4
DVD
Video Clips
HAMASAKI AYUMI (2000/03/29)
vogue Far away SEASONS (2000/09/20)
SURREAL (2000/12/13)
M (2001/02/07)
evolution (2001/06/13)
A clips vol.2 (2002/03/13)
ayumi hamasaki COMPLETE CLIP BOX A(2004/02/25)
Moments (2004/03/31)
INSPIRE (2004/07/28)
CAROLS (2004/09/29)
STEP you/is this LOVE? (2005/04/20)
fairyland (2005/08/03)
Short Film
月に沈む(Tsuki ni Shizumu) (The Sinking Moon) based on "Voyage" Clip (2002/11/13)
Lives
ayumi hamasaki concert tour 2000 A 第1幕 (2000/09/27)
ayumi hamasaki concert tour 2000 A 第2幕 (2000/09/27)
ayumi hamasaki countdown live 2000-2001 A (2001/06/20)
ayumi hamasaki DOME TOUR 2001 A (2001/12/12)
ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2001-2002 A (2003/01/29) (ONLY IN THE COMPLETE LIVE BOX)
ayumi hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2002 A (2003/01/29)
ayumi hamasaki STADIUM TOUR 2002 A (2003/01/29)
ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVE 2002-2003 A (2003/01/29) (ONLY IN THE COMPLETE LIVE BOX)
ayumi hamasaki COMPLETE LIVE BOX A (2003/01/29)
ayumi hamasaki A museum ~30th single collection live~ (2004/02/25)
ayumi hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2003-2004 A (2004/09/29)
ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN Live 2004-2005 A (2005/03/02)
ayumi Hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2005 A ~MY STORY~ (Date Unannounced)
DVD Audio
RAINBOW (2003/07/09)
CAROLS (2004/09/29)
MY STORY (2005/03/24)
VHS
Video Clip Compilations
A Film for XX(1999/09/15)
A clips(2000/02/23)
vogue Far away SEASONS(2000/07/12)
SURREAL(2000/12/13)
M(2001/02/07)
evolution(2001/06/13)
A clips vol.2(2002/03/13)
Lives
ayumi hamasaki concert tour 2000 A 第1幕 (2000/09/13)
ayumi hamasaki concert tour 2000 A 第2幕 (2000/09/13)
ayumi hamasaki countdown live 2000-2001 A (2001/06/20)
ayumi hamasaki DOME TOUR 2001 A (2001/12/12)
ayumi hamasaki ARENA TOUR 2002 A (2003/01/29)
ayumi hamasaki STADIUM TOUR 2002 A (2003/01/29)
OTHERS
A VISUAL MIX (PlayStation 2 software, 2001/12/13)
External links
Ayumi Hamasaki Official Website
Ayumi Hamasaki Official Fanclub
The Ayumi Hamasaki Fanlisting
Ayumi Hamasaki Norway
Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
Ayumi Hamasaki Sweden
Ayumi-Hamasaki.org Community
Hamasaki Republic
Hamasaki Studio
