Biography
Hikaru Utada (宇多田 ヒカル, Utada Hikaru, born January 19, 1983), who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. Utada has become one of the most influential and best-selling musical artists in Japan.
Born in the United States to Japanese parents, record producer Teruzane Utada and enka singer Keiko Fuji, Utada began to write music and lyrics at an early age and often traveled to Tokyo as a result of her father's job. Eventually, a recording contract with Toshiba-EMI was signed. Under the stage name Cubic U, she released an English-language debut album Precious in early 1998, but it was a commercial failure. In the following year, heavily influenced by R&B and dance-pop, a Japanese-language debut First Love was released and became an immediate success. Backed by the success of singles "Automatic", "Time Will Tell", and "Movin' On Without You", the album sold two million copies in its first week in Japan, topped the Oricon charts for six non-consecutive weeks and went on to sell six million more throughout the rest of 1999. First Love eventually became the country's best-selling album of all time. In 2021, Utada announced her non-binary gender identity, becoming one of the first public figures in Japan to self-identify in this way.Utada's album Distance was released in early 2001 and spawned her biggest hit singles—"Addicted to You", "Wait & See (Risk)" and "Can You Keep a Secret?"—which became million-sellers. The album was commercially successful and broke several sales records after three million copies were sold in its first week of availability in Japan, instantly becoming the country's fastest-selling album. In 2002, backed by chart-topping singles such as "Traveling", "Hikari" and "Sakura Drops", Deep River, which incorporates elements of pop folk, was released and went on to become one of Japan's top-selling records of all-time. Subsequent full-length releases—Exodus, Ultra Blue and Heart Station—achieved million-selling status certified by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. After a prolonged hiatus, she released the acoustic-driven albums Fantôme and Hatsukoi, which reached number one on the Oricon album charts. She topped the charts again with 2022's Bad Mode, her first bilingual, Japanese/English album.
By the end of the 2000s, Utada was deemed "the most influential artist of the decade" in the Japanese music landscape by The Japan Times. Commercial success has made her one of Japan's top-selling recording artists of all time with over 50 million records sold since launching her career in the late 1990s. Twelve of her singles have reached number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, while ten albums have become chart-toppers. Six of her full-length releases are among the country's highest-selling albums of all time, including First Love, Distance and Deep River, which are among the top ten best-selling records of Japan's music history. She is best known by international audiences for writing and producing four theme-song contributions to Square Enix and Disney's collaborative video game series Kingdom Hearts: "Simple and Clean", "Sanctuary", "Don't Think Twice", and "Face My Fears".
Filmography
all 29
Movies 20
TV Shows 9
self 5
First Love (2023)
First Love (2022)
Hikaru Utada Live Sessions from Air Studios (2022)
To Your Eternity (2021)
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021)
Gourmet Detective Goro Akechi (2020)
Hikaru Utada Laughter in the Dark Tour 2018 (2019)
Penguin Highway (2018)
Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura (2017)
I'm Sorry, I Love You (2017)
Utada: In the Flesh 2010 (2013)
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)
Wild Life (2011)
Utada Hikaru-WILD LIFE 2010 (2010)
Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
Innocent Love (2008)
Last Friends (2008)
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
Utada United (2006)
BOYS OVER FLOWERS (2005)
Spring Snow (2005)
FLUXIMATION (2005)
Utada Hikaru In Budokan 2004 (2004)
Casshern (2004)
UH Live Streaming 20 Dai wa Ike Ike! (2003)
Utada Hikaru Unplugged (2001)
Hero (2001)
BOHEMIAN SUMMER ~Utada Hikaru Circuit Live 2000 (2000)
Forbidden Love (1999)
Ratings
Gallery
Information
Known ForSound
GenderNon-binary
Birthday1983-01-19 (41 years old)
Birth Name宇多田 光
Birth PlaceManhattan, United States of America
Height158.9-centimeter
RelationshipsKazuaki Kiriya (2002-09-07 - 2007-03-02)
FatherTeruzane Utada
MotherKeiko Fuji
CitizenshipsUnited States of America, Japan
Also Known AsHikki, 宇多田ヒカル, 宇多田光, Utada , Cubic U, Utada Hikaru
This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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