2/25/2005

Utada Hikaru (宇多田 ヒカル Utada Hikaru, born January 19, 1983), or "Hikki" as she is known to fans, is a Japanese pop music star. In English-speaking countries, her full name is put in Western order, Hikaru Utada. In an interview, she stated that she plans to use the English-order name to separate her "English" and "Japanese" personas.

She was born in New York City, New York to Japanese parents who both had roots in the Japanese music industry: her father, Teruzane Skingg Utada, was a producer, while her mother, Keiko Fuji, was an enka singer. She made her first professional recording at the age of 12, and recorded her first album, Precious, in 1996 under the pseudonym Cubic U.

She moved to Tokyo later that year and attended 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 successful single "Automatic", soon followed by the album First Love, which sold over five million copies in a month during March and April of 1999 and placed Utada among the 100 wealthiest people in Japan. She also broke the record of units sold on a single album in Japan; she still holds the record to this day.

Utada returned to New York in 2000 to attend Columbia University as a freshman, but took leave from it within the year. She continued to record, however, and her two subsequent albums, Distance (2001) and DEEP RIVER (2002), also went multi-platinum. Shortly after the release of the latter she announced her marriage to Kazuaki Kiriya, a photographer and director fifteen years her senior, in September 2002. Her 2004 American debut as an Island Def Jam Music Group artist was met with indifference by an American market already saturated with female pop singers.

Her 2001 song "Can You Keep A Secret" was not released in the United States as a single. Its music video received some attention as part of International Week, which coincided with the 2001 EMA’s, on the American channel MTV2. That video’s airplay was likely Utada’s first chance at exposure in the United States.

So far she is best known in the western hemisphere for singing "Simple And Clean", the theme to the video game series "Kingdom Hearts," which is an English version of her popular song "Hikari". She also performed a well-received duet with Foxy Brown, "Blow My Whistle", which was featured on the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack. Her most successful singles include "First Love", "Automatic", "Wait And See", "Final Distance", "For You/Time Limit", "Traveling", "Colors", and "Sakura Drops."

On October 5th, 2004, Utada Hikaru released her debut US album Exodus under the name "Utada" (for fear of U.S. fans mutilating her Japanese nickname, Hikki). It was released nearly a month earlier, on September 9th, in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase.

Discography

ALBUM

• JAPANESE
  • First Love (March 10, 1999)
  • Distance (March 28, 2001)
  • DEEP RIVER (June 19, 2002)
  • Utada Hikaru SINGLE COLLECTION VOL.1 (March 31, 2004)
• ENGLISH
  • Precious (1998)
  • EXODUS (October 5, 2004)

ANALOGS

• JAPANESE
• Automatic/time will tell (February 17, 1999)
• First Love (June 30, 1999)
• Fly Me To The Moon (March 28, 2001)
• Distance (July 25, 2001)
• DEEP RIVER (September 30, 2002)
• ENGLISH
  • Devil Inside (September 14, 2004)

SINGLE

• JAPANESE
  • Automatic/time will tell (December 9, 1998)(8cm)
  • Automatic/time will tell (December 9, 1998)(12cm)
  • Movin’ on without you (February 17, 1999)(8cm)
  • Movin’ on without you (February 17, 1999)(12cm)
  • First Love (April 28, 1999)(8cm)
  • First Love (April 28, 1999)(12cm)
  • Addicted To You (November 10, 1999)
  • Wait & See~リスク~ (April 19, 2000)
  • For You/time limit (June 30, 2000)
  • Can You Keep A Secret (February 16, 2001)
  • FINAL DISTANCE (July 25, 2001)
  • travelling (November 29, 2001)
  • 光 (March 20, 2002)
  • SAKURAドロップス / Letters (May 9, 2002)
  • COLORS (January 29, 2003)
  • 誰かの願いが叶うころ (April 21, 2004)
• ENGLISH
  • Devil Inside (September 14, 2004)
  • Easy Breezy
  • Exodus ‘04

VIDEO

• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.1 (December 16, 1999)
• Bohemian Summer 2000 (December 9, 2000)
• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.2 (September 27, 2001)
• Utada Hikaru Unplugged (November 28, 2001)
• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.3 (September 30, 2002)

VCD

• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.1 (December 22, 1999)
• Wait&See～リスク～ (June 30, 2000)
• Bohemian Summer 2000 (December 9, 2000)
• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.2 (September 27, 2001)
• Utada Hikaru Unplugged (November 28, 2001)
• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.3 (September 30, 2002)
• UH LIVE STREAMING 20代はイケイケ (March 29, 2003)

DVD

• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.1 (December 22, 1999)
• Wait&See～リスク～ (June 30, 2000)
• Bohemian Summer 2000 (December 9, 2000)
• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.2 (September 27, 2001)
• traveling (September 27, 2001)
• Utada Hikaru Unplugged (November 28, 2001)
• UH SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION Vol.3 (September 30, 2002)
• COLORS (March 12, 2003)
• UH LIVE STREAMING 20代はイケイケ (March 29, 2003)
• 誰かの願いが叶うころ (July 28, 2004)
• Utada Hikaru in Budokan 2004 - ヒカルの５ (July 28, 2004)

SOUNDTRACKS-Various Artists

• ENGLISH
  • Def Jam’S RUSH HOUR 2 Soundtrack
  • Disney’s Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack

OTHERS-Various Artists

• JAPANESE
  • Beautiful Drivin’ Classic - Wish (November 6, 2003)
  • BLUE~ A TRIBUTE TO YUTAKA OZAKI (March 24, 2004)
  • OUR LAST DAY - CASSHERN OFFICIAL ALBUM (April 23, 2004)
• ENGLISH
  • UNITY (July 12, 2004)

External links

• Hikki’s WEB SITE (Utada Hikaru Official at Toshiba EMI)
• UTADA (UTADA Official US at Island Records/Universal Music Group)
• UTADA (UTADA Official Japan at Island Records/Universal Music Group)
• U3 Music
• Time ASIA article on Utada

(Source: Wikipedia)