CAN YOU CELEBRATE?
#1 / 2,296,200 sold

SWEET 19 BLUES
#1 / 3,359,420 sold

Namie Amuro was born in Naha, Okinawa on September 20th, 1977. Born to a biracial Japanese and Italian mother, her father left the family after the pair divorced early in Namie's childhood. Having a single mother and several siblings, money was tight for the family. Yet they managed and continued to live a normal existence until at the age of twelve, Namie was discovered by a little known performing arts school known as Okinawa Actor's School. She entered the school after officials persuaded her mother to let her enroll. Initially wanting to enroll in acting courses, Namie took dance instead and after two years in the dance program, she was selected to be in a five member group called "SUPER MONKEYS."

The group debuted in the fall of 1992 with the double a-side single, "Koi no CUTE BEAT / MR. USA." The single became a moderate hit. Following the release of the single, their management decided to relocate the group to Tokyo. Before leaving Okinawa, Namie made a promise to her mother that if the group ultimately failed to succeed she would return after three years. She would never have to go back.

For three years following the release of their debut single, the group did not score any hit singles. The group had also experienced several member changes, the last of which formed in late 1994. The recently renamed "Namie Amuro with SUPER MONKEYS" released a brand new single, "TRY ME ~Watashi wo Shinjite~ in January 1995 and within a couple of months burned up the charts. Japan's infatuation with Namie had been ignited. Two more singles were released from Toshiba EMI, but solely under the "Namie Amuro" moniker marking her debut as a solo artist. After one original album, also marketed as an Amuro solo release, the group officially went their separate ways. Namie signed with the fledging label, avex trax and released the single, "Body Feels EXIT" in the fall of 1995. The single would be the start of a long working relationship with Tetsuya Komuro. Namie hit the ground running and she rapidly started saturating the airwaves appearing in several commercials and signing dozens of endorsement deals. She was everywhere. Girls started imitating her style of miniskirts, platform boots and dyed brown hair. Her followers would be dubbed a social phenomenon called "Amura."

She released three massive singles following her avex debut until the summer of 1996 when she released her first Komuro produced album, "SWEET 19 BLUES." The album went on to sell over three million copies. She quickly followed the success of the album with a starring role in the movie, "That's Cunning." It would be her only starring role in a movie. She commemorated her first year as a solo artist with a concert at Chiba Marine Stadium. She is still the youngest female performer to ever have played the venue at 18. She released a new single, "a walk in the park" in late 1996 and success followed her into 1997.

Early in the year she released her another new single, "CAN YOU CELEBRATE?". The single would go on to sell over 2.6 million copies becoming the best selling single by a Japanese female solo artist. She released a new album in the summer called, "Concentration 20." The heavily rock influenced album debuted at the top of the charts with a supporting tour in Japan's Four Domes. On October 23rd, she appeared in a press conference with her famous long locks cropped to a short bob. She announced that she had eloped with a member of the group TRF, Masaharu Maruyama, better known as SAM. The couple proceeded to tell the press room that she was three months pregnant and that she would be on maternity leave for a year. Namie released one more single following the announcement and performed for the last time before her leave at Kouhaku Utagassen as the tori.

She gave birth to a boy on May, 19th 1998 and named him, Haruto Maruyama. Namie released a new single, "I HAVE NEVER SEEN" in late December. The new single was followed shortly with a tearful comeback performance on Kouhaku Utagassen, New Years Eve. She started her 1999 activities with the release of the gospel-tinged "RESPECT the POWER OF LOVE" in March. However, the release was sullied by the sudden death of her mother the same day as the release. Later she made her comeback to the concert stage performing at "SUPER DREAM LIVE" held at Chiba Marine Stadium.

In the summer of 1999, it was announced that Namie would release a single written by American R&B producer, Dallas Austin. Upon release, the single entitled "SOMETHING 'BOUT THE KISS." The song performed well although the dual format release of the single caused sales to suffer. In 2000, she geared up for a new single and her first original album in three years, "GENIUS 2000." The album reached the top of the charts but was unable to surpass the million mark. She toured arenas in support of the album in the spring which was followed by the release of "NEVER END" during the summer. The single was used as the theme song to the G8 summit being held in Okinawa. She performed the song in front of several world leaders including then-US president Bill Clinton at the summit. In a surprising move, Namie released another new album at the end of the same year entitled "break the rules." The sudden release failed to reach the top of the charts and received a poor reception. As the sales of her singles and albums continued to move downwards, she quietly separated ties with longtime producer Tetsuya Komuro.

In August 8th, 2001, she released the single "Say the word." The lyrics of the song were penned by Namie, a first in her career. She would collaborate with Tetsuya Komuro one final time on the 9/11 project, "song+nation." In December she released a collaboration single for the project with rapper VERBAL of the group m-flo entitled, "lovin' it." A second singles collection was issued in early 2002 and she remained largely inactive for the majority of the year. After the release of a second greatest hits compilation, "LOVE ENHANCED" single collection, she stayed quiet for most of the year. She received the first MTV Inspiration Award from MTV Japan's Video Music Award in May and shortly after announced her divorce to her husband of four years. She wasted no time after the divorce and released a cover of the Diane Warren penned track, "Wishing On The Same Star." Desiring a change in the direction of her career, she approached one time collaborator, VERBAL to produce R&B songs for her.

The demos from the recordings would blossom into SUITE CHIC, a one-off R&B/Hip Hop unit featuring the most popular musicians and producers of the genre at the time. Their first single, "GOOD LIFE" was released in late 2002. A second single, "Uh Uh,,,,,," featuring vocalist/rapper AI was released only two months later in early 2003. Namie released a new solo single, "shine more" in March backed by a new cosmetic's campaign by LUCIDO-L. The single, the first of three R&B dance songs, charted in the lower top 10. A full length album by SUITE CHIC entitled, "WHEN POP HITS THE FAN" debuted in the top 5 when released in late March. That May, Namie took home an MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration in a video for her work with SUITE CHIC. The second of the three R&B solo singles, "Put 'Em Up" was released in July and remains her lowest selling single to date. The third single, "SO CRAZY," was released in October before the start of her first tour since 2001.

Beginning in November 2003, she performed the across the country in with a greatest hits tour which saw her perform 35 shows to over 100,000 fans. The success of the tour eventually brought her to Asia where she performed to 10,000 Taiwanese fans for the first time in two concerts. The tour had its final stop in Seoul, South Korea on May 15, 2004 where she once again made history by becoming the first Japanese performer to play a major concert in the country. In May of 2005, Namie once again took home two MTV Video Music Awards for her video "Put 'Em Up." She was also nominated for a SSTV Best R&B Video Music Award for the same video, her first time in several years.

In July of 2004, she released the ballad "ALL FOR YOU." The song used as the theme song to the drama "Kimi ga Omoide ni Naru Mae ni." It would be the first of three consecutive singles to sell over one hundred thousand copies, doubling the sales of her singles from the previous year. At the end of 2004, she shocked fans and critics alike by refusing her invitations to many of Japan's New Year's programs including Kouhaku Utagassen.

The following year, she was set to perform in Thailand at the MTV Asia Video Music Awards. Due to the Sumatra Tsunami of 2004, the awards show was cancelled and a charity event was held instead. Namie went through with the performance and it was later televised worldwide. She released her first single of 2005 in April. It peaked in the top two and was followed by a new album, "Queen of Hip-Pop" in the summer. The album doubled the sales of her 2003 album, "STYLE" with a marketing campaign featuring the Pink Panther. A tour and a new song, "Violet Sauce" in late 2005. "Violet Sauce" was inspired by the film Sin City and was used as its image song in Japan. It would get a physical release as the second a-side on the "White Light / Violet Sauce" single.

2006 was relatively quiet for Namie as she took a breather after touring in support for "Queen of Hip-Pop." She released a sole single entitled, "CAN'T SLEEP, CAN'T EAT, I'M SICK / Ningyo." Another tour, "namie amuro BEST tour - Live Style 2006" run from August to December. The tour saw Namie return to arenas in Japan after choosing to perform in halls on her previous tours. The tour ended with performance in Okinawa, the first time she had performed a concert in her hometown since the start of her solo career.

2007 started off with a bang as Namie released her largest hit in several years, "Baby Don't Cry." Used as the theme song to the TV drama, "Himitsu no Hanazono," the song performed across platforms selling well both physically and through digital download. A second 2007 single, "FUNKY TOWN" followed in May and a new album, "PLAY," was released in the summer. The latter debuted at the top of the charts and would become her most successful album since 2000's "GENIUS 2000." Namie then embarked on her largest tour to date performing 65 shows that will continue into 2008. Towards the end of the year, news leaked that Namie was to become the new face of Vidal Sassoon Japan in a collaborative project with hair stylist, Orlando Pita and fashion stylist, Patricia Field called, "FASHION, MUSIC, VIDAL SASSOON."

Amuro's campaign for the cosmetics giant was officially unveiled in January 2008 with a concept of remaking the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Three new songs based on The Supremes' "Baby Love," Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady" and Irene Cara's "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" were produced for the campaign with each song's music videos doubling as its commercials. The three songs would be released as a triple a-side single entitled, "60s 70s 80s" in March. During the initial sales week, the single debuted at #2 but the following week the single moved to the #1 position. It would be her first #1 single in almost ten years. Following the release of the single, Amuro returned to Taiwan in April to perform the final leg of her "PLAY MORE" tour. Later that month, it was announced that for the first time Amuro would collaborate with Japanese R&B diva, DOUBLE. The track, "BLACK DIAMOND" would appear on DOUBLE's collaboration best-of album, "THE BEST COLLABORATIONS." The collaboration was an instant smash.

In May, a greatest hits album "BEST FICTION" was announced for release in July. Chronicling the music she's made post-Komuro, the album debuted at #1 spot on the Oricon charts and stayed there for 6 weeks! The album went on to sell over 1.5 million copies, further cementing Amuro's status as one of the premiere acts in Japan. A tour in support of BEST FICTION was launched on October 25th, 2008 at Makuhari Messe Event Hall in Chiba, Japan. The tour ended 9 months later at the Shanghai Grand Stage in Shanghai, China one year after the release of "BEST FICTION." After 64 dates and an estimated total audience of 500,000 fans, the tour broke all attendance records previously held by a solo female artist. In between the tour, Amuro released the double a-side single "WILD/Dr.". The single will serve as the launching pad for her 9th original studio album due out on December 16th, 2009. Looking to the future, Amuro has commented that the album will be a fresh start.