Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ, Hamasaki Ayumi, also 浜崎歩), born October 2, 1978, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and former actress. Also called Ayu by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the “Empress of Pop” due to her popularity and widespread influence in Japan. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to pursue a career in entertainment. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, she released a string of modestly selling singles that concluded with her 1999 debut album A Song for ××. The album debuted atop the Oricon charts and stayed there for four weeks, establishing her popularity in Japan.
Because of her constantly changing image and tight control over her artistry, Hamasaki’s popularity extends across Asia; music and fashion trends she has started have spread to countries such as China, Singapore, and Taiwan. She has appeared in or lent her songs to many advertisements and television commercials. Though she originally supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, she later reconsidered and eventually opposed her status as an Avex “product”.
Since her 1998 debut with the single “poker face”, Hamasaki has sold over 50 million records in Japan, ranking her among the best-selling singers in the country. As a female singer, Hamasaki holds several domestic records for her singles, such as the most number-one hits, the highest sales, and the most million-sellers. From 1999 to 2009, Hamasaki had at least one single each year top the charts. Hamasaki is the first female singer to have eight studio albums since her debut to top the Oricon and the first artist to have an album debut at number-one for 11 consecutive years.
From the year 2000, Hamasaki has had hearing problems stemming from an untreated ear infection during her first concert tour. She has been fully deaf in her left ear since 2008, and on May 20th 2017, made a statement to her fanclub revealing that her right ear was now suffering partial hearing loss as well, with the artist experiencing severe vertigo and nausea often. She wrote, “I remember wondering how would I as a singer be able to cope with two useless ears. I was in the dark.”, with Japanese media quoting her continuing commitment to her career: “The stage is where I belong. It’s the only place I really, truly exist. I don’t know anything else.”
On January 2nd, 2020, Hamasaki announced on her fanclub website that she gave birth to a baby boy at the end of 2019. Japanese media reported that she gave birth to her son around November. Hamasaki said the father is a non-celebrity man and she didn’t reveal his identity. On October 2nd, 2020, Hamasaki announced her second pregnancy after the finale of her TROUBLE tour, and on May 1st 2021 confirmed that her second child had been born healthily “in spring”.
On January 2023, her 18th studio album “Remember you” became her 54th release to debut in the top 10 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, passing Seiko Matsuda and making Hamasaki the female artist with most Ttop 10 Albums in history and the second artist overall.
Blu-ray
Disc 2
01 メイキング・ムービー
02 全公演MC集(40タイトル)
03 SHU-YAのつぶやき
04 トモさん七変化