Generasia would not be possible without tokyograph and all the wonderful people who've contributed over the past 15 years. Thank you!

Kimura Kaela

Revision as of 14:58, 18 June 2010 by Jackiejac (talk | contribs) (→‎Singles)
Kimura Kaela promoting 5years (2009)

Kimura Kaela (木村カエラ) is a Japanese pop/ rock musician who debuted in 2004 with Columbia Music Entertainment. She is a former exclusive model for Seventeen, famous for previously hosting the early morning TV show saku saku, and is best known for her hit songs Real Life Real Heart and TREE CLIMBERS.

Profile

  • Stage Name: Kimura Kaela (木村カエラ)
  • Full Name: Kimura Kaela Rie (木村カエラりえ)
  • Birthdate: October 24, 1984
  • Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
  • Blood Type: A
  • Ethnicity: Japanese/ British
  • Hobbies: Guitar, piano, making clothes, swimming
  • Education: Muncipal Tsukada Junior High School, Mukogaoka Central High School

Band Members

Information

Kimura Kaela promoting Level 42 (2004)

Early Life

Kimura Kaela was born on October 2, 1984 to a Japanese mother and a British father in Tokyo, Japan. When she was six she was scouted in Harajuku to be a hair model and continued her modeling career later on by appearing in fashion magazines such as CUTiE. In high school, Kimura was inspired by artists like Gwen Stefani of No Doubt and Tim Armstrong of Rancid. She became a member of the punk/ Melocore band named animo and went under the alias of "Katie". The band had two of their songs featured on a 2005 compilation album called ...of newtypes.

Debut

Kimura became an exclusive model for Seventeen magazine. She made her television debut as the host of saku saku on March 31, 2003, and on May 10, 2004 she released Level 42, derived from the channel number "42" which airs saku saku, as an exclusive single. It was sold exclusively at Shinseido shops with only 390 copies available costing 390 yen. A crowd of over 2000 appeared and the single sold out in the first 3 minutes of it's release. On June 23, 2004 Kimura debuted "Level 42" with the major label Columbia Music Entertainment; the single reached #15 on the Oricon charts. She released her second single, happiness!!!, on October 27, 2004. The single was used in the CM for Rohto Pharmaceutical's "Sesera" range of lip care products. Kimura began being featured in commercials herself, and happiness!!! ranked #11 on Oricon. On December 8, 2004 she released her debut album KAELA, which peaked at the #7 position on Oricon.

Kimura Kaela promoting TREE CLIMBERS (2006)

Circle Era

Her first single post KAELA was her breakthrough hit. Real Life Real Heart was used as the Vodaphone CM song, which once again featured Kimura herself. This single reached #3 and sold over 115,000 copies. The B-side, Twinkle, was featured as a different version on the NANA-inspired LOVE for NANA ~Only 1 Tribute~ compilation album released six days after her single.

In spring Kimura stopped working as an exclusive model for Seventeen. Her first live DVD, KAELA KIMURA 1st TOUR 4YOU, was released in the summer. Kimura's next move was to the big screen as she took the lead role in the October 2005 musical comedy Custom Made 10.30 along side rock legend Okuda Tamio. Okuda also worked with her musically, composing her BEAT single. Her January 2006 single, You, was used as the Kit Kat CM song. Soon after the release of her 5th single she released her second album, Circle. On March 18th 2006 it debuted at #2, behind Koda Kumi's BEST ~second session~. After a year on the show, Kimura finally graduated from Saku Saku on March 31st, 2006.

Rise In Popularity

Kimura Kaela promoting Jasper (2008)

Not long after she released her second album she was announced as the new guest vocalist for the classic Sadistic Mika Band. The group renamed themselves Sadistic Mikaela Band for the release. They covered an older song of theirs called Time Machine ni Onegai (used as the KIRIN LAGER CM song). She was also on their October 25th, 2006 album Narkissos, which is their first album in several years.

Kimura has also continued her solo career. She covered the classic Roy Orbison hit Oh, Pretty Woman, and it was used as the theme to the dorama Attention Please, which she had a guest appearance in. She also joined up with FOE and released the song Cloudy which was done in the style of Nirvana and featured on LAST DAYS - tribute to Mr.K -. In June she released her fifth single Magic Music which was used as the Toshiba Gigabeat TC-CM song. Magic Music was her third single in a row to reach #7 on the Oricon. In September she released TREE CLIMBERS which was used as the Tokyo Mode Gakuen CM song. The PV for the song also starred BEAT CRUSADERS whom Kimura would collaborate with on her January 17th, 2007 single Snowdome. Snowdome was used as the JR Skiski campaign song, while fellow B-side Ground Control was used as the new Toshiba Gigabeat CM theme. Soon after her third album Scratch was released on February 7th. It was Kimura's first album to reach #1 on Oricon, and ended up being the #28 album of 2007. Kimura's first photobook, titled "Cheeky", was released shortly after her third album on the 28th.

+1

Her ninth single, Samantha, was released on July 18th, 2007 and is written about Samantha Stephens from the 1960s American show Bewitched. Her second live DVD, LIVE Scratch ~Agattemasutteba TOUR~ @ Budoukan, was released on September 19th. On October 24th, Kimura's tenth single Yellow was released. The song was used as NTV's "Sports Uru Gusu" program theme. In celebrating her tenth single, three songs (along with instrumentals) were included in the release. One of the B-sides was a cover of Farrah's song No Reason Why which was used as the Yamazaki Pan "Ranchi Pakku" CM theme.

Kimura Kaela kicked off January 2008 with the song birdie, a collaboration between herself and DEPAPEPE, for the compilation album Yamazawa Taiyou presents music tree. Kimura's eleventh single, Jasper, was released on February 6th 2008 and used as the theme song to the Japanese dub of the 2007 Hollywood film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Takkyu Ishino of Denki Groove composed/produced the song and Kimura wrote the lyrics. Starting on February 5th, a new song called Kagami yo Kagami was used as the new ending theme song for the Japanese broadcast of the American drama series The OC. Also the vinyl-only Jasper(remix ver) [Mixed by Takashi Watanabe] was released in full or Chaku-Uta through Kimura's official website. Kimura's fourth original album, +1, was released on April 2nd 2008. It reached #3 on Oricon weekly. +1 would go on to be certified platinum by the RIAJ. Kimura's first PV collection DVD, BEST VIDEO 1, was released on July 23rd 2008.

Kimura Kaela promoting HOCUS POCUS (2009)

HOCUS POCUS & 1st Best Album

Kimura released Moustache / memories (original version) on September 10, 2008. The single peaked at #7 on Oricon and charted for 8 weeks. "Moustache" was used in the LUCIDO-L CM hair products commercial and the b-side was used as the theme song to the film Paco and the Magical Book. She released Doko, her first ballad, on January 28, 2009. "Doko" was used as the opening theme song to the music television show Music Fighter, while "Phone", the second track on the single, was featured in "Pokka", a Japanese beverage CM. The single debuted at #5 on Oricon and charted for four weeks. Her 14th single titled BANZAI was released on May 8, 2008. The song was composed and arranged by avenger in sci-fi and was used as the theme song for S ☆ 1, a sports program. "HOCUS POCUS", the second track from the album, was used in the MBS drama "Play Childcare". The single debuted at #4 on Oricon and charted for 8 weeks. Kimura released her fifth album HOCUS POCUS on June 24, 2009. She continued to promote the album with Butterfly , the fifth track on the album that was written for the wedding of a close friend. "Buttefly" was released digitally on the same date as "HOCUS POCUS", and just two months after it's release the song exceeded 100 million downloads. HOCUS POCUS debuted on Oricon at the #3 position and charted for 26 weeks. On February 3, 2010 Kimura released her first Best album titled 5years.

On June 1, 2010 it was reported by Nikkan Sports the forthcoming wedding between Kimura and actor Eita and the 3 months pregnancy of her. Both agencies, Kaela's and Eita's, announced that an official statement would be made soon.

Trivia

  • Her name in Hebrew means "beloved", however her parents picked her name due to the sound and not the meaning.
  • Kimura knew English when she was younger, yet she has since forgotten the language.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other Singles

DVD / Videos

Compilation / Other

Photobooks

Filmography

Movies

Television

External Links

v • d • e
Kimura Kaela
Songs · Images
Topics Kimura Kaela - ZIG ZAG promo.jpg
Studio Albums
Best Albums
Cover Albums
Mini-Albums
Singles
01 · 02 · 03 · 04 · 05 · 06 · 07 · 08 · 09 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23
Digital Singles
Other Singles
DVDs
01 · 02 · 03 · 04 · 05
Official Website
Retrieved from "http://www.generasia.com/w/index.php?title=Kimura_Kaela&oldid=126825"