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'''Utada Hikaru''' (宇多田ヒカル) is a Japanese American singer/songwriter who by the age of 15 had already risen to the top of Japan's music industry. Worldwide, she has sold over 50 million records.  
 
'''Utada Hikaru''' (宇多田ヒカル) is a Japanese American singer/songwriter who by the age of 15 had already risen to the top of Japan's music industry. Worldwide, she has sold over 50 million records.  
  
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On March 10, 1999, Utada Hikaru released her debut album, ''[[First Love]]'' featuring 2 hit singles. The album sold over 7 million copies in Japan alone and over 10 million copies worldwide making it [[First Love|the best selling album in Japanese music history]]. A re-cut single from the album, also titled First Love, was released and reached #2 on the Oricon charts. By age 16 Utada Hikaru was already a household name in Japan. In 2001, 2 years after her massive debut success, Utada returned with her sophomore album, ''[[Distance (Utada Hikaru album)|Distance]]''. It became the best selling album of 2001 and the #4 best selling album in Japanese history. In 2002, Utada released ''[[Deep River|DEEP RIVER]]'', another #1 selling album featuring the theme song of the popular video game Kingdom Hearts, ''[[Hikari]] (光)''. The album became the #8 best selling album in Japanese history. She also surprised the Japanese public by marrying her long time music video director, Kiriya Kazuaki, 15 years her senior. Following the success of the album, Utada took a break from the Japanese music scene, only releasing the single ''[[Colors (Utada Hikaru)|COLORS]]'' in 2003 and her first best album, ''[[Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.1|Utada Hikaru SINGLE COLLECTION VOL.1]]''  in 2004. The compilation became the best selling album of 2004.
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On March 10, 1999, Utada Hikaru released her debut album, ''[[First Love]]'' featuring 2 hit singles. The album sold over 7 million copies in Japan alone and over 10 million copies worldwide making it [[First Love|the best selling album in Japanese music history]]. A re-cut single from the album, also titled First Love, was released and reached #2 on the Oricon charts. By age 16 Utada Hikaru was already a household name in Japan. In 2001, 2 years after her massive debut success, Utada returned with her sophomore album, ''[[Distance (Utada Hikaru album)|Distance]]''. It became the best selling album of 2001 and the #4 best selling album in Japanese history. In 2002, Utada released ''[[Deep River|DEEP RIVER]]'', another #1 selling album featuring the theme song of the popular video game Kingdom Hearts, ''[[Hikari]] (光)''. The album became the #8 best selling album in Japanese history.  
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In 2004, Utada once again shocked the public by announcing that she was to debut in the United States. On September 8, Utada released her debut English album, ''[[EXODUS]]'' (released under the name Utada and not Utada Hikaru). Though the album only sold 55,000 copies in the U.S, it sold over a million copies in Japan. Utada also noted that the development of ''[[EXODUS]]'' influenced the sound of her later releases.
 
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In 2006, Utada Hikaru returned with her fourth Japanese album, ''[[Ultra Blue|ULTRA BLUE]]'', which featured the Kingdom Hearts II theme song, ''[[Passion (Utada Hikaru)|Passion]]''. Though the album reached #1 on the Oricon charts and became the #7 album of the year, it also became her first album to sell less than a million copies, selling about 900,000 copies. To promote the album, Utada embarked on a nationwide tour titled "[[Utada United 2006|UTADA UNITED 2006]]". In 2007, Utada released the single ''[[Flavor of Life]]'', an insert song for the popular dorama, Hana Yori Dango 2. The single became the most downloaded ringtone in Japanese music history with over 5.5 million copies sold. In addition, the single sold over 670,000 physical copies, becoming the #2 best selling single of the year. On March 19, 2008, Utada Hikaru released the album ''[[Heart Station (album)|HEART STATION]]'', her fifth consecutive album to reach #1 on the charts. The album sold over a million copies, becoming the #5 best selling album of 2008 as well as the most downloaded album of the year (with 15 million full downloads).
 
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In 2009, Utada once again returned in the US music scene with the album, ''[[This Is the One|This Is The One]]''. The album reached #69 on the US Billboard Top 200 Charts. This made Utada only the 7th Japanese artist to accomplish this and the first one in 23 years. The album was also a digital success, reaching #2 on the iTunes pop albums chart as well as #18 overall (the first Japanese artist to accomplish this). In Japan, the album reached #3 on the Oricon album charts and topped the foreign album charts at #1 for 5 consecutive weeks. By the end of 2009, Utada was named the most influential artist of the decade by Tokyo Times. In early 2010, Utada held her first US Tour, "Utada In The Flesh", which included 2 dates in London.  
 
  
 
In August 2010, Utada Hikaru announced that she was taking a break from music. She will release ''[[Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.2]]'' on November 24, 2010, featuring her hit singles from 2004 to 2008 as well as 5 new tracks. </div>
 
In August 2010, Utada Hikaru announced that she was taking a break from music. She will release ''[[Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.2]]'' on November 24, 2010, featuring her hit singles from 2004 to 2008 as well as 5 new tracks. </div>
  
 
[[Category:2010 Featured Articles]]
 
[[Category:2010 Featured Articles]]

Latest revision as of 03:04, 22 November 2010

Utada Hikaru

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Utada Hikaru (宇多田ヒカル) is a Japanese American singer/songwriter who by the age of 15 had already risen to the top of Japan's music industry. Worldwide, she has sold over 50 million records.

On March 10, 1999, Utada Hikaru released her debut album, First Love featuring 2 hit singles. The album sold over 7 million copies in Japan alone and over 10 million copies worldwide making it the best selling album in Japanese music history. A re-cut single from the album, also titled First Love, was released and reached #2 on the Oricon charts. By age 16 Utada Hikaru was already a household name in Japan. In 2001, 2 years after her massive debut success, Utada returned with her sophomore album, Distance. It became the best selling album of 2001 and the #4 best selling album in Japanese history. In 2002, Utada released DEEP RIVER, another #1 selling album featuring the theme song of the popular video game Kingdom Hearts, Hikari (光). The album became the #8 best selling album in Japanese history.

In August 2010, Utada Hikaru announced that she was taking a break from music. She will release Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.2 on November 24, 2010, featuring her hit singles from 2004 to 2008 as well as 5 new tracks.
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