generasia:Featured article for 2010 week 47

Utada Hikaru

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.