Namie Amuro aka Namie biography

Real biography:

Japan might be famous for its ruthless cycle of idols and artists, but Namie Amuro's broken the mold several times over. First she was an idol turned artist. Then she was a married Japanese woman with a career. Then she was a single mother, and now she's pushing thirty-one with a full career with seven top 5 charting albums and 33 top 5 singles.

Contents1 Early Life2 Career2.1 SUPER MONKEYS2.2 Empress of J-pop2.3 Comeback Queen2.4 On Top Again if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } Early Life

Amuro hails from Okinawa, not far from Japan. She is a unique mixture of 75% Japanese, and 25% Italian. This combo has contributed to her pixielike face. At the age of 15, she was granted a scholarship to the prestigious Okinawa Actors School, and walked for two hours to get there, since she didn't have the money for public transit.

Career SUPER MONKEYS

Amuro wasn't alone in her idol dreams. Several of her classmates also wanted to sing and dance, and so they formed a group called SUPER MONKEYS. They debuted in 1992, with Anna Makino as the leader. After her departure, Amuro became the group's leader. Her popularity soon eclipsed that of her groupmates - they were renamed to Amuro Namie with SUPER MONKEYS, and later became simply "Amuro Namie," with her fellow groupmates acting as backup dancers.

Empress of J-pop

In 1995, the SUPER MONKEYS were handed over to avex trax (the label now famous for superstars Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi, Ai Otsuka, and others) from their old label. But they were in for a surprise: they were dissolved to go their separate ways. Amuro was to become a J-pop star, while the rest of the group reformed to become a group called MAX. While MAX was never much of a hit, Amuro became wildly popular. Teenage girls copied her style all over the streets, dubbing the style "Amura." Her debut album became one of Japan's best-selling albums of all time. She was the reigning queen of J-pop.

However, Amuro shocked fans in December 1997 by announcing her marriage and pregnancy by TRF member SAM. Her son was born in 1998, and she was quiet for some time.

Comeback Queen

For most Japanese women, marriage and children is the point where they bow out of their careers and stay home. But that was not to be the case with Miss Amuro. She bounced back in December 1998 with plans for more singles and another album. But a sudden tragedy brought her career to another halt: her mother, Emiko Taira, was murdered by Amuro's slightly psycho stepuncle.

After a brief break due to this, Amuro once again made a comeback. She released a few more singles, and the hit album Genius 2000.

In 2001, two major events happened. Business-wise, Amuro had started a new project with several other famous Japanese R&B artists called SUITE CHIC. (SUITE CHIC, unfortunately, was only a small success.) In her personal life, though, Amuro had added another controversial title to her image: she was now divorced.

On Top Again

After a string of hits that went rather unnoticed (including her album, Queen of Hip-Pop, which failed to secure the #1 spot), Amuro finally made her way back to the top in 2006. Her single "Baby Don't Cry" had the highest first week sales for Amuro in five years.

This success was cemented with her seventh album, PLAY, released in 2007. PLAY came out at #1 on the weekly charts - her first album to do so since Genius 2000, seven years ago.

In March 2008, her highest selling single since 2004 was released - "60s 70s 80s." With it, Amuro Namie has proved that she is the Queen of Hip-Pop.