Namie Amuro

Namie Amuro was born on September 20, 1977, in Okinawa, Japan. Namie enjoyed a normal childhood and never gave a second thought to pursuing a career within the entertainment industry, though that changed after she was discovered while visiting a friend at an institute for the arts. Masayuki Makino, the president of the Okinawa Actors' School, recognized Namie's innate yet dormant talent and immediately suggested that she begin attending classes within his establishment. By the time she turned 14, Namie proved Masayuki's instincts correct and it wasn't long before she -- along with Minako Ameku, Nanako Takushi, Hisako Arakaki, and Anna Makino -- formed a pop act called Super Monkeys. The band quickly started recording songs, and their debut single managed to hit the Japanese top 30. Makino left the group shortly after, however, and the remaining members decided to change the name to Super Monkeys 4. The band subsequently experienced quite a bit of success, releasing hit singles, appearing on television shows, and the like, and it wasn't long before Namie emerged as a breakout star within its ranks. Namie's burgeoning popularity made it necessary to change the band's name once again, this time to Namie Amuro with Super Monkeys. A flurry of hit singles followed -- including "Dancing Junk" and "Try Me" -- and it was also around that time that Namie first toyed with the idea of going solo (her song "Taiyou No Season" was well-received among the band's fans). Following some internal turmoil, the group -- which had, by then, changed its name yet again to MAX -- decided to disband and Namie was able to kick off her solo career.

After taking a hiatus for the majority of 1998 to have her child, Amuro returned to the music scene with the single "I Have Never Seen" (1998). She made her first televised appearance on Kouhaku Uta Gassen days later performing a tearful rendition of her hit Can You Celebrate? (1997). On the first week of the Oricon year, the new single debuted at the top position.

In May, Amuro had both professional and personal gains. Following a three year split from her former husband SAM, she took back full custody of their child, Haruto. They had previously agreed that SAM would be the child's sole guardian. At the end of the month, she performed at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan for the fourth consecutive year in a row and this year, clinched two awards. She took home the award for "Best R&B Video" as well as a special award for most impressive performance in Asia becoming the first artist to take home awards four years in a row at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan. She took home the "Inspiration Award Japan" in 2002, Best Collaboration in 2003, "Best R&B Video" for 2004, and 2005 as well as "Most Impressive Asian Artist" in 2005. Between these two events, she announced the release of her sixth original studio album, entitled Queen of Hip-Pop.