Angela Aki
Encyclopedia
, born Kiyomi Angela Aki (安藝 聖世美 アンジェラ Aki Kiyomi Anjera) on September 15, 1977, is a Japanese pop
singer-songwriter
, guitarist and pianist from Itano
, Tokushima
, Japan
.
, population 14,600, in the mostly rural island of Shikoku
, to a Japanese
father and Italian-American mother. She is the daughter of Kiyoshi Aki
, the owner and co-founder of Aeon Corporation
, a large eikaiwa
(English conversation) chain of schools in Japan.
Aki began to take piano lessons when she was three years old and lived in Tokushima
through sixth grade, and spent her junior high school days in Okayama. She has admitted that growing up mixed-race in rural Japan proved very difficult and she turned to the piano as an escape from the isolation she felt. She grew up listening to a mix of enka
, The Carpenters
and The Bee Gees.
Aki moved to Hawaii when she was fifteen years old and graduated from Iolani School
-she speaks English and Japanese. She was immersed in music there for four years. She graduated from George Washington University
in Washington, D.C.
, and majored in political science
in Vienna, VA
, US. On March 9, 2007, Aki announced that she had married Japanese A&R director and publisher Taro Hamano, and made public that she had been briefly married previously and got divorced.
.
Both singers attended the same Japanese language school.
Janis Ian
is her mentor and friend.
concert at age 20 and felt that she wanted to go into the music world, deciding to become a singer-songwriter. In 2000, she released an indie's album in the United States, called "These Words". After graduation from university, she found a job in Washington, D.C. and worked as a secretary. She could not give up her dream of being a singer, however, and quit her job in 2001. She worked as a waitress for 2 dollars 13 cents during the day, and she played songs at night at a nightclub. Aki briefly married her first album’s engineer in Vienna, VA
. In 2002, she composed two tracks for "Let It Fall" by Dianne Eclar, a teenage pop singer from the Philippines.
which was sung by US Jazz
vocalist Jimmy Scott
, she decided to move back to Japan. On September 27, 2003, Aki saw Shiina Ringo
's concert in Nippon Budokan Hall, and promised herself she would perform at the same place within three years, even though she was unheard of, had not yet been offered a contract with any record label, nor had she made an album or major debut. She performed live in many small venues and bars in Tokyo while working as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant, wrote 100 or more songs, and also made several demo CDs.
In 2005, she released an independent mini-album under Virgo Music entitled "One," which was the #1 selling Indies album of 2005. This alerted Nobuo Uematsu
to her music, and he asked her to write lyrics and perform the theme song for Final Fantasy XII
, "Kiss Me Good-Bye".
She contracted with Epic Records and made her major debut with the single "HOME" in September, 2005. The album sold over half a million copies and reached #2 on the Oricon
charts.
On December 26, 2006, she held a concert in Nippon Budokan Hall, making history there as the first artist to ever perform in the famous venue solo (with just her piano) -- no backup singers, band or opening act.
theme song, "Kiss Me Good-Bye
" at the premiere PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
concert in Chicago on May 27, 2006. With orchestral backup, she played piano and sang the English lyrics, which she had written herself. She also performed a cover version of Faye Wong
's "Eyes On Me", the theme song of Final Fantasy VIII
, with her piano accompaniment.
In 2007 Aki's second major label album, Today
, reached #1.
, the first she produced entirely by herself.
Angela Aki was chosen to sing Bob Dylan
's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door
" with her original Japanese lyrics for the movie Heaven's Door and was chosen to write and perform the theme song titled “Ai no Kisetsu” for the NHK morning drama “Tsubasa” broadcast from March 30, 2009.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, guitarist and pianist from Itano
Itano, Tokushima
is a town located in Itano District, Tokushima, Japan.As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 14,672 and a density of 405.53 persons per km². The total area is 36.18 km².-External links:*...
, Tokushima
Tokushima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is the city of Tokushima.- Tokushima Prefecture and Myodo Prefecture :Long ago, Tokushima City belonged to a region known as Myōdō-gun...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Early life
Aki was born in the small town of ItanoItano, Tokushima
is a town located in Itano District, Tokushima, Japan.As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 14,672 and a density of 405.53 persons per km². The total area is 36.18 km².-External links:*...
, population 14,600, in the mostly rural island of Shikoku
Shikoku
is the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of the island of Kyūshū. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima , Iyo-shima , and Futana-shima...
, to a Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
father and Italian-American mother. She is the daughter of Kiyoshi Aki
Kiyoshi Aki
is the owner and founder of Aeon Corporation, one of the "Big Four" eikaiwa schools in Japan.- Founding of Aeon :In 1973, Aki and university classmate Tsuneo Kusunoki founded the company AMVIC...
, the owner and co-founder of Aeon Corporation
AEON (eikaiwa)
is a chain of English conversation teaching companies in Japan. It is considered one of the historical "Big Four" eikaiwa schools. Although it shares a nearly identical name in English, Aeon is not affiliated with the Aeon Group, a major Japanese retail and financial services corporation.The...
, a large eikaiwa
Eikaiwa
or often shortened to , are English conversation schools, usually privately operated, in Japan. It is a combination of the word and.Although the Japanese public education system mandates that English be taught as part of the curriculum from fifth grade, the focus is generally on English grammar...
(English conversation) chain of schools in Japan.
Aki began to take piano lessons when she was three years old and lived in Tokushima
Tokushima, Tokushima
is the capital city of Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku island in Japan.As of May 1, 2011, the city had an estimated population of 263,372, with 114,325 households, and a population density of 1,377.25 persons per km². Its total area is 191.23 km²....
through sixth grade, and spent her junior high school days in Okayama. She has admitted that growing up mixed-race in rural Japan proved very difficult and she turned to the piano as an escape from the isolation she felt. She grew up listening to a mix of enka
Enka
is a popular Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern enka, however, is a relatively recent musical form which arose in the context of such postwar expressions of modern Japanese nonmaterial nationalism as nihonjinron, while adopting a more...
, The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
and The Bee Gees.
Aki moved to Hawaii when she was fifteen years old and graduated from Iolani School
Iolani School
Iolani School, located at 563 Kamoku Street in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a private coeducational college preparatory school serving over 1,800 students. Founded in 1863 by Father William R. Scott, it was the principal school of the former Anglican Church of Hawaii. It was patronized by Kamehameha IV...
-she speaks English and Japanese. She was immersed in music there for four years. She graduated from George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and majored in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
Marriage
Aki's first marriage was to an engineer, producer and artist Tony Alany, who co-produced her first album These WordsThese Words (album)
These Words is the debut album of Angela Aki, released on January 4, 2000. The album is completely in English and is similar to the works of Tori Amos and Fiona Apple. Tony Alany is credited as working on the album and producing it.-Track listing:...
in Vienna, VA
Vienna, Virginia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to...
, US. On March 9, 2007, Aki announced that she had married Japanese A&R director and publisher Taro Hamano, and made public that she had been briefly married previously and got divorced.
Friends
She is good friends with J-Pop star Yuna ItoYuna Ito
is an American pop singer-songwriter and actress who is active in Japan.She was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Hawaii. Ito made her musical debut in Japan with the single, "Endless Story", which was used as one of the theme songs for the popular 2005 film Nana; she also starred in the film,...
.
Both singers attended the same Japanese language school.
Janis Ian
Janis Ian
Janis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
is her mentor and friend.
Beginnings
In 1997, Aki went to a Sarah McLachlanSarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
concert at age 20 and felt that she wanted to go into the music world, deciding to become a singer-songwriter. In 2000, she released an indie's album in the United States, called "These Words". After graduation from university, she found a job in Washington, D.C. and worked as a secretary. She could not give up her dream of being a singer, however, and quit her job in 2001. She worked as a waitress for 2 dollars 13 cents during the day, and she played songs at night at a nightclub. Aki briefly married her first album’s engineer in Vienna, VA
Vienna, Virginia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to...
. In 2002, she composed two tracks for "Let It Fall" by Dianne Eclar, a teenage pop singer from the Philippines.
Debut in Japan
After producing commercial music for several Japanese companies, including one for milk product YakultYakult
is a Japanese probiotic milk-like product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a special strain of the bacterium Lactobacillus casei Shirota. It was created by Minoru Shirota who graduated from the Medical School of Kyoto University in 1930. In 1935, he started manufacturing and...
which was sung by US Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
vocalist Jimmy Scott
Jimmy Scott
Jimmy Scott , aka "Little" Jimmy Scott, is an American jazz vocalist famous for his unusually high contralto voice which is due to Kallmann's syndrome, a very rare genetic condition. The condition stunted his growth at four feet eleven inches until, at age 37, he grew another 8 inches to the...
, she decided to move back to Japan. On September 27, 2003, Aki saw Shiina Ringo
Shiina Ringo
, known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer-songwriter, music composer and music producer. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen.She describes herself as ""....
's concert in Nippon Budokan Hall, and promised herself she would perform at the same place within three years, even though she was unheard of, had not yet been offered a contract with any record label, nor had she made an album or major debut. She performed live in many small venues and bars in Tokyo while working as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant, wrote 100 or more songs, and also made several demo CDs.
In 2005, she released an independent mini-album under Virgo Music entitled "One," which was the #1 selling Indies album of 2005. This alerted Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
to her music, and he asked her to write lyrics and perform the theme song for Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XII
is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the Final Fantasy series and the last in the series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation platform...
, "Kiss Me Good-Bye".
She contracted with Epic Records and made her major debut with the single "HOME" in September, 2005. The album sold over half a million copies and reached #2 on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
charts.
On December 26, 2006, she held a concert in Nippon Budokan Hall, making history there as the first artist to ever perform in the famous venue solo (with just her piano) -- no backup singers, band or opening act.
Reaching an English audience
In May 2006, Angela signed with Tofu Records in order to release English singles and albums. Her first release with Tofu was "Kiss Me Good-Bye" as a digital single in the USA, with a slightly altered track list. Later that month she performed the Final Fantasy XIIFinal Fantasy XII
is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2006, it is the twelfth title in the Final Fantasy series and the last in the series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation platform...
theme song, "Kiss Me Good-Bye
Kiss Me Good-Bye
"Kiss Me Good-Bye" is the third single by Japanese singer Angela Aki, and is the theme song of Final Fantasy XII. It was written by Aki, composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by Kenichiro Fukui. Although the title version of the single is in Japanese, the version included in the game is sung in...
" at the premiere PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
Play! A Video Game Symphony
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a concert series that features music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth...
concert in Chicago on May 27, 2006. With orchestral backup, she played piano and sang the English lyrics, which she had written herself. She also performed a cover version of Faye Wong
Faye Wong
Faye Wong is a highly successful and influential Chinese singer-songwriter and actress who is usually referred to as a diva . Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong . Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing...
's "Eyes On Me", the theme song of Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII
is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically...
, with her piano accompaniment.
In 2007 Aki's second major label album, Today
Today (Angela Aki album)
-External links:*...
, reached #1.
Recent career
In February 2009 Aki released her third album in Japan, AnswerAnswer (Angela Aki album)
-Charts :-External links:*...
, the first she produced entirely by herself.
Angela Aki was chosen to sing Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.-Story line and song structure:...
" with her original Japanese lyrics for the movie Heaven's Door and was chosen to write and perform the theme song titled “Ai no Kisetsu” for the NHK morning drama “Tsubasa” broadcast from March 30, 2009.
Albums
- 2000: These WordsThese Words (album)These Words is the debut album of Angela Aki, released on January 4, 2000. The album is completely in English and is similar to the works of Tori Amos and Fiona Apple. Tony Alany is credited as working on the album and producing it.-Track listing:...
(US released independent album) - 2005: One (Japan released independent EP)
- 2006: HomeHome (Angela Aki album)-Charts:Oricon Sales chart -External links:*...
- 2007: TodayToday (Angela Aki album)-External links:*...
- 2009: AnswerAnswer (Angela Aki album)-Charts :-External links:*...
- 2010: LifeLife (Angela Aki album)-Track listing:...
- 2011: White'
RIAJ certified singles
- 2006: "Kiss Me Good-ByeKiss Me Good-Bye"Kiss Me Good-Bye" is the third single by Japanese singer Angela Aki, and is the theme song of Final Fantasy XII. It was written by Aki, composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by Kenichiro Fukui. Although the title version of the single is in Japanese, the version included in the game is sung in...
" - 2006: "This Love"
- 2007: "Sakurairo"
- 2008: "Tegami (Haikei Jūgo no Kimi e)"
- 2011: "Hajimari no Ballad"