Aikawa Nanase (相川七瀬, February 16,1975- ) is a Japanese rock musician. While she does have her fair share of soft songs (such as "Dandelion" and "The Last Quarter"), and fun songs ("Break Out", "Cosmic Love"), a good portion of her collection (and, indeed, the majority of her most popular songs) fall firmly under the rock category.
History
Aikawa Nanase was born 16 February, 1975 in Osaka, Japan. Her parents divorced when she was young, which affected her significantly enough that she developed into a bit of a troublemaker (which also happens to be the title of one of her best songs.) It is rumoured that she was in a girl gang in her young teenage years, and supposedly may have been its leader. Another story has it that she was severely bullied by classmates, giving rise to nightmares, and she skipped an entire year of school. Regardless, at the age of 15, she left all that behind, dropped out of school and was discovered by well-known music producer Tetsuro Oda. Throughout her school years, Nanase would sing and participated in a few singing competitions, which routinely passed her over, though brought her to the attention of Mr Oda. He trained Nanase as a singer for five years before she released her first single, though the details of her life in those years are sketchy.
Personality
Nanase is an intensely private person. Very little is known about her personal life except for the bits and pieces she feels confident enough to announce. For instance, on 16 February, 2001, a great many of her male fans were heartbroken when she publicly announced that she had got married that very day. She published this, and the fact that she was already three-months pregnant, on her official website. Nothing else about her relationship was known until the birth of her son, on 6 September, 2001.
She is 'polite, but seldom enthusiastic' in interviews, but frequently leaves hand-written messages on her website. Very little else is known of her. This may also be due to the lack of Japanese to English translators in the Aikawa Nanase fanbase. Oddly enough, roughly half of the non-Japanese Nanase fans are Chinese.
Career
After she released her first single in November, 1995, she released three more singles, and then her first full album Red in 1996, which sold more than two million copies in its first month. That album won her an invitation to perform in a New Year's Eve singing contest between male and female teams of popular singers sponsored by NHK (one of Japan's television companies). Since then, she's released about an album each year, plus an average of three mini- or maxi-singles. Her second album, Paradox, was released in July 1997, selling 1.8 million copies, and coincided with her first concert tour Live Emotion '97 (consisting of 20 concert dates, attracting a total of 65,000 fans, according to Avex.) July 1998 saw her third album Crimson, and another concert tour with over 40 concert dates. Her 1999 release, I.D., was a compilation album, but it debuted at number one on the rock chart, her fourth consecutive album to release in the number one slot. In 2001, she also released a 'mini-album', something between a full album and a single, of uncharacteristically soft, though lovely, ballad-style music, recorded during her later months of pregnancy.
At the 11th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards, Nanase's album Red was voted the Best Album (Japanese Rock and Folk music, female vocalist category). Her album Paradox was voted Best Album of the Year, at the 12th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards.
To date (August 2004), Aikawa Nanase has released six albums, plus two compilation albums and the mini-album, a total of 24 singles, and no less than three separate concerts and two music video collections on video and DVD.
Aikawa Nanase publishes her music under the Motorod label, a division of Avex Group.
Personal Statistics
Name: | Aikawa Nanase |
Birthday: | 16 February, 1975 Osaka, Japan |
Astrological Sign: | Aquarius (Year of the Hare) |
Bloodtype: | AB |
Height: | 157cm (5'2") |
Weight: | 39kg (86 lbs) |
Hair: | Varies (Brown, currently) |
Eyes: | Brown |
Favourite Pet: | Cats |
Favourite Time of Day: | Night |
Discography
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