Yui (singer)

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Yui (singer) bigraphy, stories - Japanese singer

Yui (singer) : biography

March 26, 1987 –

, stylized as YUI, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, actress and radio personality. Born and raised in Fukuoka prefecture, she played live at various locations in her hometown before being noticed by Sony Music Japan when she was 17 years old and released her debut single months later. However her singles were only met with moderate success until her breakout "Good-bye Days", which charted for 44 weeks on Oricon and marked her as one of the Japanese music industry’s rising stars.

Since her debut album, From Me to You, each of her albums has topped the charts, and has had at least one single reach number one yearly since 2007, including five straight from mid-2008 to late-2010.

She is popular in Japan and in surrounding countries, ranking number one in 2011 Count Down TV "Dearest Female Artist" and Music Station "Artist You Most Want to Marry" polls, as well as Radio Television Hong Kong’s "Most Popular Japanese Artist".

Discography

Studio albums
  • 2006: From Me to You
  • 2007: Can’t Buy My Love
  • 2008: I Loved Yesterday
  • 2010: Holidays in the Sun
  • 2011: How Crazy Your Love
Compilation albums
  • 2008: My Short Stories
Tribute album
  • 2012: She Loves You
Best albums
  • 2012: Green Garden Pop
  • 2012: Orange Garden Pop

Awards

Year Nominated work Award Result
2007 Herself 20th Japan Gold Disc Awards: Artist of the Year. RIAJ. Retrieved on 2007-6-21.
Herself 30th Japan Academy Prize: Rookie of Year. NIPPON ACADEMY-SHO ASSOCIATION. Retrieved on 2007-11-15.
Good-bye Days MTV Video Music Awards Japan: Best Video From a Film (from Midnight Sun)
2008 Herself MTV Student Voice Award 2008: Best Artist. Retrieved on 2009-9-29
Love & Truth MTV Video Music Awards Japan: Best Pop Video
Love & Truth MTV Video Music Awards Japan: Best Video From a Film (from Closed Note)
My Generation Space Shower Music Video Awards 08: Best Pop Video. Retrieved on 2009-9-29
2010 Gloria 1st Brazil’s J-Station Music Awards: Hit of The Year. Retrieved on 2011-01-27
2011 Rain MTV Video Music Awards Japan: Best Female Video
Holidays in the Sun 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan: Best Album of the Year

Biography

Early life

Yui was born in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. The Associated Press has reported that her full name is "Yui Yoshioka". She grew up in a single-parent family; her father left her mother when she was three. She stated that she had always been close to music, as she would remember the beats from music she heard on the radio, and could sing it. By the time she was in elementary school she thought she would like to become a singer.

Self-described as shy and horrible at talking to others as a child, she would play outside by herself in mountains, rivers, by the sea and in rice paddies.Oricon Style, February 2, 2006 In her third year, she was influenced by her mother to begin writing a journal of her feelings and tried to compose them into poems. By the time she was in high school, she began to write songs, and she thought of that as being managing to be able express herself little by little. While in high school, she worked part-time at a Chinese restaurant to help pay for tuition. With her workload, she thought she no longer had the time to realize her dreams of a music career. For example, between music, school and work, she only had one or two hours of sleep; she would eventually get ill.Rockin’ on Japan, May 2007 While in the hospital, she was overwhelmed with the desire to make music and finally decided that school and music could not coexist.