About 鈴木亜美

Suzuki Ami (鈴木亜美, formerly 鈴木あみ), born February 9, 1982, is a female singer and songwriter from Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. She was one of the most popular female singers between 1998 and 2000 and the known rival of Ayumi Hamasaki. While she was attending high school, Ami auditioned to the Japanese talent show ASAYAN, which was looking for young girls who could sing. The grand prize winner was to receive a deal with Sony Music Entertainment Japan for a music career. The TV show became very popular and daily viewers increased; soon it was aired even in other Asian countries. From 13,500 contestants, only five girls were chosen to be in the final round, and Ami won the competition supported by 802,157 phone calls from the audience. She was only 15 years old. Produced by Tetsuya Komuro under Sony label: 1998~2001 (Releasing works in the name of "鈴木あみ") Sony Music signed Ami to the label, and Tetsuya Komuro sponsored her to his own sub label on Sony, TRUE KiSS DISC, with Komuro as writer and producer on all of Ami's songs. In April 1998 Ami recorded her first song and single, love the island. As Ami evolved into a more mature artist, she began writing her own lyrics. The first song Ami wrote, with the help of Mitsuko and Tetsuya Komuro, was her 10th single "Don't need to say good bye." The lyrics were influenced by events occurring in her personal life at that time, specifically her upcoming high school graduation. In 2000 after some legal problems with her management company, she was dumped from her label and fell from popularity, becoming unnoticed in the Japanese entertainment business for years. Independent years: 2002~2004 (Releasing works in the name of 鈴木亜美) In April 2004, Ami released a portfolio attached with a single "強いキズナ"(Tsuyoi kizuna), which was reported to have sold over 150,000 copies. Moreover, in August 2004, she released her indies single "FOREVER LOVE" under the label "AMITY", reaching #21 on oricon weekly chart and sold over 17,000 copies. In the fourth quarter of 2004, concert tour in some college campus was held. On Dec. 30, 2004, Ami announced her signing to Avex label in her concert. Back to stage under Avex Trax label: 2005~ (Releasing works in the name of 鈴木亜美) With the help of Max Matsuura, Suzuki finally "returned" to the music scene under the Avex Trax label in 2005 with her comeback single, Delightful, a Trance song that reached No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon charts and became one of 2005 summer's hits. In October 2005 the singer released her first studio album on Avex entitled AROUND THE WORLD, which has sold over 62,000 copies. Shortly after having released 4 singles, it was announced she would be releasing 3 new singles under a new "joins" project. These singles were her first releases of 2007, each one a collaboration with 3 different artists released 3 weeks in a row, starting February 28, finishing with the second Avex album in March 21. The "joins" singles featured the bands Buffalo Daughter, THC!! and キリンジ and received low promotion, and were only minor hits in the Oricon charts. After that, CONNETTA, her second Avex album, also called the "join" album, debuted at #26 on the Japanese charts, becoming her lowest-selling studio album. At this time she had already recorded a new single, keeping the line of the "join" project, this time with electronic producer and Capsule leader Yasutaka Nakata. Her 4th "join" single, and first Avex double A-side single, FREE FREE / SUPER MUSIC MAKER, was released on August 22, 2007. For this single's promotion Ami changed drastically her image, from a cute Pop image for a more mature and sexy-erotic style. Her new look was called as "Ero-Pop" and "Ero-Kakkoi" by Japanese tabloids, even comparing Ami to singer Kumi Koda. This single did considerably better than the previous "join" singles, debuting at #32 on the Japanese charts, and achieving more than 8 thousand copies sold, little less than the three previous singles sales together. Ami released her 3rd Avex studio album (6th overall), DOLCE on February 6, 2008. In July 2008, Suzuki released her first non-joins single since 2006's Like a Love?, ONE, a Yasutaka Nakata-fully produced single. Suzuki's 29th single, can't stop the DISCO, was released on September 24, 2008. Her 10th anniversary album - her fourth album with avex -, Supreme Show is expected to be released on November 12, 2008. It is said to contain 11 tracks - including a remix of SUPER MUSIC MAKER. Ami also starred in an AVEX 20th Anniversary musical, 'kokoro no Kakera'. This is her debut on a musical. Ami Suzuki's 30th single, Reincarnation, is scheduled for release on February 25th, 2009. It will be produced by Taku Takahashi of m-flo.