Mai Kuraki

Mai Kuraki is a J-pop icon, having stormed to chart success in the early 2000s and remained among the upper echelons of Asian pop music ever since. Anyone needing proof of her success need look no further than her record for the most consecutive Top 10 singles in Japan after a string of more than 30 hits. Born on October 28, 1982, in Funabashi, Chiba, Mai Kuraki decided to make a career out of music early, having been captivated by the music of Whitney Houston and the energetic dance performances of Michael Jackson. She sent a demo tape to Giza Studio while still in high school and quickly picked up a record deal. The label first tried to launch her in the US with the single "Baby I Like," but after it failed to chart she was sent back to Japan. Giza didn't lose faith in her, however, and their commitment to the young artist was rewarded. Her first single back home, "Love, Day After Tomorrow," topped the charts and sold 1 million copies. The two follow-ups, "Stay by My Side" and "Secret of My Heart" performed nearly as well with sales upwards of 900,000 copies and chart positions of numbers 1 and 2, respectively. Her debut album Delicious Way, meanwhile, sold over 3 million copies and became the best-selling Japanese album of 2000 and earned her first Album of the Year award at the Japan Gold Disc Awards. A string of hit singles and albums followed, including the song "Winter Bells," used as the theme song for the anime Detective Conan. Giza made another attempt to launch Mai in the US with the 2002 English language album Secret of My Heart but fared little better than with "Baby I Like." The setback did little to check her success on the home front, however, and 2003's If I Believe earned her another chart-topper. Fuse of Love and Diamond Wave followed in 2005 and 2006 but, while they did respectable business, failed to match her earlier success. Nonetheless, in 2007 she began to expand to other Asian territories such as China, South Korea, and Taiwan before switching from Giza to sister label Northern Music in 2008. In 2011, Mai became involved in the world of anime once again when Sanrio based one of the characters in Wish Me Well on her and she partnered with them to release the song "Stay the Same." Mai Kuraki continued to release singles over the next few years, but fans had to wait five years between the albums Over the Rainbow (2012) and 2017's Smile. Kimi Omou: Shunkashuto followed in 2018 and in 2019 Mai Kuraki released the double A-side "Kimi to Koi no Mama de Owarenai Itsumo Yume no Mama ja Irarenai/Barairo no Jinsei" and celebrated the 20th anniversary of her debut with the LP Let's Goal!: Barairo no Jinsei. The album climbed to number 3 on the Japanese charts and sold over 29,000 units in Japan alone. In 2021, she returned with the song "Zero kara Hajimete," her first single in almost two years and the lead promotional single from her third full-length, Unconditional Love. Following the release of the video albums Mai Kuraki Live Project 2021 "Unconditional Love" (2022) and Mai Kuraki Premium Symphonic Concert 2022 (2023), Mai Kuraki unveiled her first extended play Forever for You, which peaked at number 4 on the Japanese charts in 2024.

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