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Namie Amuro

安室奈美恵

Name: Namie Amuro
Birth Name: Namie Maruyama
Age: 32
Birthday: September 11th, 1977
Birthplace: Naha City, Okinawa, Japan
Blood Type: O
Family: Parents divorced, mother deceased, two sisters, one brother, one son
Height: 159cm/5'2''
Ethnicity: 75% Japanese, 25% Italian

Brief Biography

Namie Amuro is one of Japan's brightest singing idols.  She got her start at the age of fourteen
heading the short-lived Euro-pop group Super Monkeys and going solo in 1995 with her first solo
single under Avex Trax, BODY FEELS EXIT, which is still a fan favorite even today.

Throughout most of Namie's early career, she worked with Tetsuya Komuro as her producer who produced
most of Namie's much-loved hits from her teen years to when she was barley 21.  She doesn't work with him
anymore, and now does almost all of her work now with michico, T.Kura, and Nao'ymt since switching
from pop to R&B music in 2003 with the single Shine More.  The last time Namie worked with Komuro was
the single 'Lovin' It' featuring VERBAL from m-flo, a Japanese Hip-Hop group. 

Her greatest hit, CAN YOU CELEBRATE? has sold more copies than any of her other singles
in the history of Namie's career; it's also the highest-selling single of a female Japanese artist in history!
Crowds have been known to go crazy when Namie starts the first line in concerts. 

CAN YOU CELEBRATE? was later released a few months later on Christmas to commemorate Namie's marriage to
label-mate SAM of TRF.  By the time the public found out, Namie was already three months pregnant with
her son Haruto and took a one-year hiatus from the music industry to focus on her pregnancy and marriage.

But marriage was short-lived, the two divorced in July 2002 (or at least, that's when they publicly announced it).
The reason for the divorce is sort of uncertain, but Japanese newspapers have been given the reason that
work kept them apart too much.  Other rumors suggest Namie parents-in-law wanted Haruto to be
a doctor because Sam's father owned a hospital, and Namie refused, which led to the couples' divorce.

Eventually, Namie gained full custody of her son and continued on strong and proud and after all the drama of
the marriage and divorce, has successfully overpowered Japan's social stigma as being a divorced, single mother.


Other Information

Mothers' Murder
Namie has been known as extremely shy, but there is a good reason.  On the day of the release of her single
'RESPECT THE POWER OF LOVE', her mother, Emiko, was murdered in Namie's hometown of Okinawa.
Emiko was murdered by Namie's brother-in-law, Kenji, over his ex-girlfriend who left him because
Namie's parents did not like her and accused her of using him.  Hungry for revenge, Kenji tried to literally add
insult to injury and ran over the two first with his car, and then assaulting them with an axe.
Namie halted all promotions for this single and flew to Okinawa to identify her mothers' body.  Kenji had actually tried to
murder both Emiko and her husband, but the husband survived with a few minor injuries. 

Namie vs. Ayumi
Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki are media-promoted rivals although the two are label-mates. 
Ayumi Hamasaki supposedly stole Namie's title as queen of Japanese pop, so not only are they rivals themselves,
but their fan bases as well.  There are as many Ayumi-lovers-Namie-haters as Namie-lovers-Ayumi-haters, but there are also
a balanced amount of people who are fans of both, but the two still go head-to-head to this day. 

Suite Chic
Suite Chic is a former J-Urban collaboration project of then-up-and-coming Japanese Hip-Hop and R&B artists
consisting of Verbal from m-flo, Ryousuke Imai, and Namie herself.  The project lasted from 2002 to 2003 and helped Namie
establish her position as an R&B artist. 

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