Hikaru Utada

Hikaru Utada, born on January 19, 1983, in New York City, is a renowned Japanese and American singer, songwriter, and record producer. With a lineage steeped in music—being the child of record producer Teruzane Utada and enka singer Keiko Fuji—Hikaru began crafting songs at a young age, frequently traveling to Tokyo due to their father's profession. They initially adopted the stage name Cubic U and made their mark with the English-language debut album, Precious, released in 1998.

Utada's career skyrocketed with the release of their Japanese-language debut album, First Love, in 1999. This album, which showcased a blend of R&B and dance-pop, became Japan's best-selling album of all time, selling two million units in its first week and achieving six million in total sales that year. The success of singles like "Automatic" and "Time Will Tell" solidified their status as a leading figure in the music industry.

Following the triumph of First Love, Utada released Distance in 2001, which featured hit singles such as "Addicted to You" and "Can You Keep a Secret?" This album broke records by selling three million copies in its first week, making it Japan's fastest-selling album. Their subsequent works, including Deep River, Exodus, Ultra Blue, and Heart Station, continued to dominate the charts, with each album selling millions of copies.

After a hiatus, Utada returned with the acoustic albums Fantôme in 2016 and Hatsukoi in 2018, both of which reached number one on the Oricon albums chart. Their 2022 release, Bad Mode, marked a significant milestone as their first Japanese/English album. By the end of the 2000s, Utada was recognized as the most influential artist of the decade in Japan, with over forty million records sold and numerous chart-topping singles and albums.

In a groundbreaking move, Utada publicly identified as non-binary in 2021, further solidifying their role as a trailblazer in the music industry. With twelve number one singles on the Oricon Singles Chart and six of their albums among Japan's highest-selling records, Hikaru Utada remains a pivotal figure in the landscape of contemporary music.