Namie Amuro

Namie Amuro is Japanese pop's most resilient idol. Debuting in 1992 with the all-girl five-piece Super Monkey's, where she first caught the attention of Tetsuya Komuro, the producer/songwriter who would go on to shape her early career, Amuro has bounced back from hurdles that have felled lesser J-pop idols (namely raising a family and divorce) to remain on top. And like any J-pop starlet worth a theme song to a hit anime movie, Amuro has built up a solid rapport with her fans through her sense of style as much as for her music, which is essentially R&B-influenced pop, harder edged and more risqué than that of her rival Ayumi Hamasaki. Born in the city of Naha, in Japan's southern tropical islands of Okinawa, Namie Amuro (born Namie Maruyama on September 20, 1977) began performing from an early age, encouraged by her mother. Amuro's solo career did not take off until her second album, Sweet 19 Blues, released in July 1996 on Avex Trax. Few albums are as emblematic of an era. Preceded by the single "Body Feels Exit" in October 1995, Sweet 19 Blues was written and produced by Tetsuya Komuro, a former member of the mid-'90s pop act Globe and who went on to dominate the Japanese pop landscape as a songwriter and producer. Sweet 19 Blues, released with no less than four different sleeves, typified the songwriting and production values of Komuro -- namely, a highly polished dance-pop sound characterized by disco rhythms and funky basslines. As a result of its huge sales (over three million albums sold in Japan), it is also the Amuro album most associated with her legion of young fans, dubbed "Amura" by the media and who, for the most part, followed their idol's lead in dyeing their hair brown, plucking their eyebrows, and proudly wearing the same fashion accessories. High...