YUI

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This article is about the Japanese musicial artist. For the Web user interface library, see Yahoo! UI Library.

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YUI
YUI in a promotional picture.
Background information
Born	March 26, 1987
Origin	Fukuoka, Japan
Genre(s)	J-Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Actress
Instrument(s)	Singing, Acoustic Guitar
Years active	2004–Present
Label(s)	STUDIO SEVEN Recordings,Sony Music Japan
Website	http://www.yui-net.com

YUI is a Japanese J-pop/J-rock artist, born March 26, 1987 in Fukuoka, Japan. She sings, plays the acoustic guitar, and writes her own songs. Two of her songs are featured in Bleach, a Japanese anime series, which has brought her some international attention. The two songs are "LIFE" and "Rolling star", the fifth ending and fifth opening themes, respectively.

Her first full album, From Me to You, was released February 22, 2006. Among its thirteen tracks, nine of them were previously unreleased, and have been well received from her fans. The album has already reached as high as the weekly ninth most sold album in Japan, with the main track, "TOKYO", reaching the number four spot on the MTV Japan's song charts.

1 Biography
2 Discography
- 2.1 Singles
- 2.2 Albums
3 Movies:
4 Profile
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Biography

YUI began writing poems in ninth grade. At the age of sixteen, by recommendation of her mother, she began studying song, songwriting, and guitar at a private music school in her native Fukuoka. Aspiring to become a professional, she carried her guitar around and sang at local places such as the seashore of Shingu, and in the middle of the rice fields of Kaminofu.

In March 2003, she sang three songs at an audition hosted by Sony Music Japan, as opposed to the audition rule that a participant could only sing two songs. All judges evaluated her with the highest score, which caused a fierce scramble among labels. She first sang "Why Me", which was later coupled with her debut single, followed by "It's happy line" and "I know", the latter of which was included on her indie single. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she strummed her guitar and sang. The judges and the others present claimed that "the performance created a tremendous aura from her heavenly voice, and captured the hearts of the whole audience".

Upon leaving her home of Fukuoka for Tokyo, YUI wrote the song "feel my soul". She was planning its release on an indie label as a tribute to her hometown, when the song caught the ears of Fuji TV producer Mr. Yamaguchi, who happened to see the demo video clip. He claimed YUI's voice haunted him so much that he went out of his way to visit the recording studio himself. He even made his channel's prime time drama an extraordinary tie-in with YUI's debut track.

Although she is uncomfortable talking to people, she enjoys communicating with her audience at street performances in the Tenjin district of Fukuoka.

YUI starred in a movie released on June 17, 2006, titled Midnight Sun (in Japanese Taiyō no Uta (タイヨウのうた, song of the sun^?)) [1], which was screened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

#	Information	Sales	Name used
1st Indie Single	It's Happy Line Released: December 24, 2004 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: n/a	n/a	YUI
1st / Debut Single	feel my soul Released: February 23, 2005 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: n/a	n/a	YUI
2nd	Tomorrow's Way Released: June 22, 2005 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: n/a	n/a	YUI
3rd	LIFE Released: November 9, 2005 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: n/a	n/a	YUI
4th	TOKYO Released: January 18, 2006 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: n/a	n/a	YUI
5th	Good-bye days Released: June 14, 2006 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: n/a	n/a	YUI for Amane Kaoru
6th	I remember you Released: September 20, 2006 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: #2	n/a	YUI
7th	Rolling star TBR: January 17, 2007 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak:	n/a	YUI