Kei Yasuda
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| Kei Yasuda 保田 圭 |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Kei-chan, Kemeko |
| Born | December 6, 1980 |
| Origin |  Futtsu, Chiba, Japan |
| Genre(s) | Japanese pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instrument(s) | piano, saxphone |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Label(s) | Zetima |
| Associated acts | Morning Musume, Petitmoni, Kiiro 5, 10-nin Matsuri, Odoru 11, H.P. All Stars, Puripuri Pink |
| Website | Hello! Project.com |
Kei Yasuda (保田 圭 Yasuda Kei?, born on December 6, 1980 in Futtsu, Chiba, Japan) is a former member and co-leader of J-pop group Morning Musume. Yasuda, along with Mari Yaguchi and Sayaka Ichii, were the second generation of singers to be recruited into Morning Musume. Morning Musume had only released one official single, Morning Coffee, before their joining.
[edit] Biography
Yasuda attended Kimitsu Shogyo (Commercial) High School in Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture, but dropped out to pursue her dreams in the entertainment industry. She worked in her hometown McDonald's restaurant,[1] until in 1998, she, along with Mari Yaguchi and Sayaka Ichii, were chosen to be a part of the second generation of singers to be recruited into Morning Musume.
After the second generation joined, Morning Musume went on to produce one album and three more singles until Asuka Fukuda decided to graduate to further pursue her studies. Yasuda was given almost all of Fukuda's lines in future performances of these early songs. She had also collaborated with other Morning Musume members in special projects during these early days. One of the more notable ones was when she co-wrote and co-sang with Natsumi Abe the song "Sanpo" for a radio contest. It became wildly popular and a petition was circulated to make it an official single, though that never did happen.
Yasuda and Ichii sang a particularly catchy duet known as "Otome no Shinrigaku" (Girl's Psychology) for Morning Musume's second album. In response to the popularity, Tsunku decided to group them together with the third generation member, Maki Goto to create Morning Musume subgroup Petitmoni (also known as Pucchimoni) in 2001. Their first single, "Chokotto Love", has sold over a million copies since its release date.
After Ichii graduated from Morning Musume and Petitmoni, fourth generation Hitomi Yoshizawa, Tsuji Nozomi, Rika Ishikawa, and Ai Kago was placed into the subgroup. Yasuda had taken on the role of leader of Petitmoni and the group continued to produce three singles and an album.
After Morning Musume's then-leader Yuko Nakazawa graduated in 2001, Yasuda (who was the oldest member of the group at the time) became a co-leader along with Kaori Iida.
Yasuda graduated in mid-2003 at the same time when Morning Musume's 6th generation became full-fledged members. Tsunku commented that this one-time sixteen-member formation will be the largest Morning Musume will ever be. During her graduation concert, Yasuda sang a remixed rock version of "Never Forget", which was also Fukuda's graduation song. Additionally, as a special gift, Tsunku gave Yasuda a CD of her own soloist version of "As for One Day", her last single with Morning Musume.
Following Yasuda's graduation, Iida was given the title of leader of Morning Musume and Yaguchi was given the title of sub-leader. Petitmoni's leadership was handed over to Yoshizawa, and two members were added (fifth generation Morning Musume member Makoto Ogawa and Coconuts Musume's Ayaka Kimura) and Goto was removed. This new line up of Petitmoni never had another release, but a few of their songs were featured on compilation albums.
Yasuda is still in Hello! Project after graduation and has acted in dramas outside of H!P. Within H!P, she has collaborated with Nakazawa and other H!P artists on 2 Folk Songs albums, performed and MCed in Abe's first solo concert, sang backup for Goto's single "Daite Yo! Please Go On," and had hosted Morning Musume's weekly TV show Hello! Morning until Rika Ishikawa took that position. Yasuda had participated in the H.P. All Stars single "All for One & One For All" and the Puripuri Pink shuffle unit. Puripuri Pink was a new type of shuffle unit, since it was the first unit to feature graduated Morning Musume members, who were usually not included in the shuffles.
During a promotional appearance on Utaban in 2004, Yasuda even revealed that she has been learning how to play the flute.
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