Takayo Ookoshi
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| Takayo Ookoshi | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 13, 1985 |
| Origin |  Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Genre(s) | Japanese Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1999—present |
| Label(s) | SME Records, PICTUS |
Takayo Ookoshi (大越貴代 ŌKoshi Takayo?), born on June 13, 1985 in Hokkaidō, Japan, was the leader of the all-girl J-pop band ZONE.
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[edit] Biography
As a young child, she was shy. In an effort to help her overcome this, her parents strongly encouraged her to enroll in Studio Runtime, a children’s school for the performing arts.
[edit] ZONE
In 1998, she was selected as the first of the four final choices as the leader of pop band ZONE. Because ZONE was a creation of Studio Runtime, and because Runtime has deep ties with the Sony music department, the band was able to make a high-profile debut in 2000, at the “Sapporo Lilac Festival”.
Ominami Tadayuki, a representative of Sony Records, noticed that the crowd reaction to the debut concert was particularly enthusiastic. At this point, ZONE was strictly a dance group. Following his belief that ZONE had the makings of a hit, Mr. Ominami watched a live video of the band playing with instruments at the KomeKome Klub, and felt that, due to the overabundance of dance groups, ZONE had the makings of a true pop sensation, if they could play instruments as well as sing and dance. Takayo’s instrument became the guitar.
With the release of their third single, "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~", ZONE became a bona fide pop sensation in Japan. Takayo’s skills at playing guitar were also rapidly improving. She would continue to act as the band's leader until the end of 2003, when Takayo left the band to pursue her studies. However, she would come up again as an independent artist in 2006.
[edit] Solo
Takayo is currently engaged in a solo career and has released her first album, titled My Best Friends, on June 6, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Takayo Official Website (Japanese) (currently down)
- Takayo's Sandy Beach (Japanese) (dead link)
- Takayo no Sandy Beach old blog (Japanese) (dead link)
