| Kohmi Hirose | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Asami Yonemitsu (米光 麻美 Yonemitsu Asami) |
| Born | April 12, 1966 |
| Origin | Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | J-Pop |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, Piano |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Victor Entertainment |
Kohmi Hirose (広瀬 香美 Hirose Kōmi, born Asami Yonemitsu (米光 麻美 Yonemitsu Asami) on April 12, 1966 in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture) is a J-pop singer-songwriter. She started piano lessons at the age of 4 and within a year was writing songs.
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Asami Yonemitsu graduated from Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University and then Kunitachi College of Music in 1989. During her student days, she visited Los Angeles and decided to pursue a career in pop music after seeing Michael Jackson and Madonna in concert. Soon after, she began taking voice lessons from Seth Riggs, Michael Jackson's voice trainer of 3 years. Her favorite singer is David Foster.
She chose the stage name "Kohmi Hirose" as Kōmi (香美?) sounded like the English phrase "call me" and Hirose (広瀬?) was a suggestion from the Victor Entertainment staff.
After returning from America, her first album "Bingo!" was released in July 1992, but the first big hit for her was her 3rd single released in December 1993, "Romance no Kamisama", which sold 1.75 million copies. Subsequent album and single releases around that time of year, as well as her sponsorship deal with the skiing goods company Alpen to write songs for their winter-time commercials, earned her the title of the "Queen of Winter", and this was reinforced with the single "Gelaende ga Tokeru Hodo Koishitai" in December 1995. She is rather unique in the J-pop world in that she writes virtually all her own music & lyrics, and does most of the arrangements as well. She did not do any live tours until 2001, and when tickets went on sale, they sold out in 15 minutes. Another concert tour, only her second, was performed during early 2007 and a DVD of this tour was released in December of that year. Her musical output seems to be slowing down, with 2007 only producing 2 greatest hits albums, and 2008 a re-release from 1997.
Kohmi married actor Takao Osawa in March 1999, but they announced they were getting divorced in November 2006. She has written songs and produced music for many other artists, including Hitomi Shimatani, and is now the principal of a successful vocal school in Shibuya called "DoDream".
She married in October 2008 again to an American.
Her 1997 single "promise" is featured within the Geddan/Get Down internet meme.
The single "Groovy!" is the ending theme for the first 35 chapters of the anime Cardcaptor Sakura.
Asterisks indicate songs performed for Alpen, Co.