| Mao Abe | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mao Abe (阿部真央) |
| Also known as | Abema (あべま) (nickname) |
| Born | 24 January 1990 Ōita, Japan |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Acoustic guitar, Vocals |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels | Pony Canyon (2008–present) |
Mao Abe (阿部 真央 Abe Mao, born 24 January 1990) is a Japanese singer-songwriter.
Contents |
Abe started learning the piano from age three, and from junior high school she wanted to be a singer.[1] She gave up the piano in favour of the guitar, wanting to be an acoustic pop singer/songwriter in the style of Canadian pop musician Avril Lavigne.[2] While at high school she frequently busked and attended music auditions.[3] In February 2006, on a morning when she had truanted from school, she wrote her first song, "My Baby".[2] Late in mid 2006, she entered the Yamaha Teens' Music Festival's Ōita regional contest on the recommendation of a musical instrument store manager, and performed "My Baby".[1][3] She won the grand prize, and later entered the country-wide version, where she won an honourable mention prize after performing "Haha no Uta" (母の唄 Mother Song).[3]
After finishing high school, she moved to Tokyo and was signed to the record label Pony Canyon. Abe performed at many live events, including some high-profile events like the Rock in Japan Festival.[4] From August until November, four acoustic demos of Abe songs were released on iTunes.[5] The third of these, "My Baby", was chosen as the October iTunes Single of the Week free download song.[1]
Abe released her first album Free in January 2009. The eponymous title track was released as a radio single, and did extremely well on radio stations: Abe reached #1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, despite only the airplay component counting towards her ranking (as opposed to airplay and physical sales, like most other releases).[6]
Since the album, she has released three singles, the first two reaching the top 20 on the Oricon single charts.[7] The third, "Itsu no Hi mo", reached #2 on the Japan Hot 100 chart, a week before the physical release of the single.[8] The single was followed by her second album, Pop, which was her first top 5 album on the Oricon albums chart.[9]
| Year | Album information | Oricon Albums Charts [10] |
Reported sales [11] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Free
|
17 | 21,000 |
| 2010 | Pop
|
5 | 54,000 |
| 2011 | Su. (素。, "Naked")
|
6 | 38,000 |
| Release | Title | Notes | Chart positions | Oricon sales [11] |
Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Singles Charts [10] |
Billboard Japan Hot 100 [12] |
RIAJ digital tracks* [13] |
|||||
| 2008 | "Free" | Radio single | — | 1 | — | — | Free |
| 2009 | "Tsutaetai Koto/I Wanna See You" | 19 | 11 39 |
— 61 |
13,300 | Pop | |
| "Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no Desu" | 19 | 5 | 29 | 8,800 | |||
| 2010 | "Itsu no Hi mo" | Certified gold by the RIAJ for downloads to cellphones[14] | 12 | 2 | 6 | 9,200 | |
| "Lonely" | 22 | 5 | 19 | 9,500 | Su. | ||
| "19-sai no Uta" | 20 | 18 | 68 | 6,000 | |||
| 2011 | "Mottō./Hikari" (モットー。/光, "Mooore/Light") | "Hikari" written in memory of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | 20 | 9 | 36 | 7,800 | |
| "Soba ni Ite" (側にいて, "Come to Me") | TBA | 43 | 25 | TBA | TBA | ||
| *RIAJ Digital Track Chart established April 2009. | |||||||
| Release | Title | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Japan Hot 100 [12] |
|||
| 2010 | "Mada" (未だ, "Still") | 23 | Pop |
|
||||||||||||||