Kohmi Hirose

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Kohmi Hirose
Born (1966-04-12) 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 April 12, 1966) is a J-pop singer-songwriter. Since the release of her million-selling single "Romance no Kamisama" in 1993,[1] Hirose has recorded music for winter-sporting goods company Alpen's advertising campaigns. This has prompted the Japanese public to bestowed upon her the nickname of "Winter Queen" (冬の女王 Fuyu no Joō).[2] Her popularity spiked in the early 21st century when her second most successful single "Promise" was used in an Internet meme.[3]

Biography

Hirose 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.[1] 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 "Winter Queen",[2] and this was reinforced with the single "Gelaende ga Tokeru Hodo Koishitai" in December 1995. Her 1998 compilation of these singles, The Best "Love Winters", is certified multi-million, having sold 2.4 million copies.[4]

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.

Hirose 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 remarried in October 2008 to an American finance professional and native of San Jose, California.

She hosts a weekly show on Ustream.tv called "Friday Kohmi". In 2011, she released "Egao no Megamisama" to the iTunes Store to raise money for the recovery from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, using 120 viewers of her show to form the chorus.[5] For her 20th anniversary in 2012, Hirose released a compilation album titled Single Collection and an English language cover album of Christmas songs titled Love X'mas, working with Jun Abe, Satori Shiraishi, Yuji Toriyama, and Takeshi Nakatsuka to arrange it. She also embarked on a 3-stop anniversary tour called "Happy & Smile ～Super Best Selection～", with concerts at the Zepp Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka halls.[6]

Discography

Album

  • Bingo! (1992.07.22)
  • "good luck!" (1993.03.24)
  • Success Story (1993.12.16)
  • Fuji TV's DRAMA "Ue wo muite arukou" ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK (1994.5.21)
  • Harvest (1994.12.16)
  • Beginning Part 2 (1995.06.21)
  • Love Together (1995.12.16)
  • welcome-musik (1997.02.05)
  • Movie "Tokimeki Memorial" original soundtrack (1997.08.08)
  • Thousands of Covers Disc1 (1997.08.21)
  • rhapsody (1998.01.15)
  • THE BEST"Love Winters" (1998.11.11)
  • Music D. (1999.12.16)
  • Hirose Kohmi THE BEST Love Winters ~ballads~ (2001.11.07)
  • LOVEBIRD (2004.12.16)
  • Musical “Hakuja-den/ White Lovers” song selection (as sound director - 2006.11.08)
  • GIFT＋ (2006.11.22)
  • THE BEST Love Winters & Ballads (2007.02.21)
  • Alpen Best (2007.12.05)
  • Thousands of Covers (2008.03.26) (re-release of 1997.08.21 issue)
  • Making My Life Better (2008.12.03)
  • Tie-Up Collection ~Hirose Kohmi no Terebi de Kiita Ano Kyokutachi~ (2009.12.16)
  • DRAMA Songs (2010.01.20)
  • Meikyoku Album (2010.12.15)
  • Single Collection (2011.11.23)
  • Love X'mas (2011.11.23)
  • And.Love.Again. (2012.12.5)

Single

Asterisks indicate songs performed for Alpen, Co.

  • "Ai ga Areba Daijōbu" (愛があれば大丈夫) (1992.12.02)
  • "Futari no Birthday" (二人のBirthday) (1993.05.21)
  • "Romance no Kamisama" (ロマンスの神様 Romansu no Kamisama) (1993.12.01)*
  • "Dramatic ni Koishite" (ドラマティックに恋して Doramatikku ni Koishite) (1994.05.11)
  • "Shiawase o Tsukamitai" (幸せをつかみたい) (1995.05.24)*
  • "Ai wa Ballade" (愛はバラード Ai wa Barādo) (1995.05.24)
  • "Gelaende ga Tokeru Hodo Koishitai" (ゲレンデがとけるほど恋したい Gerende ga Tokeru Hodo Koishitai) (1995.12.01)*
  • "DEAR...again" (1996.11.11)*
  • "Mafuyu no Kaerimichi" (真冬の帰り道) (1997.01.01)*
  • "Natsu da Mon" (夏だモン) (1997.07.24)
  • "promise" (1997.11.27)*
  • "Pianissimo" (ピアニシモ Pianishimo) (1998.01.15)*
  • "Groovy!" (1998.09.23)
  • "Strobo" (ストロボ Sutorobo) (1998.12.02)*
  • "I Wish" (1999.01.21)*
  • "Koi no Best 10" (恋のベスト10 Koi no Besuto Ten) (1999.11.20)*
  • "BEGIN ~Ikutsumono Fuyu o Koete~" (BEGIN 〜いくつもの冬を越えて〜) (2000.01.13)*
  • "Only One" (Only One 〜オンリー・ワン〜 Onrī Wan) (2000.03.23)
  • "More More Love Winters" (2000.11.22) (maxi re-mix single)*
  • "Search-Light" (2001.01.24)*
  • "Tasogare" (黄昏) (2001.09.21)
  • "Velvet" (2001.12.05)*
  • "Tsuki no Shita de Aimashou" (月の下で逢いましょう) (2002.01.23)*
  • "Hizuke Henkōsen" (日付変更線) (2004.11.17)
  • "GIFT/Ai wa Tokkoyaku" (GIFT／愛は特効薬) (2006.02.15)
  • "Torokeru Rhythm" (とろけるリズム Torokeru Rizumu) (2009.12.16)*

Video/DVD

  • hirose kohmi THE VIDEO Love Winters (10 video clips - 2000.12.06)
  • HIROSE KOHMI THE LIVE WINTER COLLECTION 2001-2002 (live footage from 2001/2002 concert tour - 2002.03.21)
  • Tour 2007 GIFT + Shiawase wa Fuyu ni Yattekuru (live footage from 2007 concert tour - 2007.12.05)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "カラオケ[ club DAM.com ]". Retrieved 2011-01-27. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "ナタリー - [広瀬香美] 冬の女王が贈るアルペンCMベスト". October 2, 2007. Retrieved 2011-01-27. 
  3. ↑ "Get Down". Retrieved 2011-01-26. 
  4. ↑ "広瀬香美　ラジオdeフォロ〜ミ〜". Retrieved 2011-01-28. 
  5. ↑ "広瀬香美がUst視聴者120名をコーラスにチャリティソング". April 22, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2012. 
  6. ↑ "広瀬香美20周年でシングル集＆Xmasカバー盤同時発売". November 14, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2012. 

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