Mao Abe
| 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) Yamaha Music Artist (talent agency) (2008–present) |
Mao Abe (阿部 真央 Abe Mao, born 24 January 1990) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She sung Kimi no Kioku for ending theme of the first season of Hakuōki.
Biography
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]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions (JPN)[10] |
Sales[11] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free |
|
17 | 21,000 |
| Pop |
|
5 | 54,000 |
| Su. (素。, "Naked") |
|
6 | 41,000 |
| Tatakai wa Owaranai (戦いは終わらない, "The Fight Is Not Over") |
|
6 | 28,000 |
| Anata o Suki na Watashi (貴方を好きな私, "The Me You Like") |
|
7 | 17,000 |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales[11] | Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Singles Charts [10] |
Billboard Japan Hot 100 [12] | |||||
| "Tsutaetai Koto" "I Wanna See You" |
2009 | 19 | 11 39 |
13,000 | Pop | |
| "Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no Desu" | 19 | 5 | 8,800 | |||
| "Itsu no Hi mo" | 2010 | 12 | 2 | 9,200 |
| |
| "Lonely" | 22 | 5 | 9,500 | Su. | ||
| "19-sai no Uta" | 20 | 8 | 6,000 | |||
| "Mottō." (モットー。, "Mooore.") "Hikari" (光, "Light") |
2011 | 20 | 9 — |
7,800 | ||
| "Soba ni Ite" (側にいて, "Come to Me") | 22 | 18 | 7,800 | Tatakai wa Owaranai | ||
| "Sekai wa Mada Kimi o Shiranai" (世界はまだ君を知らない, "The World Still Doesn't Know You") | 2012 | 22 | 11 | 6,600 | ||
| "Saigo no Watashi" (最後の私, "Me at the End") | 2013 | 20 | 34 | 6,100 | Anata o Suki na Watashi | |
| "Anata ga Suki na Watashi" (貴方が好きな私, "The Me You Like") "Boyfriend" |
28 | 35 — |
3,400 | |||
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Japan Hot 100 [12] | |||
| "Hitomishiri no Uta" (人見知りの唄, "Shy Song") | 2008 | — | Free |
| "My Baby" | — | ||
| "Free" | 1 | ||
| "Mada" (未だ, "Still") | 2010 | — | Pop |
| "Tatakai wa Owaranai" | 2012 | 27 | Tatakai wa Owaranai |
| "Tenshi wa Ita n da" (天使はいたんだ, "There Was an Angel") | 2013 | 83 | Anata o Suki na Watashi |
Tours
- Mao Abe Live No. 0 (2009)
- Mao Abe Live No. 0.7 (2009)
- Mao Abe Live No. 1 (2010)
- Mao Abe Live No. 2 (2010)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "イデータ of あべま｜阿部真央オフィシャルサイト". Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "阿部真央 悲しみも孤独も楽しさもすべてリアル". Yahoo.co.jp. 2009-01-16. Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "阿部真央 アーティストページ - TSUTAYA online". Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ "ROCK IN JAPAN FES 2008". 阿部真央's MySpace Blog あべまのブログ。. 2008-08-05. Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ "阿部真央 on MySpace Music". Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ "Mao Abe - Free". Music Charts. Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ "阿部真央 リリース一覧". Oricon. Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 2010-01-18. Archived from the original on 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
- ↑ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2010-02-03. (subscription only)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "阿部真央のリリース一覧" [A Look at Mao Abe's Releases]. Oricon. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon. Retrieved October 7, 2013. (subscription only)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Hot 100｜JAPAN Charts｜Billboard JAPAN" (in Japanese). Billboard.
- ↑ "レコード協会調べ 12月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：12月度認定＞". RIAJ (in Japanese). March 20, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
External links
- Mao Abe Official Site (Japanese)
- Pony Canyon Official Label Site (Japanese)
- Mao Abe's Official MySpace "Mao Space" on Myspace (Japanese)
- Mao Abe Official Blog (Japanese)
| ||||||||||||||