Juju (singer)

For Finnish rapper, see Juju (rapper)
Juju
ジュジュ
Birth name Sonoda Jun (園田淳)
Born February 14, 1976
Origin Shōbara, Hiroshima, Japan
Genres J-pop, R&B, jazz
Occupation(s) Singer, lyricist, Singer-songwriter
Instruments Singing
Years active 2004–present
Labels Sony Music Associated Records Inc
Website www.jujunyc.net

Juju (ジュジュ) (stylized as JUJU) (born February 14, 1976)[1] is a Japanese jazz singer. She is represented by Sony Music Associated Records Inc.[2]

Biography

She currently resides in New York City. She dreamed of being a jazz singer while growing up in Kyoto, and participated in all sorts of music-related activities. At age 18, she left for the US alone. While in New York, she was very taken with the "New York sound," including jazz, R&B, hip-hop, soul, Latin music, and house. Around 2001, Juju began to be featured in a number of works by other artists. In 2002, she provided music for the film Kyōki no Sakura. In 2004, she debuted with her first single "Hikaru no Naka e". The same year, concurrent with her musical activities in New York, she started performing live in Japan. When her third single, "Kiseki o Nozomu nara", was released, it topped the USEN charts and remained on the chart for a record length of 22 weeks. At this point, while she received support from a small group of listeners, she remained mostly unknown. On August 23, 2008, with the release of "Kimi no Subete ni", a collaboration between Spontania and Juju, she broke out onto the Japanese popular music scene, with the single receiving over 2.5 million downloads. Again, on November 26, 2008, another collaboration with Spontania named "Sunao ni Naretara" earned her even more fame, with the song receiving 2.2 million downloads.[3]In 2010, Juju released her third album called Juju and it won the Excellence Album Award at the 52nd Japan Record Awards.[4]

Discography

Main article: Juju discography

References

  1. ↑ "JUJU、限定80人のファンの前でスペシャル・ライヴ" (in Japanese). Barks. 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  2. ↑ "JuJu." Sony Music Online Japan. Retrieved on February 22, 2009.
  3. ↑ "." goo Music profiles. Retrieved on July 1, 2009.
  4. ↑ "tokyohives.com Winners and nominees for the 52nd Japan Record Awards" (in Japanese). Retrieved April 16, 2014, 2010. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links