Mary Jane Blige is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards, and twelve Billboard Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award. She has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, including one for her supporting role in the film Mudbound (2017) and another for its original song "Mighty River", becoming the first person nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year.
Hikaru Utada, who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan.
Mai Kuraki is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. After releasing her US debut single "Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single "Love, Day After Tomorrow" in 1999. In 2000, she released her debut album, Delicious Way, which debuted at number-one and sold over 2.2 million copies in its first week. The album has spawned four top-three singles, "Love, Day After Tomorrow", "Stay by My Side", "Secret of My Heart", and "Never Gonna Give You Up". Eventually, the album sold over 3.5 million copies nationwide and became the best-selling album in Japan in 2000, and has been the ninth best-selling album in Japan of all-time.
Come On Over is the third studio album by Canadian country music singer Shania Twain. It was released on November 4, 1997, by Mercury Records. Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the album became the best-selling country album, the best selling album by a Canadian and is recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album by a solo female artist, and the best-selling album in the USA by a solo female artist. It is the ninth all-time best-selling album in the United States, and worldwide. It is also the sixteenth best-selling album in the United Kingdom.
Namie Amuro is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, lyricist, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of the Japanese entertainment industry since the early 1990s, Amuro is known for breaking the youthful idol stereotype of J-Pop, changing the fashion trends and lifestyle of women in Japan, her experimentation across music styles, and for her visual imagery in music videos and live performances. Due to her career longevity, resilience, professionalism, efforts behind-the-scenes in the music industry, and her way of life, she is considered a pop culture icon in Japan and Asia. She has been referred to as "Diva of Heisei Era" and the "Queen of Japanese Pop", and has been recognized as having the influence and career impact domestically equivalent to artists such as Janet Jackson and Madonna in Western music and pop culture.
The Colour of My Love is the third English-language and twelfth studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was released by Columbia Records/550 Music on 9 November 1993. The songs were produced mainly by David Foster, Ric Wake, Guy Roche, Walter Afanasieff and Christopher Neil, and four of them were written by Diane Warren. The album features cover versions of "The Power of Love" and "When I Fall in Love".
Mariah Carey is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on June 12, 1990, by Columbia Records. Its music incorporates a range of contemporary genres with a mix of slow ballads and up-tempo tracks. Originally, Carey wrote four songs with Ben Margulies, which solely constituted her demo tape. After Carey was signed to Columbia, all four songs, after being altered and partially re-recorded, made the final cut for the album. Aside from Margulies, Carey worked with a range of professional writers and producers, all of whom were hired by Columbia CEO, Tommy Mottola. Mariah Carey featured production and writing from Rhett Lawrence, Ric Wake and Narada Michael Walden, all of whom were top record producers at the time. Together with Carey, they conceived the album and reconstructed her original demo tape.
Misaki Itō, commonly known as Misia and stylized as MISIA, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attended Seinan Gakuin University before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She was signed to BMG Japan in 1997, after auditioning for record producer Haruo Yoda.
Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs.
A Best is the first greatest hits album by Japanese singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on March 28, 2001, by Avex Trax and Avex Music Creative Inc. Hamasaki had originally planned to release the greatest hits album after her 2002 studio album I Am..., but the idea was denied by Avex head staff. Instead, Avex released the album in 2001, which caused conflict between the label and Hamasaki. The compilation was released in two different formats including a physical and a digital release. Seven different artworks were released in several editions of the album. The album includes one new track, three re-recorded tracks, and the rest of previously released singles.
Moment is Japanese J-pop band Speed's greatest hits album following their first album, Starting Over and second album, Rise. Moment was released on December 16, 1998 and contains all the commercially released singles from their first and second albums along with additional tracks. Debuting at number 1 on the Oricon charts and eventually selling 2.32 million copies, Moment is the best-selling album by a female group in Japanese music history.
Speed were a Japanese female vocal/dance group comprising Hiroko Shimabukuro, Eriko Imai, Takako Uehara and Hitoe Arakaki. All four members are former students of the Okinawa Actors School which also trained popular artists Namie Amuro and MAX.
Celine Dion is the eleventh studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, and her second English-language album. It was originally released by Columbia Records on 30 March 1992, and features the Grammy and Academy Award-winning song "Beauty and the Beast", and other hits like "If You Asked Me To" and "Love Can Move Mountains". The album was produced by Walter Afanasieff, Ric Wake, Guy Roche and Humberto Gatica. It reached number one in Quebec, number three in Canada and was certified Diamond there, denoting shipments of over one million copies in this country. At the 35th Annual Grammy Awards, Celine Dion was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The album has sold over five million copies worldwide. To support it, Dion toured as the opening act for Michael Bolton on his "Time, Love and Tenderness Tour" in the summer of 1992 through the United States. From August 1992 till March 1993, she toured Canada with her Celine Dion in Concert tour.
Dahlia is the fifth studio album by Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, released on November 4, 1996 by Atlantic Records. It is the band's last album before breaking up the following year, and the last to feature new work by guitarist hide, due to his death two years later. The album is composed largely of ballads, with only a few tracks retaining the band's heavier musical traits seen on previous releases. It topped the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for only 15 weeks, but managed to sell over half a million copies. Seven, nearly all, of the album's songs were released as singles, most of which also topped the singles chart and sold well.
Show-Ya are a Japanese all-female heavy metal band formed in 1981. The group disbanded in 1998, but reformed with the original line-up in 2005 for the 20th anniversary of their first release. Their music is deeply rooted in classic rock and they have covered songs by bands and artists such as The Beatles, The Doors, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and AC/DC in their albums and live shows. Their music evolved from the pop rock genre of their first offerings to the heavy metal genre of their most successful albums, Outerlimits (1989) and Hard Way (1990). Show-Ya annually organizes and produces the all-female rock festival Naon no Yaon, which they founded in 1987.
KinKi Kids is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Johnny & Associates. KinKi Kids was formed in 1993 and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 million physical copies sold, they are one of the best selling boy groups in Asian history and top 20 best-selling artists of all time in Japan. Although the members share the same surname, the only relation they have to each other is that they both hail from the Kinki region, hence the duo's name.
Delicious Way is the debut album by Japanese recording artist Mai Kuraki. It was released by Giza Studio and Giza Inc. in Japan on June 28, 2000. The album was entirely co-written by Kuraki herself, with the help of Michael Africk and Yoko Blaqstone in some tracks, while production was handled by Kanonji. The album's background and development started in mid-to-late 1999 after her American debut single "Baby I Like", where East West Records and Giza Studio sent her back to Japan. To promote the album, four singles were released; "Love, Day After Tomorrow", "Stay by My Side", "Secret of My Heart", and "Never Gonna Give You Up".
Kana Nishino is a Japanese singer and songwriter signed with SME Records' Newcome Inc. She debuted on February 20, 2008, with the single "I".
Dong Young-bae, better known by his stage names Taeyang and SOL, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and dancer. He made his debut in 2006 as a member of the South Korean boy band Big Bang. While the debut was met with lukewarm receptions, their follow-ups cemented their popularity, becoming one of the best-selling digital groups of all-time in Asia and one of the best-selling boy bands in the world.
Little Mix are a British girlgroup, formed on the eighth series of The X Factor UK by Kelly Rowland. In 2011, the group rose to prominence after becoming the first group to win the series, and are regarded as the show's most successful winning act. Originally a four-piece group, the line up consisted of Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Jesy Nelson, before her departure in 2020. Known for their vocals and signature harmonies, they are cited for helping the girl band renaissance in the UK and for re-defining girl groups. In 2022, Little Mix went on a hiatus, to allow its members to pursue solo projects.
