MISIA (Japanese)

MISIA (ミーシャ, pronounced Mīsha, born July 7 1978 in Fukuoka, Japan) is a female Japanese R&B singer.

Biography

MISIA (not to be confused with European singer Misia) was born Misaki Itou on July 7, 1978, in Fukuoka, Kyushu, to parents who were both singers. She is the youngest of three children, with an older brother and sister. She discovered her five-octave singing voice while at her older sister?s private music lessons. From then on she dreamed of becoming a singer and later won a contest in Fukuoka. She moved in with her sister before middle school to work toward her goal. During middle and high school, she sang and played the trumpet in a brass band club. She began training with two African-American trainers in gospel and R&B, but failed all her auditions in high school. She was accepted into Seinangakuin University but decided to pursue a music career instead.

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She finally passed a BMG audition in May 1997 and styled her hair in dreadlocks that November. Her name MISIA is a combination of "Misaki" and "Asia." She debuted February 21, 1998, with "Tsutsumi Komu You Ni," which sold well but did not make the Oricon charts. Her second single, "Hi no Ataru Basho," however, reached ninth place and was used in the soundtrack of the movie Hood. The album Mother Father Brother Sister was released in June 1998 in third place and reached number one after 4 weeks. In March 1999, she won Best New Artist of the Year and Best Pop Album of the Year from Nihon Gold Disc Award.

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In 2000, one of MISIA?s dreams came true with the release of "I miss you ~ Toki wo Koete~" with Dreams Come True, her favorite band. Nakamura, the leader of DCT, created the songs and MISIA wrote the lyrics. The single was released January 1, 2001. The album also included a live version of the famous Whistle Register theme, Lovin' You, she sang it as a tribute to Minnie Riperton, as Misia is well know for using such vocal technique is many of her original materials. Misia hit a high A/A6 in her live rendition of the song. Her single "Kokoro Hitotsu," released August 27, 2003, was used as the theme song to the hit movie Dragon Head.

Related Topics:
Whistle Register - Minnie Riperton - A6

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The single "Namae no Nai Sora wo Miagete," released July 7, 2004, was used as the theme song for the drama Tenka. "Kiss in the Sky" was used in the soundtrack of the hit PlayStation 2 role-playing game Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. The song also appears within the game as an orchestral arrangement.

Related Topics:
PlayStation 2 - Role-playing

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