As of December 9th, Utada Hikaru breaks yet another record (simultaneous accesses of any video on Ustream) with her farewell concert, and goes on hiatus after promoting for some 12 odd years. In the past decade, she has probably been one of the most well-known and successful Jpop singers both domestically and internationally.
Her last concert.
Starting with her debut album First Love, which became an immediate sensation in Japan, she continued to hit #1 on the charts consecutively with each of her albums, ending with a record-breaking 7 consecutive #1's on the Oricon charts (main chart ranking in Japan). She's done just about everything: anime theme songs, commercial songs, video game songs (Kingdom of Hearts anyone?), and even English albums (which admittedly, in my own opinion, flopped hardcore).
But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. She's finally decided to take a break for the foreseeable future, and I don't think anyone can blame her. She's gone through a marriage that has ended in divorce, stemming largely from the fact that she was so busy all the time, and she recently ended another relationship due to the fact that she never saw her boyfriend, being so busy with her tour. Goes to show you the dedication she has put into her work for the past twelve years.
Personally speaking, I've never been a big fan of her's (while my girlfriend is), but I do respect her as an artist, and her vocal ability (in my newb opinion) is pretty damn good. Hopefully she doesn't seriously mean a 2-5 year hiatus (although I could easily see that happening), but it would be a well deserved break.
I absolutely love Utada. She makes great music for easy listening and has such a passionate voice. I hope she takes the time off to do the things she loves and comes back strong with a new album. The song from Kingdom Hearts (Simple and Clean) is a great song and her cover of Blvd of Broken Dreams is amazing. I wish her the best!
I'm not a huge fan of hers but she definitely has a great voice and some memorable songs. First Love is one of my favourite songs ever.
In an era of one hit wonders, manufactured music and plastic idols *coughkpopcough*, Utada Hikaru really stands out to me as someone with true talent who has stood the test of time.
Edit: if everyone else is posting videos then allow me to share this. I love almost everything about this video...
lol I remember back in JHS/HS I used to knock my sister/cousin for listening to First Love when it first came out and thought it was a pretty shit/mediocre song.
Then I went to college and really liked some girl, listened to it again at some point... and holy shit is that song good. So beautifully written and it was her first album too.
I know her from Kingdom Hearts--one of the best video games series I've ever played. Sanctuary was like totally the best song ever when I first heard it
On December 20 2010 14:40 zzaaxxsscd wrote: listened to more than my fair share of First Love, Distance and Deep River. she's arguably -the- Japanese artist of the 2000s.
very talented, super voice, brilliant songwriter, gorgeous to boot wish her all the best!
On December 20 2010 13:48 FuRong wrote: I'm not a huge fan of hers but she definitely has a great voice and some memorable songs. First Love is one of my favourite songs ever.
In an era of one hit wonders, manufactured music and plastic idols *coughkpopcough*, Utada Hikaru really stands out to me as someone with true talent who has stood the test of time.
Edit: if everyone else is posting videos then allow me to share this. I love almost everything about this video...
Also, I'd love to watch a recording of her final concert, can anyone provide a link?
Do you have a Jpopsuki account? It's uploaded there (the rip from ustream that is, since the official version isn't up yet). If you don't have an account, I can send you an invite (since registrations are closed atm I believe) if you want one.
The quality is pretty good considering it's a stream vid, and it's worth downloading in my opinion.
Sanctuary (Passion), Simple and Clean, Save the best for last and the Tetris owning are all I know about her so far. Definitely gonna check out her other songs. And I think this break is in no way bad for her.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i51.tinypic.com/28mlick.png)
![[image loading]](http://i55.tinypic.com/24xqsf8.jpg)
So beautifully written and it was her first album too.
wish her all the best!
