Akina Nakamori | Profile

Akina Nakamori was born July 13, 1965 in Tokyo. She began taking ballet lessons at age four, and at the age of six penned a school essay about her desire to become a singer. Both athletic and artistic in school, she had a wide range interests but was especially keen on singing. While still only 14 she performed on the star search TV show Star Tanjo, but did not win, with one judge commenting that the song she sang was too mature for someone her age. She performed on Star Tanjo the following year, and again, was not a winner. Determinedly, she entered a third year, and in 1981 won the contest with the highest scored ever recorded on the show. She was subsequently signed by Warner Pioneer, who sent her to Los Angeles to record her debut single, “Slow Motion”, which was released in May 1982. The song did not enter the top 10, but stayed on the charts for 39 weeks, and eventually sold 420,000 copies. Akina’s debut album Prologue was released in July 1982 and went to number 7. Debuting not long after Matsuda Seiko, the two idol stars were often compared and contrasted. Her second single “Shojo A” was somewhat controversial as it concerned a motorcycle riding bad girl, but the controversy helped it reach #5 in the charts. The song also helped give Akina a somewhat racier image, compared to her rival Seiko who was portrayed as the adorable girl-next-door type. Her third single “Second Love” became her first #1, and firmly established her as a star,... Read More

Akina Nakamori was born July 13, 1965 in Tokyo. She began taking ballet lessons at age four, and at the age of six penned a school essay about her desire to become a singer. Both athletic and artistic in school, she had a wide range interests but was especially keen on singing. While still only 14 she performed on the star search TV show Star Tanjo, but did not win, with one judge commenting that the song she sang was too mature for someone her age. She performed on Star Tanjo the following year, and again, was not a winner. Determinedly, she entered a third year, and in 1981 won the contest with the highest scored ever recorded on the show. She was subsequently signed by Warner Pioneer, who sent her to Los Angeles to record her debut single, “Slow Motion”, which was released in May 1982. The song did not enter the top 10, but stayed on the charts for 39 weeks, and eventually sold 420,000 copies. Akina’s debut album Prologue was released in July 1982 and went to number 7. Debuting not long after Matsuda Seiko, the two idol stars were often compared and contrasted. Her second single “Shojo A” was somewhat controversial as it concerned a motorcycle riding bad girl, but the controversy helped it reach #5 in the charts. The song also helped give Akina a somewhat racier image, compared to her rival Seiko who was portrayed as the adorable girl-next-door type. Her third single “Second Love” became her first #1, and firmly established her as a star, and that year she made her first appearance on the prestigious New Year’s TV show Kohaku Uta Gassen. In 1985 she made her acting debut, starring in the film Aitabidachi with her boyfriend Kondo Masahiko, who was nicknamed “Matchy” and the most popular male idol at that time. She simultaneously maintained her very successful career as a singer. In 1986 Akina released the single “Desire”, which became her biggest song ever and eventually her trademark number. At age 21 also her image was evolving to a more alluring, womanly, sophisticated style. However her relationship with “Matchy”, which was covered intensely by the media, seemed to be rocky, and in September 1987 she released a heartbreak song called “Nanpasen”. She became less active, and soon the media was discussing her weight, which seemed to be dropping drastically. In July of 1989 the shocking news hit that Akina Nakamori had attempted suicide at Kondo’s apartment. Akina retreated to Hawaii for awhile, and was rumored to be drinking heavily. She set up her own management company and parted ways with Warner Pioneer. In July 1990 she released her comeback song “Dear Friend”, which she recorded in New York. She continued to sell records but not at quite the same level as before. She has changed record companies a number of times, which gave her something of a reputation as being difficult to work with. A number of times she was forced to cancel shows due to health concerns, and in 1999 she was hospitalized, although some claimed this was a publicity stunt. In 2002 she returned to Universal (where she had been ’93-’97) and clearly aimed to shock, by releasing an album with a jacket showing her totally bald. In 2003 she released a Latin oriented album called Resonnancia, and her label was quoted as saying that they wanted to make her into the “Japanese Jennifer Lopez”. These days Akina Nakamori remains a household name, if well off of her peak as an idol superstar, and now mostly playing the dinner show circuit. Collapse