Namie Amuro, born September 20, 1977, (real name Namie Maruyama, said to be one quarter Italian), was a huge sensation in the 90's and has gone on to be one of the most successful Japanese pop artists of all time. While she is generally considered an idol, her staying power suggests that she is at least a special breed of idol. Her strong points are generally regarded as her tough-but-sexy attitude, her gutsy voice, her R&B dance moves and her trend-setting dress style. Her tinted hair, platform...

Namie Amuro, born September 20, 1977, (real name Namie Maruyama, said to be one quarter Italian), was a huge sensation in the 90's and has gone on to be one of the most successful Japanese pop artists of all time. While she is generally considered an idol, her staying power suggests that she is at least a special breed of idol. Her strong points are generally regarded as her tough-but-sexy attitude, her gutsy voice, her R&B dance moves and her trend-setting dress style. Her tinted hair, platform shoes with miniskirt, tweezed eyebrows, flower in hair, and to a lesser degree her barcode tattoo, have all been widely copied. Amuro's legions of her fans have been dubbed "amura" (a mix of Amuro and admirer) by the media, and influence on fashion can be seen throughout the country. Focused on a pop career at an early age, Amuro was singing at local events her hometown of Naha, Okinawa at the age of 12. While meanwhile attending high school, she also became a graduate of the famed Okinawa Actor's School, where she advanced her singing, dancing and acting skills. Amuro made her professional debut with four classmates as Super Monkeys, who were signed to Toshiba-EMI. The group gathered a sizeable following, but went through a shuffling of members and the revamped group was renamed Namie Amuro and the Supermonkeys. The group drew the interest of superstar producer Tetsuya Komuro, with the ultimate result being that Amuro went solo on the AVEX label. The members of Supermonkeys however achieved considerable success on their own as Max. Her debut solo album of 1996 Sweet 19 Blues (Avex), was an immediate smash, led by the single "Body Feels Exit", and sold an astonishing four million copies. Her follow-up 1997 Concentration 20 was also a huge hit. Given Testuya Komuro's role in the albums, some skeptics wondered out loud how much of her success was due to the famed producer. However, while the pair had huge success, and Komuro played a role in her moving away from Eurobeat to a more adventurous R&B sound, using other producers has not put too much of a dent in her popularity. This is not to say that her career hasn't taken some bumps. In 1997 while just 20 it was announced that she was pregnant, and planning to marry the father Sam (born Masaharu Maruyama), a 35 year old dancer with the pop group TRF. In most cases marriage, and almost certainly childbirth, spells "end of career" to idols. However at the end of 1998 she made a dramatic comeback performing at the year end Kohaku Uta Gassen. Since then she has had a rocky relationship with Sam, and every twist and turn in her life has been examined and analyzed by the entertainment gossip press. In 1999 she sadly endured the tragedy of having her mother beat to death with a steel pipe on the streets of Okinawa by her husband's brother, with the horrific murder being covered by the press in great detail. She however she has remained focused on her music and regained her position as a superstar despite the troubles and time away from the spotlight. She is a tireless worker, and has traveled to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea, helping make her one of the most popular Japanese artists in non-Japan Asia. Her dancing is generally much flashier and funkier than her rivals, and she always appears very well rehearsed. Today Namie Amuro remains a top star, and while perhaps she has been eclipsed at least temporarily by newer stars Ayumi Hamasaki and Hikaru Utada, she has proven to be a charming, driven and durable entertainer.