
As part of her 2025 Asia tour, J-pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki will perform in Singapore
Photo: Instagram/Ayumi Hamasaki
SINGAPORE: According to CNA, J-pop artist Ayumi Hamasaki will perform in Singapore in 2025. Avex, the artist's agency, announced the news on its website on April 9. However, further information about the concerts , including dates, venues, and tickets , has not been announced yet. Photo: Instagram/Ayumi Hamasaki
The following day, Hamasaki updated her Instagram bio to include the cities she will be heading to . The itinerary includes Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Nagoya, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Osaka, Sendai, Fukuoka , and more. It's been a while since Singaporean fans last saw Hamasaki live. Her last performance in the country was back in 2014.
Held at Marina Bay Sands, Hamasaki was part of a Japanese musical festival called A-Nation. Loss of hearing
In 2008, she shared that she had lost all hearing in her left ear because of a bad ear infection she picked up back in 2000, right in the middle of one of her tours. As if that wasn't tough enough, she also started losing hearing in her right ear around 2017. Despite these challenges with her hearing, she's never stopped touring and making music.
At 46 years old, Hamasaki is famous for some fantastic songs, especially 'Seasons' from 2000 and 'Blue Bird,' which came out in 2006. She started her music journey in 1998 with her first single, 'Poker Face,' a nd just recently, on April 8, she dropped a brand new single called 'Mimosa'—a special way to celebrate her incredible 27th anniversary in the music industry. Talented singer, songwriter, and producer
Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ, born Oct 2, 1978) is a highly influential Japanese singer-songwriter and producer, nicknamed the 'Empress of Pop' due to her significant impact throughout Asia. She is well-known for her varied songwriting, music production, and engaging live performances. Notably, Hamasaki holds the title of the best-selling solo artist in Japan and is considered a cultural icon of the Heisei era.
Hamasaki grew up in Fukuoka. She moved to Tokyo in 1993. She wasn't just focused on singing from the start—she initially went there to try her hand at modelling and acting. Rapid rise to fame Her music career took off in 1998 with the release of her debut single , 'Poker Face', followed by her first major-label album, 'A Song for ××', in 1999. It was a huge hit , topping the Oricon charts for five weeks and selling over a million copies. Her relatable and insightful lyrics were a primary reason for her rapid rise to fame. Over the years that followed, Hamasaki just kept releasing amazing music . Ten more albums were released, each selling over a million copies in Japan. Duty (2000), her third album , almost reached three million in sales. A Best (2001), her first compilation album , cemented her superstar status. It sold over four million copies domestically and represented more than 40% of her record label's income. After the massive success of her A Best album, it seems that Hamasaki felt she could explore her creativity. That's when she started playing around with her music and the lyrics she wrote. She began mixing in English lyrics, starting with her Rainbow album in 2002. Her subsequent albums explored various genres, from electronic dream-pop to rock.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Singer Wang Leehom invites ‘twin brother' Aarif Rahman as guest performer at Beijing concert
Wang Leehom (left) invited Hong Kong singer-actor Aarif Rahman as the guest singer on the first night of his show in Beijing. PHOTO: AARIF_964/INSTAGRAM Fans could be forgiven if they thought they were seeing double at Taiwanese-American singer Wang Leehom's concert on June 20. The 49-year-old star invited Hong Kong singer-actor Aarif Rahman, 38, often dubbed 'Little Wang Leehom' due to his resemblance to Wang, as the guest singer on the first night of his show in Beijing. Wang is currently staging his The Best Place concert tour in China, with three sold-out shows in Beijing from June 20 to 22. 'Is there something wrong with the camera? Why are there two overlapping images?' Wang jested when Aarif, dressed in clothes similar to his outfits, appeared on stage on June 20. 'Or are my eyes seeing things?' Aarif joked that it could be due to artificial intelligence (AI). 'AI is very powerful now, and the technology of face-swopping is very scary,' he said. 'The AI filter is so powerful that it makes me 10 years younger today,' Wang replied. Aarif quipped: 'And you will grow taller.' Wang is 1.8m tall, while Aarif is 1.75m tall. Wang said many people have remarked on their resemblance, as the two artistes positioned themselves together on stage for the fans to make their judgment. 'Thank you, my 'twin'. We really look alike,' Wang acknowledged. Aarif – who is of Arab, Malay and Chinese descent – said that since the age of 16, he has often heard comments that he is a Wang lookalike. He attended his first Wang concert in 2008 when he graduated from university, he said, adding that both of them have finally appeared on stage together after 17 years. At the concert, they performed Wang's songs Still In Love With You (2011) and One World One Dream (2008). Wang posted photos of the concert on Chinese social media platform Weibo on June 21. 'Brothers performed a 'lookalike show',' he wrote . 'Were you surprised by today's guest performer Aarif Rahman?' Under Wang's post, Aarif thanked him for inviting him to the concert. Aarif also posted several concert photos on social media. 'Performing your songs on the same stage with you was something I never imagined when I was watching your concert during my younger days,' he wrote on Weibo. 'It has come true in Beijing. I look forward to meeting you next time.' Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Straits Times
13 hours ago
- Straits Times
Singer Camila Cabello's Aug 12 concert in Singapore cancelled
Camila Cabello's concert in Singapore concert has been cancelled due to an unexpected scheduling conflict. PHOTO: CAMILA_CABELLO/INSTAGRAM SINGAPORE - Bad news for American pop star Camila Cabello's fans in Singapore. The 28-year-old singer will not be performing at The Star Theatre on Aug 12 as part of her Yours, C tour. The show has been cancelled due to an unexpected scheduling conflict, according to a message on the website of 'Fans who have purchased tickets will receive a full refund from Ticketmaster through the original payment method,' the ticketing platform said. 'It could take up to 40 business days for refunds to be processed.' The concert would have been Cabello's first in Singapore. She is due to perform in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Aug 14, as part of the Yours, C tour . She will also perform in Osaka, Tokyo, Jakarta and Bangkok in August as part of the line-ups of several music festivals. She is currently scheduled to perform in Le Barcares, France, on June 28 as part of Les Deferlantes Sud de France, and perform in Paris on June 30 as part of the Yours, C tour. Cabello has also cancelled some of her performances in June - in Marbella, Spain, as part of the Starlite Occident Festival; and in Madrid and Barcelona, also in Spain, as part of Alma Occident Festival. She has enjoyed a successful solo career after leaving American girl group Fifth Harmony in 2016. Her hits include Havana (2017), featuring American rapper Young Thug, and Senorita (2019), her duet with former boyfriend, Canadian singer Shawn Mendes. Cabello's latest album C, XOXO was released in June 2024. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

Straits Times
15 hours ago
- Straits Times
Japan's high-tech sunscreens tap into skincare craze
The huge number of people poring over Ms Price's video shows the growing interest in skincare products from Japan. PHOTO: AFP TOKYO - When YouTuber Hannah Price set out to compare Japanese and Australian sunscreen, she was not expecting her deep dive into the subject to rack up over two million views. The huge number of people poring over Ms Price's video shows the growing interest in skincare products from Japan, much like the K-beauty phenomenon from South Korea. It includes sun protection, increasingly recognised as a daily essential by influencers who want to shield their skin from ageing and enthuse about the lightweight texture of Japanese brands. Companies that have perfected their secret formulas want to capitalise on booming demand, including by building factories overseas and selling to Japan's record influx of foreign tourists. Ms Price, 32, fell into a 'year-long rabbit hole' while making her video, learning about everything from SPF science to cultural attitudes to sun exposure. 'I always loved Japanese sunscreen, since I first moved to Japan in 2012,' she told AFP at her studio in Tokyo. 'I remember trying it for the first time and thinking, 'this is so much better than anything I tried in Australia',' her home country where sun cream felt 'thick, sticky, greasy'. 'I thought that the video would be popular... but I wasn't expecting it to reach as far' as it did, Ms Price said. The habit of regular sunscreen use is spreading, especially among younger generations, said Mr Takuya Wada, who works in marketing for Japanese chemical and cosmetics firm Kao. 'There are no borders when it comes to obtaining information on social media, especially Instagram and TikTok,' he said, adding that influencer posts have a 'very large' impact on global sunscreen sales. Beautifully white The global skincare market was worth more than US$115 billion (S$148 billion) in 2024 and is expected to grow to US$194 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights. A boom in celebrity skincare brands has contributed to the industry's growth - with A-listers like Kylie Jenner using social media to share their beauty routines, including sun protection, with hundreds of millions of followers. When it comes to sunscreen, country-specific regulations mean no single company dominates the field, as the entry barriers to new markets are higher. Kao's main sunscreen brand Biore UV is ranked 10th worldwide for sales, and second in Asia - competing with the likes of L'Oreal and Beiersdorf, and Japanese rivals such as Shiseido. The company wants sales from sun protection to reach 35 billion yen (S$308 million) in 2027, up 1.6 times from 2023. It plans to boost overseas production by opening three new sunscreen factories, in Indonesia, Brazil and Germany. It is technically difficult to develop formulas that block the rays effectively with a smooth texture, as demanded by Japanese consumers, said Mr Takashi Fukui, research and development director for Kao skincare products. But using scientific know-how to strike this tricky balance is what makes Kao 'different from other European or American makers'. In Japan, a cultural obsession with light skin dates back to the sixth century and using white powder imported from China later became a status symbol among nobility. Fair skin indicated a life away from outdoor labour and sun exposure, and an old Japanese proverb says 'white skin covers the seven flaws'. In the 1990s, people began using sunscreen or other cosmetics to avoid tanning – a trend dubbed 'bihaku', or beautifully white. These days, Japanese women use sunscreen as everyday protection against sunspots and ageing, caused when UV rays penetrate into the skin, said Mr Fukui. Winter sun Tans have long been fashionable in Western countries, but awareness of skin cancer risks is rising, making sunscreen an important healthcare product there, Mr Fukui said. One fan of Japanese brands is Thai skincare influencer Suari Tasanakulpan, who calls them 'lightweight' compared to 'heavy and uncomfortable' Western offerings. 'There are always new technologies and innovative textures that are often ahead of other countries,' the 40-year-old, who reviews sunscreens on YouTube, told AFP. At an outlet of drugstore chain MatsukiyoCocokara in Tokyo's Shibuya district, around 90 sunscreen products are lined up on the shelves. 'Sales of sunscreen is improving year on year,' said Mr Takeshi Otsuki, deputy manager of the chain's cosmetic division. 'More people are using sunscreen on a daily basis these days, so their needs are becoming more diverse,' he said. The number of male customers is also increasing, and Japanese sunscreens are very popular with overseas tourists who buy them in multipacks, Mr Otsuki said. While summer is high season, sunscreen is popular year-round, because Japan has a 'relatively high number of sunny days in the winter, and the sunlight hours are long'. YouTuber Price now uses both Japanese and Australian sunscreen, depending on the occasion. She sees the rise in education about sunscreens worldwide as a win-win situation. It 'means you're going to be better protected in general, which is great for everyone', she said. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.