- For discography information, visit her artist page on the J-Pop Wiki.
Namie Amuro (安室奈美恵) is a Japanese former singer and model. She was active from 1992 until her retirement in 2018.
(Since her music has been taken off of most streaming platforms, go to the internet archive for some of her albums!!)
Career History[]
Namie Amuro began her career at the age of 14, where she joined the music group Super Monkeys. While they failed to succeed as a group, Amuro started her solo activities and signed to avex trax in 1995. She released her first studio album SWEET 19 BLUES in 1996, where it sold over 3 million copies.
Amuro continued to dominate the Japanese music industry until her retirement in 2018, and is recognised as one of the best-selling female artists in Japan.[1] Janet Jackson was one of her inspirations.[2]
In Gyaru Culture[]
Namie Amuro paved the way for the rise of Gyaru in the mid to late 1990s. The substyle formed after her was called Amuro (often called the first ever gyaru substyle), which was also around the time ganguro was popular. Amuro gals were nicknamed Amuraa. This style peaked around 1996, and helped to popularise trends that were previously seen in the 1970s, accompanied with the surfer style that took off with Gyaru around this time.[3][4]
Throughout her career, Amuro remained a large celebrity as well as a model and trendsetter. She modelled for various magazines, including Vogue, Vivi, Popteen, JELLY, GLAMOROUS, S'Cawaii and Cawaii.
