is a Japanese

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

singer, lyricist, fashion model and television presenter.

Career

Born in

Adachi, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It is located to the north of the heart of Tokyo. The ward consists of two separate areas: a small strip of land between the Sumida River and Arakawa River and a larger area north of the ...

, Japan to a Japanese mother and British father, Kimura started working as a model in 2002 for the Japanese magazine '' Seventeen''. She went on to host the morning television show ''Saku Saku'' from April 14, 2003 to March 31, 2006. Kimura released her only

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

single, titled "

Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on th ...

", but it was later released as her major label debut single on June 23, 2004, after she signed with

Columbia Music Entertainment , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

. The song was used over the end credits of ''Saku Saku''. On October 27, Kimura released her second single, " Happiness!!!", which was followed by her debut album, ''

Kaela ''Kaela'' is the first album released by Japanese pop singer Kaela Kimura. It was released on December 8, 2004, and peaked at number seven on the Japanese charts. It features the singles, "Level 42 Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band form ...

'', on December 8, 2004. Following the release of her third single, " Rirura Riruha", on March 30, 2005, Kimura saw her fanbase grow considerably. The song was used in a series of

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

commercials in Japan and helped make her a household name. It sold over 100,000 copies, her best-selling single to date, and it also received a nomination for "Best Video" in the

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online votin ...

2005. Nearly seven months later, her next single, "

Beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

", was released. The song was composed by

Tamio Okuda is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and producer. He started his career in 1986 as a member of the band Unicorn. After Unicorn broke up, Okuda moved on to a solo career in 1994 with the single "Ai no Tame ni". He has written and composed many song ...

. The song had a more

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

influence. On January 18, 2006, Kimura released her fifth single, " You". In March 2006, ''

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is con ...

'' was released and debuted at number two on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

chart. She continued promoting

Kit Kat Kit Kat (stylised as KitKat in various countries) is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, United Kingdom, and is now produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United Sta ...

with a promotional single titled "Circle"; a CD with the song was sold along with the candy in a limited package. At this point, Kimura decided to leave the TV show, ''Saku Saku'', to focus on her music career. Her last appearance as host was on March 31, 2006. During 2006, Kimura became the lead vocalist of the rock band Sadistic Mika Band, which started as a collaboration for Kirin products promotion, and later resulting in the album ''Narkissos'' as Sadistic Mikaela Band. That year, she also covered Roy Orbison's ''

Oh, Pretty Woman "Oh, Pretty Woman" or simply "Pretty Woman" is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 f ...

'', which was used as the theme song of 2006

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thrill ...

s ''

Attention Please is a manga by Chieko Hosokawa about the training of flight attendants for Japan Airlines originally serialized in ''Shōjo Friend'' from Kodansha beginning in 1970. Tokyo Broadcasting System adapted a TV drama from the manga in 1970. Thirty ...

'' starring Aya Ueto. She appeared on the program in a cameo role as an airline passenger in episode 10. On June 28, a new single, " Magic Music", was released, followed by the release of "

Tree Climbers "Tree Climbers" is the seventh single from Japanese pop singer Kaela Kimura is a Japanese pop rock singer, lyricist, fashion model and television presenter. Career Born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan to a Japanese mother and British father, Kimur ...

" three months later. Her eighth single, "

Snowdome The Snowdome is an indoor ski slope just off the A5 road in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Iris ...

", was released in conjunction with her third studio album, '' Scratch'', on February 7, 2007. The song "Snowdome" was composed by Japanese pop punk band

Beat Crusaders were a Japanese rock band active from 1997 to 2010. During all promotional appearances, their faces are masked by drawings resembling themselves as printed by a dot-matrix printer. History Beat Crusaders, commonly abbreviated BECR, was founded ...

. The album ''Scratch'' topped the

Albums Chart for two weeks and sold over 300,000 copies. Kimura's ninth single, "Samantha", was released on July 18, 2007. The song was inspired by Samantha Stephens, the protagonist from the ABC TV series, '' Bewitched''; and the music video features Hanna-Barbera designs. In September, a second

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

from her 'Scratch Tour' was released, followed by her tenth single, "Yellow", a month later. She released her eleventh single, "Jasper", a dance song very different from her previous works, in early 2008. On April 2, her fourth album, ''+1'', was released and debuted on the Oricon weekly albums chart at number three. After the album's release, Kimura hosted her '+1 TOUR' and released her first

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

compilation ''Best Video 1''. On September 10, 2008, she released her first double A-side single . The first A-side was used in Lucido-L commercials, while the second was featured in the Japanese film . Kimura released her first ballad, titled on January 28, 2009, reaching number five on

, and her fourteenth single, "Banzai", on May 8, followed by her fifth studio album, ''Hocus Pocus'', on June 24, celebrating her fifth anniversary as a singer.

Personal life

On September 1, 2010, Kimura married actor

Eita is a Japanese actor from Tokyo. He has appeared in many Japanese television dramas and movies; most notable is the TV series '' Water Boys''. He also appeared in '' Summer Time Machine Blues'' and '' Tokyo Friends: The Movie''. Career In 2009, ...

after becoming engaged in late 2009. Although the official marriage announcement was delayed due to work commitments. They have a son (born October 2010, though without a disclosed exact birthdate or name), and a daughter (born October 2013).

Discography

* ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Scratch'' (2007) * '' +1'' (2008) * '' Hocus Pocus'' (2009) * ''8Eight8'' (2011) * ''Sync'' (2012) * ''Rock'' (2013) * ''Mieta'' (2014) * ''Punky'' (2016) * ''Ichigo'' (2019) * ''Magnetic'' (2022)

Filmography

* '' Custom Made 10.30'' (2005) * ''

Moomins on the Riviera ''Moomins on the Riviera'' (Finnish title: ''Muumit Rivieralla'') is a 2014 Finnish-French animated family comedy film directed by Xavier Picard and produced by Hanna Hemilä, who is also co-director. The film is based on ''Moomin'' comic strips ...

'' (2015)

References

External links