"Never End" is

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ja, 安室奈美恵, Amuro Namie, label=none; born September 20, 1977) is a Japanese former recording artist, producer, songwriter, dancer, model, actress and entrepreneur who was active between 1992 and 2018. A leading figure of ...

's 16th single on the Avex Trax label. It serves as the lead single for her fifth studio album '' Break the Rules'', and was made specifically for the

G8 Summit The Group of Eight (G8) was an inter-governmental political forum from 1997 until 2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the Group of Seven, or G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia left in 2014. The forum originated ...

that took place in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

that year. Released in July, the song debuted at #2, becoming Amuro's 16th consecutive top 10 solo single. This was Namie's last single to debut with over 100,000 copies in sales until

60s 70s 80s ''60s 70s 80s'' is a triple A-side single, Namie Amuro's 33rd solo single under the Avex Trax label. It was released in CD and CD&DVD formats on March 12, 2008, 11 months since her previous single " Funky Town", and nearly nine months after her su ...

in 2008.

Overview

The song was commissioned by late

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of Japan, Keizo Obuchi, who personally asked

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

to write it for the event. Obuchi stated to Komuro "I want you to write a song that will be loved by many people, a song that gives us a vision of harmony and interaction in the world in the 21st century" . Komuro agreed to do the song and began a process to get to know Okinawa and its music visiting the country time and time again. In an interview with Time Asia, Amuro stated that she had been asked to sing at the summit by Obuchi at a party during November or December which had occurred after Komuro had already been asked to write the song. As the song itself, Amuro stated in the same interview that she felt the song had many meanings and that people would have their own interpretations of it.

G8 Summit

"Never End" was used as the theme song to the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit 2000. On July 22, 2000, Amuro and Komuro performed the song at a reception for the event in front of several world leaders including

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, at that time the President of the United States.

Humanitarianism

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the single were donated to the Japanese chapter of

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Accolades

* Millennium Award (33rd

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards are presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards is finished in 2017, Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese enk ...

(Nihon Yuusen Taishou)) * Special Prize (42nd Japan Record Awards)

Track listing

# "Never End (Radio Edit)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:26 # "Never End (Original Mix)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:26 # "Never End (Chanpuru Mix)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:08 # "Never End (Acapella)" (Tetsuya Komuro) – 6:04

Personnel

* Namie Amuro – vocals * Wurasoe Shonenshoko Gashodan – background vocals * Andy Caine – background vocals * Jennifer Carr – background vocals * Juliet Roberts – background vocals * Tetsuya Komuro – piano * Sadao China – sanshin * Keiko Higa – taiko * Nenes – hayashi

Production

* Producer – Tetsuya Komuro * Arranger – Tetsuya Komuro * Mixing – Dave Ford, Tetsuya Komuro * Mastering – Ian Cooper * Programing – Akihisa Murakami, Toshihide Iwasa * Engineering – Eishin Kitajima, Dave Ford, Toshihiro Wako * Direction – Tetsuya Komuro, Kenji Sano, Kotaro Takada * Art Direction & Design – Tycoon Graphics * Photography – Shoji Uchida * Styling – Kyoko Tsunoda * Hair & Make-Up – Akemi Nakano

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

TV performances

* December 31, 2000 – Kōhaku Uta Gassen

References

Kyushu-Okinawa Summit 2000 Reference Materials

* ttp://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/moritoku_e/moritoku_e_11/index.html NEVER END: Summit Theme Song's Singer and Producer pay Courtesy Call to G8 Chairman {{authority control 2000 singles Namie Amuro songs Songs written by Tetsuya Komuro 2000 songs Avex Trax singles