, better known as Shion (, meaning "lyrics-sound"), is a Korean Japanese R&B singer, who has been active since mid-2000s. Originally from the underground club scene, she has achieved widespread success in the mainstream

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

scene since 2008."Narco Arrest 'Shion' Confesses On Blog 1/2"
December 11, 2009, '' J-Cast''

Career

Early life

Born in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

with South Korean nationality,"Singer Shion Is Arrested For Drug Use"
December 11, 2009, ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

'' she grew up with her parents who were owners of a shot bar and during her childhood she had always been close to

black music Black music is a sound created, produced, or inspired by black people, people of African descent, including African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including Caribbean music, Lati ...

sounds such as ones by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

that were often aired in the bar."Shion Interview 1/2"
June 5, 2008, ''Bounce.com'' She began voice training at the age of 10"Debuting At #9 In The Album Chart, Who Is 'Shion'?"
June 6, 2008, ''

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 Nov ...

'' and later stayed in Detroit, United States, training under Keith John, a long time backing vocalist for

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

. She entered the

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

club scene, signing with an

indie record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

in 2004."R&B Shion Debuts At #9 On The Oricon with 'viva voce'"
, June 3, 2008, ''

Sponichi Annex , also known as , is the first Japanese daily sports newspaper, having been founded in 1948. In a 1997 report it was called one of the "Big Three" sports papers in Japan, out of a field of 17 sports dailies. It is an affiliate newspaper of th ...

'' One of her early notable works was to be featured by

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

-based hip hop band LGY in their 2006 album ''Jointed 2 Homies''.

Break

She released her first album ''Candy Girl'' on May 28, 2008 and it debuted at No. 9 on the

album chart. ''Candy Girl'' was issued on an indie label, and it was the first indie-album in the history of the Oricon album chart to hit the top-10 spots. She then released her first single, ''Last Song'', in August of that year and second single, ''Rain of Tearz / Girlicious feat. DJ☆GO'', in April 2009. ''Rain of Tearz / Girlicious feat. DJ☆GO'' debuted at No. 6 on the Oricon singles chart."Shion, Second Single Debuts At #6"
April 9, 2009, ''

'' Her second album ''w/z Friendz'' peaked at No. 11 and third album ''Truth'' peaked at No. 7 on the Oricon album chart.Oricon Profile : Shion > Sales Rankings : Album
''

Arrest

On December 10, 2009, she was arrested for possession of various illegal drugs including

ketamine Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and propofol, it suppresses ne ...

. She confessed all the charges against her such as using the drugs she possessed, receiving a suspended 1-year jail sentence . She further revealed in the trial that she had attempted to commit suicide since October 2009.

Comeback

After three years absence, in July 2012, Shion released a song, "Distance", with a music video featuring model Hozunyam."Shion the Bayside Diva releases a new song after 3 years absence!"
July 12, 2012, ''

Music Lounge Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

'' In 2013, she made a surprise appearance in the ''

Koakuma Ageha ''Koakuma Ageha'' (, lit. "Little-devil Swallowtail ") is a gyaru fashion magazine, fashion and lifestyle magazine

'' fashion magazine, as one of the issue's special guests along with

Gackt , better known by his mononymous stage name Gackt (stylized as GACKT), is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Born in Okinawa, Japan, to a Ryukyuan family, Gackt learned the piano at a young age and was raise ...

and one other man, getting interviewed by Emiri Aizawa. She covered hide's song "

Hurry Go Round "Hurry Go Round" is the eleventh single by the Japanese musician hide, the fourth to bear the hide with Spread Beaver name, released on October 21, 1998. The song was left incomplete at the time of hide's death on May 2, 1998, being finished by hi ...

" for ''Tribute VI -Female Spirits-'', released on December 18, 2013.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Filmography

Television shows

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shion Japanese rhythm and blues singers Japanese women singers Zainichi Korean people Japanese people convicted of drug offenses People from Yokohama Living people Musicians from Kanagawa Prefecture Year of birth missing (living people)