, known by her stage name Bonnie Pink, is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

singer-songwriter and musician. She writes and composes all her songs, and plays guitar and piano. Asada has said that the name Bonnie Pink is random and has no special meaning; she chose it because it was easy to remember and because she thought the words were cute together.

History

Bonnie Pink debuted in 1995 with the single " Orenji", under her real name, Asada Kaori. Her first album, ''

Blue Jam ''Blue Jam'' was an ambient, surreal dark comedy and horror radio programme created and directed by Chris Morris. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in the early hours of the morning, for three series from 1997 to 1999. The programme gained c ...

'', was released that same year under the

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

record label. She described it as a "mixture of bitter honey, blues music, momentary silence, irresistible madness, teardrops, sour grapes, hopeful bombs, big big love, and a few green apples" in the jacket. It introduced her unique style of music that has been defined as an off-beat mix between

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, pop, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

. The next year Bonnie Pink produced an album together with artists

Tore Johansson Tore Johansson (born 6 November 1959) is a Swedish record producer, composer and musician based in Malmö, Sweden. Biography In an interview with ''HitQuarters'', Johansson claimed that the main impetus for his becoming a music producer was the ...

, Swedish producer for

The Cardigans The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden in 1992. The main lineup of the band consisted of guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead sing ...

, and

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including David LaFl ...

. The song "

It's Gonna Rain! "Heaven's Kitchen" was Bonnie Pink's second album released under the Pony Canyon label on May 16, 1997. This album was produced by Tore Johansson following the single '. The album was rereleased on HQCD and vinyl in 2016 to commemorate the 20th a ...

" was the fifth ending of the popular ''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against ...

'' anime. She wrote her third album, ''

Evil & Flowers "Evil & Flowers" was Bonnie Pink's third album released under the Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is aff ...

'' (1998), while in isolation in the Swedish countryside. She hoped to find inspiration there, but became depressed. She put her feelings of frustration into the songs. She went to New York alone to take a vacation and to study music after having released her third album in 1998. She went back in 1999 and contracted with

Warner Music Japan Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Music Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * A ...

''Let Go''

On her fourth album, '' Let Go'', she worked with

, New York producer of

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

Cibo Matto Cibo Matto (, Italian language, Italian for "crazy food") was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York City in 1994. Their first album, ''Viva! La Woman'' (1996), had lyrics primarily concerned with food. ...

, and

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...

. He gave her co-production credit for the album because he was so impressed with her. Her fifth album, ''

Just a Girl "Just a Girl" is a song by American band No Doubt from their third studio album, ''Tragic Kingdom'' (1995). Released as the record's lead single in the United States on September 21, 1995, it was written by Gwen Stefani and Tom Dumont, and prod ...

'', came out in 2001. The next year she collaborated with other artists and released ''

Re-Pink , known by her stage name Bonnie Pink, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician. She writes and composes all her songs, and plays guitar and piano. Asada has said that the name Bonnie Pink is random and has no special meaning; she chose it b ...

'', a remix album. ''

Present The present is the period of time that is occurring now. The present is contrasted with the past, the period of time that has already occurred; and the future, the period of time that has yet to occur. It is sometimes represented as a hyperplan ...

'' came out in 2003 and ''

Even So ''Even So'' was the seventh studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Bonnie Pink, released on the Warner Music Japan Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atl ...

'' in 2004. '' Golden Tears'', which features the single "So Wonderful", came out in 2005, and she performed at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

that same year as part of

Japan Nite Japan Nite is an annual music event in North America which began in 1996, featuring Japanese rock, pop, and alternative music artists. Originally centered on South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, the event expanded in later years to include multi ...

"Love Is Bubble"

Bonnie Pink released the single " Love Is Bubble" in May 2006. Her June 2006 single " A Perfect Sky", featured in an Anessa makeup commercial with popular model

Yuri Ebihara (born 3 October 1979) is a Japanese model and actress. She is a graduate of Kyushu Sangyo University, where she studied fine arts. History Her first big break came as a model for ''CanCam'', with whom she had an exclusive contract. She has si ...

, reached number 5 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

singles charts, making it the most successful single in Bonnie Pink's career. Her "best of" album sold out quickly on Amazon Japan and reached number two on the Oricon charts and continued to chart in the top 30 becoming one of the top selling albums of the year. In November 2006, she was featured in

M-Flo is a Japanese hip hop group consisting of Taku Takahashi, Verbal and Lisa. Lisa left the group in 2002 to pursue a solo career and the remaining members then started the M-Flo Loves... project working different vocalists for each song over t ...

's single "Love Song". The single was a hit for both M-Flo and Bonnie Pink, and debuted at number 7 on the Oricon daily charts and reached number 9 on the Oricon weekly chart, gaining Bonnie Pink another top 10 single.

Themes for anime

Her song "Cotton Candy" was used as the ending theme for the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

'' Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor'' in 2005, and "Love Is Bubble" was the theme song for the Japanese movie ''

Memories of Matsuko is a 2006 Japanese tragicomedy musical film written and directed by Tetsuya Nakashima. It is based on a Japanese novel by Muneki Yamada. It has not yet received North American distribution, though in its North American premiere at the 2007 New Y ...

'', in which she also featured. Her single "Last Kiss", which appears as the last song on her

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

, was the ending theme to the popular ''

Gantz ''Gantz'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2000 to June 2013, with its chapters collected in 37 vo ...

'' anime.

"Anything for You"

Bonnie Pink's single " Anything for You", although not as successful as " A Perfect Sky", still reached number 9 on the Oricon charts, achieving moderate success. Bonnie Pink, shortly after releasing her previous single, began performing on popular TV music shows and promoting her latest single, " Water Me", which was the theme song for the popular TV drama '' Watashitachi no Kyōkasho'' ("Our Textbooks") a dark, melancholy drama about a young girl's suicide and the effect on her school. The single " Water Me" reached number 6 on Oricon on its release date and number 8 on the weekly charts. On 7 July 2007, Bonnie Pink performed at

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase Environmentalism, environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Live Earth 2007 The 1st series ...

in Kyoto.

''Thinking Out Loud''

Bonnie Pink's album ''

Thinking Out Loud "Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran recorded for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the US ...

'' was released on 25 July 2007, her first album to be sold in both CD and CD+DVD formats. The first press of both editions came with an access ticket containing the AD/Password to reserve tickets for her tour, "Bonnie Pink Tour 2007 'Thinking Out Loud' Final at Nippon Budokan" on a special designated website. The CD pre-orders made the album number 1 on the Amazon.com Japan Top Sellers. The album debuted at number 4 on the Oricon Daily Charts and number 5 on the weekly charts selling approximately 53,605 copies. As of 5 September 2007, her album had sold approximately 90,000 copies. Bonnie Pink was on her "Thinking Out Loud Tour" from late 2007 to early 2008.

''I and Ai''

In April 2008, Bonnie Pink made a guest performances for

Domoto Tsuyoshi is a Japanese idol, singer, songwriter, actor, and television personality. Along with Koichi Domoto (with whom he has no blood-relation), he is a member of Domoto, which is a Japanese duo under the management of Starto Entertainment (formerly o ...

's solo project 244 Endli-x album '' I and Ai''. She was featured on the last track, "Say Anything", which she wrote the lyrics to with Domoto.

"Ring a Bell"

The English version of Bonnie Pink's single "

Ring a Bell (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

" was used as the theme song for the American release of the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

game ''

Tales of Vesperia is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio. The nineteenth mainline entry in the ''Tales (video game series), Tales'' series, it was released for the Xbox 360 and published in Japan and North America by Namco Bandai Games in ...

''. The single was released in Japan and America on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

to celebrate Bonnie Pink's 35th birthday. Its Japanese counterpart, " Kane o Narashite", was released on 6 August 2008. Bonnie Pink's thirtieth single, "Joy / Happy Ending", was released on 8 April 2009. ''

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'', her 10th studio album, followed on 13 May 2009.

Discography

* ''

'' (1995) * ''

Heaven's Kitchen "Heaven's Kitchen" was Bonnie Pink's second album released under the Pony Canyon label on May 16, 1997. This album was produced by Tore Johansson following the single '. The album was rereleased on HQCD and vinyl in 2016 to commemorate the 20th an ...

'' (1997) * '' Evil and Flowers'' (1998) * '' Let Go'' (2000) * ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Golden Tears'' (2005) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Dear Diary'' (2010) * '' Chasing Hope'' (2012) * ''Infinity'' (2023)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pink, Bonnie 1973 births Living people Anime composers Anime musicians English-language singers from Japan Korean-language singers of Japan Japanese expatriates in Sweden Japanese women pop singers Japanese women singer-songwriters Japanese-language singers Mandarin-language singers of Japan Singers from Kyoto Prefecture Musicians from Kyoto Prefecture People from Nantan, Kyoto Pony Canyon artists Video game musicians Warner Music Japan artists 20th-century Japanese women singers 20th-century Japanese singer-songwriters 21st-century Japanese women singers 21st-century Japanese singer-songwriters