MISIA

Born as "Misaki Itō" in Tsushima, Nagasaki, on July 7, 1978, Misia is a Japanese singer best known for the Number 1 hit "Everything." She received training in gospel and R&B music as a student, signed with BMG Japan in 1997, and released the debut single "Tsutsumikomu Yō ni…" in February 1998. The song reached Number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, where Misia's follow-up single, "Hi no Ataru Basho," reached Number 9. That summer, her debut album Mother Father Brother Sister reached Number 1, eventually winning "Best Album" at the Japan Record Awards and becoming one of the best-selling Japanese albums in history. Love Is the Message followed in 2000 and also reached Number 1. Like its predecessor, it was named "Best Album" at the Japan Record Awards and sold more than two million copies in Japan alone. The album also featured her first chart-topping single, "Everything," which peaked at Number 1 for four weeks. Her second Number 1 single was "Nemurenu Yoru wa Kimi no Sei," which appeared on the chart-topping album Kiss in the Sky in 2002. Although "Everything" and "Nemurenu Yoru wa Kimi no Sei" marked Misia's peak on the Oricon Singles Chart, she continued to release Top 10 albums for two decades, with highlights including the platinum-certified releases Mars & Roses (2004) and Singer For Singer (2004), as well as the gold-certified albums Ascension (2007), Eighth World (2008), and Just Ballade (2009). Hello Love, the fourteenth studio album of her career, reached Number 4 in 2021, and Misia continued to release a singles of compilations and live albums, as well, including 2023's Misia The Great Hope Best.