Minami Takahashi (born April 8, 1991 in Hachioji City, Tokyo) is a Japanese female singer and TV personality, former AKB48 Team A member and the first AKB48 group general manager. She was accepted as an opening member of AKB48 in 2005, and in 2006, she played the center role in several singles including "Sakura no Hanabiratachi", "Skirt, Flutter", and "Seifuku ga Hidouseru". In 2008, she formed the group Northleeves and released "Relax! Written and composed by Yasushi Akimoto, the song was used as the opening theme for the drama "Saki. The rock ballad-style song was highly acclaimed, reaching No. 2 on the Oricon Weekly Ranking and No. 1 on the Billboard Japan HOT 100, and was different from the music of her time with AKB48, which was more adult in nature. Their musical style is based on J-pop, but they have developed a wide range of genres by fusing elements of rock and ballads, and their live performances are characterized by their ability to get the audience involved.
