(Artist) Utada Hikaru

[~Dan~]

Happy Birthday Hikki!

And I hope this year is a happier year for her than the previous one.

And make some more music plz.

[Atreyuxex]

Happy belated b-day!

Seriously hope and wish you the best for this year.

may all your wishes and dreams come true 

[Scatterbrain]

Maybe she will never see this, but I hope Hikki has the greatest year of all

[JFC]

Utada Hikaru updates Twitter after a month of absence
January 30, 2014 @ 11:38 pm

Singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru, who was absent from her schedule radio program "KUMA POWER HOUR with Utada Hikaru" (Inter FM) due to health reasons, updated her fans through Twitter on January 30.

After a month of silence on her social media account, she updated fans with a tweet that read, "The street said Hi so I said Hi back", with a picture of her hand.

Since this didn't give any  indication of her current state of health, her worried followers showered her with questions like "How is your health? Please take care" and "It's been a while since you posted something on instagram. Are you doing well?"

LINKS
- http://www.tokyohive.com/article/2014/01/utada-hikaru-updates-twitter-after-a-month-of-absence
- http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/video/2033519/
- https://twitter.com/utadahikaru/status/428682676825227264

[Y70]

Round 2:

http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/20140203/mar14020317210001-n1.html

[J-Triumf]

^ Yup, she's getting married to some Italian guy.

http://www.jpopasia.com/news/utada-hikaru-engaged-to-be-married::15603.html

Through a message on her official website this morning, Utada Hikaru announced that she is engaged to be married.

Hikaru revealed that she is in a relationship with a non-celebrity, Italian man. The singer implored people to respect the pair's privacy, especially considering his non-celebrity status.

Hikaru was originally going to quietly get married without alerting the public. However, because rumors had begun surfacing, she decided to go public with her engagement.

"Thank you for your warm support. I'm sorry to make you worry about me so much. He is a well-loved man with many friends and a large, cheerful family. I'm at a good age, so it would bring me happiness if you watched over me quietly," the singer wrote.

With the death of her mother still fresh in her mind, Hikaru was going to put off getting married as she continued to grieve. However, thinking about how happy her mother was when they last spoke made her reconsider her own happiness.

"I believe my mother is supporting me, so I decided to get married as planned," she said.

Congrats, Hikki! I hope this goes better than your first marriage!



And now something for her fans: First Love is getting a 15th anniversary re-release next month!
http://www.jpopasia.com/news/new-utada-hikaru-music-to-be-released-through-first-love-re-release-album::15295.html

I hope it gets an official international/American release, because fuck Japanese prices. I wanna get my hands on those instrumentals!

Also here's a leaked unreleased track from her Cubic U days:

I'm digging the song's mellow groovy vibe, though it's kind of both a gift and a curse, sounding good but doesn't stand out from the glut of R&B tracks from that era (probably because it sounds like it uses [noembed][/noembed]). Still, interesting to hear a young, raw Hikki before she blew up.

[JFC]

Utada Hikaru talks about her husband-to-be on her radio program
February 19, 2014

On February 18, singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru (31), who revealed earlier this month that she would marry an Italian man (23), announced on her Inter FM program in her natural voice that "I will be getting married."

She thanked everyone with, "I was happy to hear the well wishes from everyone," and explained disinterestedly that, "I did not deliberately choose an international marriage.  Rather, it happened unexpectedly not to be a Japanese person who I became acquainted with, and who matches me amazingly... His family even talks dirty jokes with me. They are very lively, but also delicate which is same as Japanese people."

Her husband-to-be is a bartender at a high-end hotel in London, England and she met him last year through a friend.  The couple plans to hold their ceremony in the southern Italian city of Fasano on May 23.


Source: Sanspo

LINKS
-
- http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/20140219/mar14021905020002-n1.html

[r31ya]

Congrats, Hikki! I hope this goes better than your first marriage!

but marrying a much younger italian guy? gaijin factor? well all we can do is hope for the best.

[JFC]

Utada Hikaru to end her radio program
March 12, 2014 @ 5:29 am

Utada Hikaru will be putting an end to her radio program 'KUMA POWER HOUR with Utada Hikaru' after the upcoming March 18th broadcast.

This was announced via InterFM and Utada Hikaru's official websites. The message, "Thank you for listening during this past year," has been posted on both sites.

'KUMA POWER HOUR with Utada Hikaru' is Utada's regular radio program that started in April of 2013. This was her first regular radio program since 'Utada Hikaru no Tres Bien Bohemian' ended in 2000. After the program started broadcasting, Utada previously tweeted, "It will be my first radio program in 13 years. I wonder if I will be okay..."


Source: natalie

LINKS
-
- http://natalie.mu/music/news/111825

[J-Triumf]

As of May 24th Hikaru is officially married again!

[2014/05/24] Hey, I got married!
Hey, I got married!

Thank you, to everyone.

http://www.utadahikaru.jp/from-hikki/ex/

[JFC]

^
Following up:

Utada Hikaru holds her wedding ceremony in Italy
May 23, 2014

Singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru (31) and Italian bartender Francesco Calliano (23) held their wedding ceremony in Polignano a Mare, Southern Italy on May 23.

Utada wore a simple, full-length white dress with laced sleeves. It was a tightly-guarded wedding with about 7-8 bodyguards to prevent pictures from being taken. Among the chaos, the couple stepped out of the church in smiles.

About 300 spectators flocked to the church to get a glimpse of the "Japanese pop star & young Italian man". Utada arrived 15 minutes after the groom in a black Mercedes with tinted windows. One after another, cheers of celebration came from the locals.

Utada was surrounded by 7-8 bodyguards dressed in black, completely blocking her appearance from the people who came to see her. In order to protect the bride, the bodyguards each held up paper umbrellas. Those who were invited to the ceremony were even notified in advance that photography was forbidden.

A reception followed the ceremony in the groom's hometown, Fasano.

Congratulations!


Sources: Daily Sports, Sponichi

LINKS
- http://www.tokyohive.com/article/2014/05/utada-hikaru-holds-her-wedding-ceremony-in-italy
- http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/gossip/2014/05/23/0006986366.shtml
- http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/gossip/2014/05/23/0006986784.shtml
- http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2014/05/23/kiji/K20140523008218710.html

[JFC]

Cover album of Utada Hikaru to be released in December
October 21, 2014



To commemorate her 15th anniversary, a cover album of Utada Hikaru, titled "Utada Hikaru no Uta", will be released on December 9.

The covered songs album is part 2 of Utada's releases for her 15th anniversary. Back in March, she released "First Love -15th Anniversary Edition-" which included a remastered edition of her 1st album "First Love". For the upcoming album, a handful of big names as well as young artists will be covering her numbers. The line up will be revealed at a later date.

Those who pre-order the album will be able to enter a lottery to participate in an album listening party which will be held from mid-November to early-December nationwide.

To coincide the announcement, a special website has been launched for the album. The portrait of Utada that is featured on the website was illustrated by graphic designer Carolin Loebbert. It's said that works by artists from various fields will be revealed on the website.


Source & Image: natalie

LINKS
- http://www.tokyohive.com/article/2014/10/cover-album-of-utada-hikaru-to-be-released-in-december
- http://natalie.mu/music/news/129177

[JFC]

^
Related to the above.

Artists Announced For Utada Hikaru Tribute Album

As previously reported, a Utada Hikaru tribute album titled “Utada Hikaru no Uta” is set to be released on December 9, the 16th anniversary of her debut. The list of artists on the album has now been revealed. She chose a group of artists who are singer-songwriters who make very personal music.


Artists on the album:

AI
Inoue Yosui
Ohashi Trio
Okamura Yasuyuki
Kato Miliyah
KIRINJI
Shiina Ringo
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Peabo Bryson
tofubeats with BONNIE PINK
Hanaregumi
Ayumi Hamasaki
Yoshii Kazuya
LOVE PSYCHEDELICO

 
The songs they will perform will be released at a later date. It is said though that Ayumi Hamasaki was initially approached to do one song (it was thought at first that she wouldn’t want to participate at all) but said that she had another in mind. The song Ayu is doing has been described as a “really well known Hikki song that had a separate single cut.” On this Utada song, Ayu will be using her voice in a way that she doesn’t normally do on her own songs.

On the same day, high resolution sound 24bit / 96kHz versions of Utada’s best albums “Utada Hikaru SINGLE COLLECTION VOL. 1 & 2″ will be released in the USB format.

- http://aramajapan.com/news/music/newrelease/artists-announced-for-utada-hikaru-tribute-album/12979/

[Tuffty]

Hikki is famous for her association with the Kingdom Hearts series and recently Tetsuya Nomura (the game director and character artist), drew this of her for the tribute album

[JFC]

Track list for 'Utada Hikaru no Uta' announced
December 3, 2014

The track list for "Utada Hikaru no Uta - 13-kumi no Ongakuka ni Yoru 13 no Kaishaku ni Tsuite-", which will be released on December 9, has been announced.

"Utada Hikaru no Uta" will feature 13 artists covering Utada Hikaru's songs. Inoue Yosui covered "SAKURA Drops", Sheena Ringo "Letters", Okamura Yasuyuki "Automatic", Hamasaki Ayumi "Movin' on without you", Hanaregumi "Flavor Of Life", AI "FINAL DISTANCE", Yoshii Kazuya "Be My Last", LOVE PSYCHEDELICO "Hikari", Kato Miliyah "For You", tofubeats with BONNIE PINK "time will tell", KIRINJI "Keep Tryin'", and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Peabo Bryson "Sanctuary". Out of the 13 songs, the covers of "SAKURA Drops", "Letters", "FINAL DISTANCE", and "Keep Tryin'" are already available for download via iTunes Store. In addition, the album's special website has released official comments by the artists.

Also on the special website is a gallery of various works that different artists created using Utada's songs as the theme. Recently uploaded was a video for Utada's "Beautiful World" done by the 'Evangelion Shin Gekijouban' ('Rebuild of Evangelion') team. Directed by Tsurumaki Kazuya, the video features edited scenes from the 'Evangelion Shin Gekijouban' series.


You can check out the track list and video for "Beautiful World" below.


[Utada Hikaru no Uta - 13-kumi no Ongakuka ni Yoru 13 no Kaishaku ni Tsuite-]

01. SAKURA Drops / Inoue Yosui
02. Letters / Sheena Ringo
03. Automatic / Okamura Yasuyuki
04. Movin' on without you / Hamasaki Ayumi
05. Flavor Of Life / Hanaregumi
06. FINAL DISTANCE / AI
07. Be My Last / Yoshii Kazuya
08. Hikari / LOVE PSYCHEDELICO
09. For You / Kato Miliyah
10. Stay Gold / Ohashi Trio
11. time will tell / tofubeats with BONNIE PINK
12. Keep Tryin' / KIRINJI
13. Sanctuary / Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Peabo Bryson


Source: natalie

- http://www.tokyohive.com/article/2014/12/track-list-for-utada-hikaru-no-uta-announced
- http://natalie.mu/music/news/132777

[kuro808]

Happy Birthday!!!

[Atreyuxex]

Happy b-day! 

[Saburo]

Five years ago this past week I saw Utada perform in a small club (Pipeline Cafe, RIP) here in Honolulu. At the time I joked about scalping the tickets for hundreds of buck$. But damn I'm no hardcore fan but that show was an experience I'll never forget. A thousand-plus crammed in a small place, headlined by a person who could sell dozens of times the number of admissions.



Anyway I was reminded of the event in my Timehop feed and sometimes I forget to tingle...

[alohano]

Saburo...I went to the concert as well.  I was completely shocked as to how such a big act could have a concert in such a small venue.  It was awesome...even got a little vid with my cam.

Aloha all!

[JFC]

Turns out, she had a bun in the oven!

Utada Hikaru announces the birth of her baby!
July 2, 2015

Utada Hikaru made an announcement on her official site that she gave birth to a baby boy!

On a post entitled, "Announcement to you fans," she wrote, "Ah, we just had a new addition to our family! It's a very calm baby boy that suckles well and sleeps well."

Utada also revealed that she was working on a new album during her pregnancy. According to her, it will take a little more time until it's finished, but she can't wait to deliver it to her fans.

Congratulations to the couple!

Source: natalie

- http://www.tokyohive.com/article/2015/07/utada-hikaru-announces-the-birth-of-her-baby
- http://natalie.mu/music/news/152684

Utada Hikaru gives birth, also working on new album!

Utada Hikaru has announced on her official website that she has given birth to a healthy baby boy! Back in 2014 Utada married Francesco Calliano, an Italian bartender. The name of the baby and date of birth was not mentioned in the announcement.

Rumors of new music have been circulating for years with no confirmation of a new single or album, and thankfully those rumors can finally be put to rest. While pregnant Hikki confirmed that she began work on a brand new album! In the announcement Hikki says the album will still take a bit more time to complete, but she’s looking forward to adding the finishing touches and getting it out for everyone. Hikki’s last studio album “This Is The One” was released six years ago, and her last Japanese studio album “HEART STATION” just turned seven years old in March.

Congratulations to the couple!

- http://aramajapan.com/news/utada-hikaru-gives-birth-also-working-on-new-album/19884/