Mao Abe
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She debuted in 2009 with the album Free
.
. While at high school she frequently busked and attended music auditions. In February 2006 (on a morning when she had skipped school) she wrote her first song, "My Baby." Late in mid 2006, she entered the Yamaha Teens' Music Festival's Ōita
regional contest on the recommendation of a musical instrument store manager, and performed "My Baby." She won the grand prize, and later entered the country-wide version, where she won an honourable mention prize after performing .
After finishing high school, she moved to Tokyo and was signed to the major record label Pony Canyon
. Abe performed at many different live events, some high-profile like the Rock in Japan Festival
. From August until November, four acoustic demos of Abe songs were released on iTunes
. The third of these, "My Baby," was chosen as the October iTunes
Single of the Week free download song.
Abe released her debut album Free
in January 2009. The eponymous title track was released as a radio single, and did extremely well on radio stations: Abe hit #1 on the Billboard
Japan Hot 100
chart, despite only the airplay component counting to her rank (as opposed to airplay and physical sales, like most other releases).
Since the release of the album, she has released three singles, the first two reaching the top 20 on the Oricon
single charts. The third, "Itsu no Hi mo
," reached #2 on the Japan Hot 100 chart, a week before the physical release of the single. The single was followed by her second album, Pop
, which was her first top 5 album on the Oricon albums chart.
Free (Mao Abe album)
-DVD Tracklist:-Japan Sales Rankings:- Various charts :-Personnel:*Mao Abe - acoustic guitar , arranger , songwriter*Masakazu Andō - arranger , producer*Kozo Fujita - art direction, photography...
.
Biography
Abe started learning the piano from age three, and from junior high school she had begun to want to be a singer. She stopped learning the piano in favour of the guitar, wanting to be an acoustic pop singersongwriter in the style of Canadian pop musician Avril LavigneAvril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
. While at high school she frequently busked and attended music auditions. In February 2006 (on a morning when she had skipped school) she wrote her first song, "My Baby." Late in mid 2006, she entered the Yamaha Teens' Music Festival's Ōita
Oita, Oita
is the capital city of Ōita Prefecture located on the island of Kyushu, Japan.- Demographics and geography :Ōita is the most populous city in Ōita Prefecture...
regional contest on the recommendation of a musical instrument store manager, and performed "My Baby." She won the grand prize, and later entered the country-wide version, where she won an honourable mention prize after performing .
After finishing high school, she moved to Tokyo and was signed to the major record label Pony Canyon
Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
. Abe performed at many different live events, some high-profile like the Rock in Japan Festival
Rock in Japan Festival
The Rock in Japan Festival is an annual three-day rock festival held during early August in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, organized by Rockin'on. At this festival appear many J-pop artists. Rock in Japan Festival is the biggest rock festival in Japan....
. From August until November, four acoustic demos of Abe songs were released on iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
. The third of these, "My Baby," was chosen as the October iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
Single of the Week free download song.
Abe released her debut album Free
Free (Mao Abe album)
-DVD Tracklist:-Japan Sales Rankings:- Various charts :-Personnel:*Mao Abe - acoustic guitar , arranger , songwriter*Masakazu Andō - arranger , producer*Kozo Fujita - art direction, photography...
in January 2009. The eponymous title track was released as a radio single, and did extremely well on radio stations: Abe hit #1 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Japan Hot 100
Japan Hot 100
The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com ....
chart, despite only the airplay component counting to her rank (as opposed to airplay and physical sales, like most other releases).
Since the release of the album, she has released three singles, the first two reaching the top 20 on the Oricon
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. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
single charts. The third, "Itsu no Hi mo
Itsu no Hi mo
is a song by Mao Abe. It was released as Abe's third single on , as the lead single from her second album Pop, two weeks before the album's release....
," reached #2 on the Japan Hot 100 chart, a week before the physical release of the single. The single was followed by her second album, Pop
Pop (Mao Abe album)
-DVD Track list:-Singles:-Japan Sales Rankings:*Currently still charting.- Various charts :...
, which was her first top 5 album on the Oricon albums chart.
Albums
| Year | Album Information | Oricon 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. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Albums Charts |
Reported sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Free Free (Mao Abe album) -DVD Tracklist:-Japan Sales Rankings:- Various charts :-Personnel:*Mao Abe - acoustic guitar , arranger , songwriter*Masakazu Andō - arranger , producer*Kozo Fujita - art direction, photography...
|
17 | 21,000 |
| 2010 | Pop Pop (Mao Abe album) -DVD Track list:-Singles:-Japan Sales Rankings:*Currently still charting.- Various charts :...
|
5 | 54,000 |
| 2011 |
|
6 | 38,000 |
Singles
| Release | Title | Notes | Chart positions | Oricon sales |
Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Singles Charts |
Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... |
RIAJ RIAJ Digital Track Chart The is chart ranks the best selling digital singles in Japan, provided by the Recording Industry Association of Japan since April 2009. The chart measures cellphone downloads .... digital tracks* |
|||||
| 2008 | "Free Free (Mao Abe song) is a song by Mao Abe. It was released as the main promotional track from her debut album, Free, in January 2009. Free is an upbeat pop rock song... " |
Radio single | — | 1 | — | — | Free Free (Mao Abe album) -DVD Tracklist:-Japan Sales Rankings:- Various charts :-Personnel:*Mao Abe - acoustic guitar , arranger , songwriter*Masakazu Andō - arranger , producer*Kozo Fujita - art direction, photography... |
| 2009 | "Tsutaetai Koto/I Wanna See You Tsutaetai Koto/I Wanna See You is a single by Mao Abe, released on as her debut single.The single was released in two versions: a CD+DVD limited edition version, as well as a CD Only regular version. The B-side of the single was , a song originally from Abe's Free album released four months prior, due to it being used as the... " |
19 | 11 39 |
— 61 |
13,300 | Pop Pop (Mao Abe album) -DVD Track list:-Singles:-Japan Sales Rankings:*Currently still charting.- Various charts :... |
|
| "Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no Desu Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no Desu is a song by Mao Abe. It was originally released as her unofficial debut, in the form of an acoustic demo released to iTunes on . It was later released as Abe's second physical single on .... " |
19 | 5 | 29 | 8,800 | |||
| 2010 | "Itsu no Hi mo Itsu no Hi mo is a song by Mao Abe. It was released as Abe's third single on , as the lead single from her second album Pop, two weeks before the album's release.... " |
Certified gold by the RIAJ for downloads to cellphones | 12 | 2 | 6 | 9,200 | |
| "Lonely Lonely (Mao Abe song) is Japanese singer-songwriter Mao Abe's fourth physical single, released on June 9, 2010. Unlike her previous singles and albums, this release is only released in one version.-Promotion:... " |
22 | 5 | 19 | 9,500 | Su. | ||
| "19-sai no Uta 19-sai no Uta is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Mao Abe, released on November 3, 2010.-Composition and inspiration:The song is an upbeat rock song, arranged by music producer Takamune Negishi. This was Abe's first time to work with Negishi... " |
20 | 18 | 68 | 6,000 | |||
| 2011 | align="left"| | "Hikari" written in memory of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east... |
20 | 9 | 36 | 7,800 | |
| align="left"| | TBA | 43 | 25 | TBA | TBA | ||
Other charted songs
| Release | Title | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Japan Hot 100 |
|||
| 2010 | align="left"| | 23 | Pop |
Tours
- Mao Abe Live No. 0 (2009)
- Mao Abe Live No. 0.7 (2009)
- Mao Abe Live No. 1 (2010)
- Mao Abe Live No. 2 (2010)