Chihiro Onitsuka

A childhood fan of American artists like Jewel, Carole King, and Alanis Morissette, Chihiro Onitsuka debuted in 2001 with Insomnia, a triple-platinum album whose blend of alternative rock, Japanese folk, and piano-driven pop nodded to her influences. She was born on October 30, 1980, in Nangō, Japan, and began writing songs as a teenager, eventually winning a national competition — the 1998 Virgin Tokyo Artists Audition — while still a high school student. She moved to Tokyo shortly after graduation and launched her career as an artist, earning her first hit with 2000's "Gekkō." The theme song to the Japanese TV show Trick, "Gekkō" climbed to Number 11 on Oricon's Japanese Single Sales chart and went double-platinum. It also appeared on Chihiro Onitsuka's 2001 debut album, Insomnia, which topped the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart and won a handful of awards, including a Japan Gold Disc Award for "Best-Selling Rock Album of the Year." Also featuring the hit singles "Cage," "Memai," and "Edge," Insomnia was followed by 2002's This Amor, another platinum-selling release whose handful of Top 10 singles — including "Infection" and "Little Beat Rifle," both of which went gold, as well as the platinum-certified hit "Ryūseigun" — maintained Chihiro Onitsuka's place in the Japanese mainstream. Sugar High was released later that same year and peaked at Number 2. "Sign," "Beautiful Fighter," "Ii Hi Tabidachi, Nishi e," and "Watashi to Waltz o" — four tracks that appeared on her compilation album, Singles 2000-2003 — all became gold-selling Top 10 hits in 2003, and Chihiro Onitsuka continued enjoying success with subsequent album releases like 2007's Las Vegas, 2009's Dorothy, and 2011's Ken to Kaede. Although she failed to crack the Top 40 with Tricky Sisters Magic Burger, which she released under the name "Chihiro Onitsuka & Billys Sandwitches" in 2014, albums like 2017's Syndrome and 2020's Hysteria renewed her status as a pop icon.

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