Tsuchiya Anna

Anna Tsuchiya was born to an American father of Irish and Polish descent and a Japanese mother. Tsuchiya‘s professional career began in 1998 and following in the footsteps of her older sister Angela, who was already an established model, made her debut in fashion magazine “SEVENTEEN”. Following her debut, Tsuchiya began to gain relative popularity as a model due to her frequent appearances in the magazine.

After modeling at various fashion shows and public events, Tsuchiya also was featured in several television commercials for clothing companies such as UNIQLO, Edwin and cosmetic retailer KOSE.

A few years later, Tsuchiya made her musical debut in the rock band Spin Aqua alongside KAZ, who is best known for his work in Oblivion Dust. However, the group’s career was short-lived as an announcement on June 15th detailing Tsuchiya‘s upcoming marriage to fellow model Joshua and pregnancy bought an end to the group.

Also in 2004, Tsuchiya was cast in the movie "Shimotsuma monogatari", known overseas as "Kamikaze Girls" alongside Fukada Kyoko. Due to her highly emotive performance in the movie, Tsuchiya was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award for the Best Newcomer of 2004. Tsuchiya also starred in the film "Cha no aji" (known as "The Taste of Tea"), in which she was commended for her raw performance portraying a high school girl.

Following a hiatus due to her pregnancy, it was announced that Tsuchiya had given birth to a healthy baby boy named Sky on November 19th.

The following year saw the release of Tsuchiya‘s first solo mini-album. Taste My Beat peaked at number 27 on the Oricon and featured music contributions from artists such as John Freese (drummer of A Perfect Circle) and Justin Meldal-Johnsen who is best known for his work with Beck. Tsuchiya also starred in the slapstick comedy film "Bashment."

2006 would prove to be a busy year for Tsuchiya, beginning with the release of her debut major single Change Your Life in late January. On April 5th, it was unveiled that the artist had been chosen to perform the vocal work for the upcoming anime adaptation of the popular manga series "NANA", in which she would perform the songs by the character Osaki Nana.

On May 27th, it was announced that Tsuchiya would make an appearance in the movie "Kiraware Matsuko no isshou" (known in the West as "Memories of Matsuko"), which also starred fellow musicians BONNIE PINK and AI.

Tsuchiya released her third single rose on June 28th under the pseudonym ANNA inspi’ NANA (BLACK STONES) and it became her highest selling single, peaking at number six on the Oricon. The b-side Lovin’ You was used as the image song for the Japanese release of the American horror film "Silent Hill." Her following singles Kuroi namida and LUCY were also released under the alias as part of the NANA franchise and achieved relative success.

On July 4th, Tsuchiya and her husband Joshua divorced. Following the couple’s divorce, the artist released her debut album strip me? in early August. The album peaked at number 11 on the Oricon and featured a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors.

In the same month, Tsuchiya traveled to France to perform at the Japan Expo. Upon her return to Japan, Tsuchiya also performed at the annual SUMMER SONIC rock festival alongside such groups as ELLEGARDEN and Daft Punk. By the end of the year, she was featured on Hotei Tomoyasu’s album SOUL SESSIONS, which was released on December 6th with the song QUEEN OF THE ROCK vs. Tsuchiya Anna. In the same month, she began her first oneman tour 2006 FINAL strip yourself!, with her performance at the Shinkiba STUDIO O-WEST completely sold out.

In the film adaptation of "Sakuran", which was released on February 24th 2007, Tsuchiya was featured in the lead role as a courtesan. In the same month, she debuted her first album under her "NANA" session name. Soon after, Tsuchiya and OLIVIA held the NANA PREMIERE LIVE in Shibuya.

On June 2nd, Tsuchiya made an appearance at Kyokushuuzan Noboru’s danpatsu-shiki, which is a retirement ceremony where the wrestler‘s top-knot is cut off. During the ceremony, she presented the retired sumo wrestler with a bouquet of flowers. By the end of the month, Tsuchiya made an appearance at the Anime Expo held in California, USA.

Throughout July, Tsuchiya performed at various festivals worldwide, including Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea and Formoz Festival in Taiwan. It was also around this time that Tsuchiya‘s music became available in countries other than Japan, with Bubble Trip/Sweet Sweet Song being released in 43 countries throughout Europe and other releases being introduced to the American market.

The beginning of 2008 bought the release of cocoon and was followed in June by the single CRAZY WORLD, which was a collaboration effort between Tsuchiya and “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” AI. This collaborative track offered a new dimension to the artist’s work with the blending of the genres of rock, r&b and hip-hop, and peaked at number 19 on the Oricon. Later that year, Virgin Cat and Tsuchiya’s second studio album NUDY SHOW were released. To celebrate, that fall Tsuchiya toured throughout eight cities on her Kachiatsu! tour.

March 2009 bought with it the release of Tsuchiya‘s second remix album NUDY xxxremixxxxxxx!!!!!!!! SHOW, which featured collaborations from many notable names within the music industry. By July, her tenth single, Brave vibration hit record stores.

Tsuchiya was busy again in 2010 with a series of live performances including Good Summer Festival and Summer Sonic Festival. In August, Tsuchiya collaborated with jazz band PEZ, releasing Shout in the Rain. By fall, her new album RULE went on sale and her song Checkmate was the theme for the movie "Battle Royale 3D".

Whether a fan of Anna Tsuchiya's music or not, one can only hope that this determined young woman maintains her illustrious career in the upcoming year.