Takahashi Ai was born in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture in 1986 and was selected at the LOVE Audition 21 to join the fifth generation of super group Morning Musume, along with Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto and Niigaki Risa. When questioned about Takahashi's selection to the group, TSUNKU claimed that he had chosen the then 15 year old for her exceptional vocal talents.
Due to her heritage, Takahashi was often the center of attention from both her fellow Hello! Project members and inquiring media personalities. However, because of her move to Tokyo and professional vocal training, Takahashi has lost most of her native accent. It should be noted that in the original version of Joshi kashimashi monogatari, Takahashi dedicated her entire verse to the subject of her accent.
In September 2002, the members of Morning Musume were placed into subgroups, and Takahashi was placed in the second generation of Mini Moni after Mari Yaguchi's departure in 2003. Debuting in Mini Moni's first movie Minimoni ja Movie okashi na daibouken!, the film not only served as a stand-alone venture, but also provided a more sentimental ending for Yaguchi's career in the group and Takahashi's introduction. Also in 2003, Takahashi was placed in the short lived group Morning Musume Sakuragumi and participated in their two subsequent releases.
Following the release of Do it! Now, Takahashi had risen to become one of the more popular members of Morning Musume, but it was only with the release of ROMAN ～MY DEAR BOY～ that the young vocalist became predominantly featured as the lead vocalist. With the release of The MANPOWER!!! in 2005, Takahashi became the co-lead vocalist and has maintained this position on the group's successive singles.
Perhaps this "promotion" within the band could be attributed to her appearance on TSUNKU's solo album TAKE 1 in 2002, on which she sang a duet, LOVE ～since 1999～, with him. This had previously been a duet between TSUNKU and Japanese idol Hamasaki Ayumi.
With the formation of the kickball team Metro Rabbits H.P. in 2006, Takahashi was initially only a regular team member. However, with Kago Ai suspended over a publicized smoking scandal, she found herself nominated as the new team captain. 2006 also saw Takahashi performing the lead role in Hello! Project's summer musical, Ribbon no kishi: The Musical, as the character Sapphire. To end a productive year, Takahashi released her first solo single as a digital only purchase.
Although Yume kara samete was released online at a cheap price, the song was later included on Pucchi Best 7 with a promotional video included on the DVD release of the album.
On January 2nd, 2007, news came that Yoshizawa Hitomi would graduate from Morning Musume in May, therefore casting Takahashi Ai as the group's sub-leader. However, it was only a few weeks later when Fujimoto Miki resigned from Morning Musume, following the footsteps of Yaguchi Mari. This made Takahashi the current leader of the group.
In 2008 Takahashi became a member of High-King, a group created to promote Morning Musume's musical Cinderella the Musical, in which she took the main role. In July the same year, Takahashi and her colleague Risa Niigaki covered the 80s J-Pop duo Pink Lady on the drama Hitmaker Aku Yuu Monogatari.
On 2009, she became one of remaining members of High-King for seven years or more and one of the two (along with Niigaki) to remain in the group for eight or nine years. During the Hello Pro Award '09 ~Elder Club Sotsugyō Kinen Special~ held at Yokohama Arena, Yuko Nakazawa passed her leadership in Hello! Project to Takahashi.
In September 2010, she became the second Morning Musume member to be at least 24 years old and the first to reach that age while in the group. The original member Yuko Nakazawa was 24 when the group was formed.
On January, 2011, she announced her graduation at the end of Fall Tour. Her last single on Morning Musume had two songs, Kono Chikyuu no Heiwa wo Honki de Negatterun dayo! and Kare to Issho ni Omise ga Shitai, and a solo performed by Takahashi, Jishin Motte Yume o Motte Tobitatsu Kara. The single was released on her birthday, September 14. Also, on the last day of Morning Musume’s Ai Believe’ tour in Septmber, she graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project on Nippon Budokan, passing her leadership to Risa Niigaki.
Takahashi’s first work after her graduation was the musical Dance of the Vampires at the Imperial Garden Theater. She performed as the main character Sarah.
With Takahashi's popularity remaining steady over the following months, fans can only hope that this talented young lady will go on to release great new material.
