YUKI

Yuki Isoya first caught the public’s attention as the front-woman of the rock band JUDY AND MARY. However, around 1999 JUDY AND MARY went on hiatus and YUKI decided to try her hand at flying solo. This resulted in two recording projects. The first was the single ai no hi mittsu orange, which was recorded with the popular female artist Chara. As a duet, it was released under the name chara+yuki. For her next project NiNa, YUKI collaborated with American singer Kate Pierson, a member of The B-52's. The two musicians released an album and a single together.

JUDY AND MARY's career ended in 2001, but by the time the band was wrapping up activities YUKI had already joined a new project called Mean Machine, a rock group composed of only female musicians. Although the project was cut short, the fact that both Chara and YUKI played drums made it highly memorable. Mean Machine was based on the idea of girl power, a concept that was very important to its members. The music they created had a feeling of free happiness.

She then began her solo career under the name YUKI, releasing a maxi-single called the end of shite. This maxi-single was created with Higurashi Aiha, the vocalist of Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her. Later that same year, YUKI's debut solo album PRISMIC was released.

YUKI’s talents don't end at music, and she has also released two sets of books. The first set, Girly Rock and Girly Swing, came out in 1997. Girly Rock represented the first chapter of YUKI's biography and she was closely involved in its creation. Girly Swing, however, is a book that represents YUKI herself, featuring many examples of both her thoughts and drawings.

Later on, the similar but updated book sets Girly Folk & Girly Boogie and Girly Wave & Girly Tree were released. The books that include her drawings have covers which feature YUKI's vision of naked people. YUKI has also worked as a model for several fashion magazines.

YUKI gave birth to her first child in 2003, followed by her second in 2006. Her fourth album Wave was released in September 2006, continuing the solo artist's success both in the charts and in concerts. Her first greatest hits album, five-star, was released in 2007 and went on to hit the number one spot on the Oricon charts.

In 2009, YUKI gave birth to a son—her third child—and announced the planned release of Ureshikutte dakiau yo, her first new album in three years. This was released in March 2010. The year 2010 also saw the release of her first live album, YUKI “THE PRESENT” 2010.6.14, 15 Bunkamura Orchard Hall.

In May 2011, she performed a tribute to Japanese rock legend Kiyoshirou Imawano alongside Booker T & THE M.G.’S guitarist Steve Cropper at the Nippon Budoukan. The year 2011 went on to be very successful for the singer as her sixth solo album megaphonic sold 76,000 copies in its first week, hitting the number one spot on the Oricon weekly charts. It was her fifth in a row to do so, starting with joy in 2005. October 2011 saw her first solo arena tour, YUKI tour “MEGAPHONIC” 2011.

In February 2012, YUKI celebrated her tenth anniversary as a solo artist with the release of her single collection album POWERS OF TEN. Her latest single, Playball/Sakamichi no Melody, is the theme song for the anime “Sakamichi no Apollon” and was produced by Yoko Kanno. It hovered near the top of the Oricon charts for a couple of weeks along with her concert DVD YUKI tour “MEGAPHONIC” 2011 and PV collection DVD YUKI Video 3.

Whether it's in music stores or book stores, we're sure to see and hear more of this talented woman in the years to come.