Misplaced Pages

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Yu Hayami" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Yu Hayami (Japanese: 早見 優, Hepburn: Hayami Yū, born 2 September 1965) is a Japanese singer and television personality. In 2011, the Japanese music television program Music Station listed her as the 50th all-time best-selling idol in Japan, with 2,850,000 records sold.

Childhood and education

Hayami was born in Atami, Shizuoka, and was raised in Guam and Hawaii from the age of 3 to 14 years old. She was scouted by an agent at the age of 14 and soon moved back to Japan to start her career as a singer. After graduating from Horikoshi High School in 1986, she entered Sophia University and graduated, receiving a bachelor's degree in Comparative Culture.

Career

In 1982, Hayami gained her J-pop singer's debut with the single "Isoide Hatsukoi" (ASAP, my first love!) after being scouted by a talent agent in a shopping mall's elevator in Hawaii in 1980 when she was only 14 years old. Named "Bilingual girl back from Hawaii" due to her ability to speak very fluent English because of her background, Hayami was instantly recognised and touted as one of the best newcomers to watch out for. She proceeded to win most of the major newcomers' awards by end of 1982. Hayami proudly celebrated her 40th debut anniversary in 2022, by releasing a compilation album of her hit singles, as well as songs that have never been released in "Affection~Yu Hayami's 40th Anniversary album" in October 2022. She also held a live performance at Shibuya's Pleasure Pleasure in 2023. She has since steadily released new songs and is in collaboration with DJ Night Tempo.

She gained the first role in the 1982 film Santō Kōkōsei. Up till 2008, Hayami has appeared in 13 movies, including one produced and filmed entirely in Hong Kong in 1987.

In 1983, her fifth single, "Natsu Iro no Nancy" (Summer Coloured Nancy), was selected as a campaign song for a Coca-Cola commercial, and she became a cover girl of that. The single became Hayami's first big hit, making it to the top 10 of the Oricon Chart, winning countless awards. As a result of the success of the song, Hayami made her first appearance at the 34th edition of the year end NHK Red and White Song Festival. Hayami would later participate in that prestigious show for two more years.

In 1985, in order to shed off her "teen idol" image, Hayami began releasing euro beat dance music, and was well received.

In the early 1990s, when her pop music career began to decline, Hayami shifted her focus to become an actress and TV and radio presenter. Being able to speak fluent English, Hayami's hosted programs were all catered to English-speaking education materials and were all very popular. Hayami has continued her successful presenter's work, and can still be regularly seen on entertainment variety programs singing her signature songs from the early stage of her idol career.

In 2005, Hayami, along with Iyo Matsumoto and Chiemi Hori (all of whom debuted in 1982), formed the unit Cutie☆Mommy. They released a para para version of the Mickey Mouse March, which had significant success (ranking 72nd on the Oricon charts). It was featured in the Just Dance Wii 2 game for the Wii, and was also used on segments on the Disney Channel in the US.

Aside from releasing numerous hit singles and albums, Hayami has been very active in theater and in TV and films as well. In 2008, she starred as the Captain General in the Tokusatsu series Tomica Hero: Rescue Force.

Hayami is a co-host alongside Master Chef Tatsuo Saito on the NHK program Dining with the Chef, which airs internationally on NHK World. Together, they present the basics and importance of Japanese cuisine.

In 2017, the unit Cutie☆Mommy was renewed, this time with Hiroko Moriguchi replacing Chiemi Hori, and was renamed Cutie☆MoriMori. In February 2024, the unit released a new single, entitled "Soro Soro Fuyu desu nee" (It's almost winter, isn't it?), produced by Noritake Kinashi and written by George Tokoro. The single was billed to each singer individually (particularly on streaming sites such as RecoChoku and Apple Music).

Personal life

Hayami is married and has two daughters.

Discography

Singles

Digital single

Albums

Live albums

EPs

Compilation albums

Box sets

Other appearances

References

1. ^ "About Yu Hayami Channel". YouTube.
2. "Yuyuhayami". Instagram.
3. "Music Station announces their Top 50 Idols of All-Time". tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
4. "Yu Hayami".
5. "早見 優さんのプロフィールページ".
6. "早見 優さんのプロフィールページ".
7. "早見 優さんのプロフィールページ".
8. "キューティー★マミーの作品". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
9. 株式会社インプレス (19 July 2012). "任天堂、Wii「JUST DANCE Wii」の第2弾を発売 ノって踊れる新たな35曲を収録した「JUST DANCE Wii 2」". GAME Watch (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 April 2024.
10. "早見優、森口博子＆松本伊代との「キューティーモリモリ」で熱唱報告 ３ショットに「素晴しい」". スポーツ報知 (in Japanese). 19 November 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
11. "松本伊代・早見優・森口博子、アイドルユニット活動で「若返っている」 "生涯アイドル"宣言も". マイナビニュース (in Japanese). 17 November 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
12. "松本伊代,早見優,森口博子 「そろそろ冬ですネェ」". recochoku.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 April 2024.
13. Sorosoro Fuyudesunee - Single by Iyo Matsumoto, Yu Hayami & Hiroko Moriguchi on Apple Music, 6 February 2024, retrieved 16 April 2024
14. "早見 優さんのプロフィールページ".
15. ^ "早見優のCD・DVDリリース一覧". Oricon. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
16. "Dear Earth (Yu Hayami・Yoshiko Hanzaki with Love Earth Project)" (in Japanese). Mora. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
17. "Shampoo (feat. Yu Hayami)" (in Japanese). Mora. Retrieved 6 December 2023.

External links

• Official website

• 1966 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Japanese actresses
• 20th-century Japanese women singers
• 21st-century Japanese women singers
• 20th-century Japanese singers
• 21st-century Japanese singers
• 21st-century Japanese actresses
• Actors from Shizuoka Prefecture
• American School in Japan alumni
• Horikoshi High School alumni
• Japanese film actresses
• Japanese television actresses
• Japanese women pop singers
• Musicians from Shizuoka Prefecture
• English-language singers from Japan
• People from Atami, Shizuoka
• Sophia University alumni
• Universal Music Japan artists