is the seventh single by Japanese band Princess Princess. Written by Kanako Nakayama and Kaori Okui, the single was released by

CBS Sony , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is oper ...

on April 21, 1989. It became their first of five consecutive No. 1 singles on

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in N ...

's singles chart.

Background

Princess Princess' popularity was on the rise after their sixth single "Get Crazy!" was used as the theme song of the J-drama series of the same name in October 1988. "Diamonds" was released six months later. It was used by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

for their cassette tape commercials. The song was also used by

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

for their Suzuki Kei commercial in 2001. It was included in the 2015 soundtrack album ''

Yakuza 0 ''Yakuza 0'' is an action-adventure game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. It is the sixth main entry in the '' Yakuza series'' and a prequel to the original game. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in J ...

80's Hits! Collection''. More recently, it was used by Acecook for their 2020 Soup Harusame commercial featuring Anne Nakamura. The song's original key is E major (modulated to F major at the end). The B-side is "M", with its lyrics written by Kyōko Tomita and originally released in the band's 1988 album '' Let's Get Crazy''. In a 2012

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

post, Tomita explained that she had broken up with a man with the initial "M" and wrote the song as a means of retribution. "M" was re-released digitally on February 23, 2005 and was certified as Triple Platinum by the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include ...

in November 2014.

Chart performance and reception

"Diamonds" hit No. 1 on

's singles chart and was the No. 1 song on Oricon's year-ending chart in 1989. It also sold over 1,097,000 copies and was certified Triple Platinum by the

in August 1990. The song won the Grand Prix at the 22nd

Japan Cable Awards are an annual set of music awards, sponsored by the . The awards are presented annually since 1968 and are based on requests from the audience received by cable broadcasters. The awards is finished in 2017, Kiyoshi Hikawa, who is a Japanese en ...

Track listing

All music is composed by Kaori Okui and arranged by Princess Princess.

Chart positions

;Weekly charts ;Year-end charts

Certifications

;Diamonds ;M

Cover versions

;Diamonds *

The Nolans The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish girl group who formed in Blackpool in 1974 as the Nolan Sisters, before changing their name in 1980. Often referred to as Ireland's ''First Family of Music'', they were the first Irish performing family to achiev ...

covered the song and "M" in English on their 1992 album ''

The Hottest Place on Earth is a studio album by the Irish pop group The Nolans. Released on 21 May 1992 exclusively in Japan by Teichiku Records, the album consists of five original songs and five English-language covers of Princess Princess songs. Track listing * ...

'', with lyrics by Des Dyer. *

Rockapella Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. The group's name is an amalgam of "rock" and "a cappella". Rockapella sings original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; and over time, their ...

covered the song on their 1992 album ''

To N.Y. ''To N.Y.'' is the first studio album from the a cappella group Rockapella. The album featured covers of Japanese pop songs sung in English. Track listing Personnel *Scott Leonard – high tenor * Sean Altman – tenor *Elliott Kerman – bar ...

'' *

Younha Go Youn-ha (Hangul: 고윤하, Hanja: 高潤荷; born April 29, 1988), known mononymously as Younha, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and record producer. She began her career in 2004 in Japan, where she was nicknamed the "Oricon Comet" for ...

covered the song on the 2006 Princess Princess tribute album ''14 Princess: Princess Princess Children''. * Aya Kiguchi covered the song on her 2007 album ''Ayati Trance ~Aya Curve Chūihō~''. * i*Be covered the song as their debut single in 2009. *

High-King was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project. The group was created to promote Morning Musume's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Cinderella'', titled . Their sound is said to have an R&B feel. History The group's debut ...

covered the song on the 2009

Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but ...

cover album ''Chanpuru 1 ~Happy Marriage Song Cover Shū~''. *

Jun Fukuyama is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He played Lelouch Lamperouge in '' Code Geass'', Koro-sensei in ''Assassination Classroom'', Ichimatsu in '' Osomatsu-san'', Yuta Togashi in '' Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions'', Kraft Lawrence in ''Spice ...

covered the song on the 2010 ''

Durarara!! , often shortened to ''DRRR!!'', is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita, with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda. ''Durarara!!'' tells the story of a dullahan working as an underworld courier in Ikebukuro, an interne ...

'' soundtrack album ''Cover Song Collection CD''. * Morisanchu covered the song in a 2011 Toto Big commercial, with the YouTuber trio impersonating members of Princess Princess. *

Shoko Nakagawa is a Japanese media personality, actress, voice actress, illustrator, and singer. Also known by her nickname , she is best known as the presenter of '' Pokémon Sunday'', and as the performer of the opening theme from the anime '' Gurren Lagann ...

covered the song on her 2011 cover album ''Shoko-tan Cover 4-2 ~Shoko Rock-hen~''. * Naomi Wakabayashi covered the song on the 2015 soundtrack album ''

The Idolm@ster is a Japanese media franchise that began in 2005 with a Life simulation game, raising simulation and Rhythm game, rhythm video game series created by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The series primarily centers on the career of a pr ...

Master Artist 3-13: Ritsuko Akizuki''. * Misaki Aono covered the song in 2017. *

ClariS Claris International Inc., formerly FileMaker Inc., is a computer software development company formed as a subsidiary company of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) in 1987. It was given the source code and copyrights to several programs that were ...

covered the song on their 2019 EP ''Summer Tracks: Natsu no Uta''. * Risky Melody covered the song on their 2019 single ''Diamonds Type A～C''. * Nemophila covered the song in 2020 for their YouTube channel. Kyōko Tomita played drums on the cover while Nemophila's drummer Tamu Murata was out on maternity leave. It reached a million views April 2022. *

Mone Kamishiraishi is a Japanese actress and singer. She is the older sister of actress and singer Moka Kamishiraishi. Biography Born in Kagoshima, Her family lived in Mexico for three years due to her father's work. She can speak English and a little bit of Sp ...

covered the song on her 2021 cover album ''Ano Uta 2''. ;M * Nico Mono covered the song in 2005. *

Rythem is a Japanese pop duo signed to Sony Music Japan consisting of two female members, vocalist/pianist and vocalist/guitarist . Rythem was active from 2003 until 2011; in 2021, they announced their return to performing on their official YouTub ...

covered the song as the B-side of their 2006 single " Kokoro Biidama" and in the 2006 Princess Princess tribute album ''14 Princess: Princess Princess Children''. * NapsaQ covered the song on their 2006 album ''NapsaQ~Seishun Song Request~''. *

Masayoshi Yamazaki is a Japanese singer-songwriter who plays guitar-driven blues, rock, and pop music, though he has also recorded piano ballads. Though he primarily plays the guitar, he has played the drums, piano, percussion, saxophone, and glockenspiel on some ...

covered the song on his 2007 cover album ''Cover All-Ho!''. * RSP covered the song as their 2008 single "M (Mō Hitotsu no Love Story)". * Ai Shinozaki covered the song in 2008 as her debut single. * Eric Martin covered the song in English on his 2008 cover album '' Mr. Vocalist''. * Atsuko Hiyajō covered the song on her 2008 cover album ''Okiniiri no Uta ~Favorite Songs~''. * ManaKana covered the song on their 2009 album ''Futari Uta''. *

Takeshi Tsuruno is a Japanese actor, tarento, and musician, originally from Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture. He is known for his roles as Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna in '' Ultraman Dyna'' and as the leader of the musical units Shuchishin and Aladdin. As ...

covered the song on his 2009 album ''Tsuruno Uta''. * Kenji Okahira covered the song on his 2009 album ''I Love GM''. * Samurai Rose covered the song on their 2010 album ''Rouge & Martini''. * Yasushi Nakanishi covered the song on his 2010 album ''Standards 4''. * Megumi Yano covered the song on her 2010 album ''〜me’ssage〜''. * Lovers Electro covered the song on their 2010 self-titled album. * Marina Yamane covered the song on her 2010 EP ''Star E.P.'' * SO-TA covered the song on their 2012 self-titled album. * Hiromi Rainbow covered the song on her 2013 album ''Incomplete ~Traces of 5 Years~''. * Tomomi Kahara covered the song on her 2014 cover album ''Memories -Kahara Covers-''. * Ms. Ooja covered the song on her 2014 cover album ''Woman 2 ~Love Song Covers~''. *

Hideaki Tokunaga is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and actor. Although Tokunaga failed to pass the test of '' Star Tanjō!'' in 1982, he debuted as a recording singer in 1986. After he released hit songs such as "Yume o Shinjite" (the first ending theme of t ...

covered the song on his 2016 cover album ''All Time Best Vocalist''. * Acid Black Cherry covered the song on their 2017 cover album ''Recreation 4''. * May J. covered the song on her 2019 compilation album ''Heisei Love Song Covers''. * Harami-chan covered the song on her 2020 cover album ''Harami Teishoku ~Streetpiano Collection~''.

References

External links

* * * {{authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Princess Princess (band) songs Japanese-language songs Oricon Weekly number-one singles Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Songs written by Kaori Kishitani