(born June 19, 1987) is a Japanese singer, songwriter and actress who made an independent label debut in 2006, releasing a single titled "The Roots" and mini-album titled ''Step Out''. In early 2008, she made her major-label debut under

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , 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, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

. Her single, "

Change Change, Changed or Changing may refer to the below. Other forms are listed at Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of t ...

", was the number ninety-two song on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Singles year-end charts for 2008. With her single, " Let It Out", she had her first major

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

tie-in with '' Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood''. In early 2013, Fukuhara signed on to be the frontwoman of the worldwide music project

Sweetbox Sweetbox is a German-based pop music project formed in 1995 by executive producer Heiko Schmidt and music producer Roberto "Geo" Rosan. Throughout the years Sweetbox has had several lead singers including Kimberly Kearney, Dacia Bridges, Tina H ...

, along with rapper/singer LogiQ Pryce. In 2015, she set up her own record label Happy Field Records.

Early life

Fukuhara was born in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

in the countryside, and brought up with five siblings. She has one-quarter American ancestry through her grandfather, whom she never met. She credits her parents, especially her father who owned a large record collection, and her elder sister for having introduced her to soul and blues music at a young age.

Career

Singing career

Early career (2006-2008)

Fukuhara was initially signed to the independent, local

-based Yumechika Records label and released her debut single and mini-album, titled "

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

" and '' Step Out'' respectively. She performed in-store live performances to promote her records during 2006, which prompted

Sony Music Japan , 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 opera ...

to pick her up as a performing artist. Her first major-released appearance was on a

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

singing "

Because You Loved Me "Because You Loved Me" is a song performed by Canadian singer Celine Dion on her fourth English-language studio album, '' Falling into You'' (1996). It was released on 19 February 1996 as the first single in North America, and as the second sin ...

". She released her first single in early 2008 to varied success. Penning her own lyrics and co-producing the song, "

" was a hit in terms of radio airplay, reaching as high as the top 3, but only managing the 14th position in terms of sales. The single came in only one format, which is unusual for Japanese

maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

s. She released her second single, "

Himawari is the Japanese word for sunflower. It may refer to: Companies *Himawari Theatre Group, located in Ebisunishi, Shibuya, Tokyo People with the given name *, Japanese women's basketball player Fiction *Himawari Kunogi (九軒ひまわり), a cha ...

", which narrowly made the top 25 in the sales category but failed to impact top 10 in terms of airplay. It was not until her third single,

Yasashii Aka The discography of Japanese musician Miho Fukuhara consists of three studio albums, six extended plays, five video albums and numerous singles. Fukuhara debuted as a singer in 2006 locally in Hokkaido, releasing ''The Roots'' and ''Step Up EP'' ...

, that she had real major success. It was, first and foremost, her first single to be released in multiple formats. Although it was neither as strong on airplay or as a seller as "Change" was, it sold well digitally, and become her first single to become certified by the RIAJ. It was the number 17 song of December 2008 and quickly become certified gold. Her follow-up song, " Love (Winter Song)" would match the success of "Yasashii Aka" similarly and ultimately surpass it, also going gold and becoming the number 10 song of January 2009.

Mainstream success (2009-2012)

Fukuhara released the album ''

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

'', which was mainly penned and co-produced by Fukuhara herself, in January 2009, with " Yuki no Hikari" as the digital/radio single helping to promote the album. "Yuki no Hikari" peaked at #50 on the

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and Hanshin Contents Link since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thursday ...

, becoming her lowest charting single. With strong label backing, however, the album peaked at #2 and was beat only by the successful 7th album by legendary pop-star

Kumi Koda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single " Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, " Real Emoti ...

. ''Rainbow'' went on to sell nearly 100,000 copies and become certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan 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 pro ...

. Fukuhara later embarked on the successful '' Rainbow Tour 2009'', which spanned six shows in multiple cities. She performed a mix of covers, original songs from ''Rainbow'', and b-sides. Following her album, she released her next single " Hanabi Sky" in June 2009. It was another major airplay hit, peaking at number 3. Overall, the single peaked at number 5, but only received number 26 for sales. She quickly announced her next single, " Let It Out", second ending theme to popular

'' Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'' in early July. "Let It Out" is both Fukuhara's first major anime tie-in and her first single to be released in 3 separate formats, and was released on September 9, 2009. While it was a much bigger hit than "Hanabi Sky", it still fared relatively poorly in terms of both physical and digital sales in comparison to her previous singles "Love (Winter Song)", "Change" and "Yasashii Aka". Leading up to the release of her second studio album ''Music Is My Life'' (2010), Fukuhara released the singles "Nande Nakitaku Nacchau n Darō" (2009), "Mirai" (2010) and "Moshikashite" (2010). In 2010, Fukuhara began releasing conceptual

extended plays An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive ...

. The first, ''Regrets of Love'', featured ballads, while the second two in 2011, ''The Soul Extreme EP'' and ''The Soul Extreme EP II'', featured soul and R&B music. The leading track of ''The Soul Extreme EP'', "O2", featured R&B singer Ai, and became a commercial success, with her record label tracking 300,000 legal downloads of the song. Fukuhara's third album ''The Best of Soul Extreme'' was released in June 2012, led by the single "Dream On" featuring

Daichi Miura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, dancer, and choreographer. He also directs his own concerts. He belongs to Rising Production and has a record contract with Avex. He is from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. He has an official fan club called "Daichi ...

. The album featured a second duet with Ai, as well as a song performed with

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model, and activist. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieve ...

Sweetbox and parting with Sony (2013-2015)

In early 2013, it was announced that Fukuhara signed on to be the newest frontwoman of the worldwide pop music project

along with male singer/rapper LogiQ Pryce. The two recorded their first album '' Z21'' in the first part of 2013 and released their first single "#Z21 (#Zeitgeist21)" in June 2013, shortly after Miho released her singles "Rising Heart", a song used in a campaign for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

, and "Beyond", a song used for the anime '' Space Brothers''. In 2014, Fukuhara parted ways with Sony Music Japan, and became an

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a DIY ethic, do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties aff ...

ian. In a music industry wide poll taken from the popular TV program

Wednesday's Downtown is a Japanese variety show hosted by the Japanese owarai duo, Downtown. The show has been broadcast on TBS since 2014. Overview In each episode, a Japanese entertainer is invited to appear on the show as a host and present various trivial t ...

, Fukuhara was ranked as the seventh most talented singer in Japan. In 2015, Fukuhara set up her own record label Happy Field Records (named after the English translation of her name, Fukuhara) and released an extended play entitled ''Something New'' on December 23, along with the music video for her promotional single Something New on December 25. The music video focuses on her pregnancy and the upcoming birth of her daughter. Her next EP release was in 2019 with ''Love Don't Come Easy''. In November 2020, Fukuhara began releasing a variety of music regularly on her official

Youtube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel, from stripped-down acoustic versions of her own music to covers of famous songs in both Japanese and English. On March 11, 2022, Fukuhara participated in the Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami tribute concert "One Last Live", performing "Respect" (with

Maki Ohguro is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter from Sapporo, Hokkaido under B-Gram Records label. Biography In 1989, she passed Being Inc.'s singers audition, the "3rd BAD". In 1992, she debuted with the single "Stop Motion" released under B-Gr ...

Acting career

In 2012, Fukuhara debuted as an actress on the musical comedy ''Kaeru no Ojōsama'' as Minami Haneda, a member of a singing group called Chansons. As a member of the cast, she performed music throughout the series. Fukuhara made her stage debut in 2023 with the musical ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. It is based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, and p ...

'', in which she portrayed Effie White.

Artistry

Fukuhara has named

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine; namesake of the word ''sadism'' * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * ...

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

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and

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among her musical influences. She particularly credits Franklin's ''

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'', Gaye's ''

What's Going On What's Going On may refer to: Albums * What's Going On (album), ''What's Going On'' (album), a 1971 album by Marvin Gaye *What's Going On (Johnny "Hammond" Smith album), ''What's Going On'' (Johnny "Hammond" Smith album), 1971 * What's Going On (D ...

'', Wonder's ''

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'' and Carey's ''

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'' for deepening her relationship to music. Among newer artists, she named

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and

Michael Kiwanuka Michael Samuel Kiwanuka (born 3 May 1988) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is currently signed to Polydor Records. His debut album '' Home Again'' (2012) went gold in the United Kingdom, while his second album ...

as having released albums that influenced her. She also enjoys music from

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and

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Personal life

Fukuhara met her husband at Arabaki Rock Festival. On March 4, 2016, she gave birth to their daughter, Sophie. Her favourite manga is ''

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as a dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with on ...

''.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2008) * ''Music Is My Life'' (2010) * ''The Best of Soul Extreme'' (2012)

Compilation albums

* ''A Gift for You'' (2014)

Concert tours

* Rainbow Tour (2009) * 2009-nen Gakuensai Tour (2009) * Sing a Song Tour (2010) * Live in Music Vol. 1 (2010) * Live in Music Vol. 3 (2011) * "The Best of Soul Extreme" Tour (2012) * Live in Music Vol. 4 (2012) * Miho Fukuhara 5th Anniversary Party "Rising Heart!!" (2013) * Live in Music Vol. 5 (2013) * Miho Fukuhara & the Mardi Gras Combo Tour (2014)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fukuhara, Miho 1987 births Gr8! Records artists English-language singers from Japan Living people Japanese women pop singers Japanese television actresses Japanese people of American descent Singers from Sapporo Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese women singers Fantasy on Ice guest artists