, better known as Shion (, meaning "lyrics-sound"), is a Japanese-born Korean R&B singer, who has been active since mid-2000s. Originally from the underground club scene, she has achieved widespread success in the mainstream

J-pop J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...

scene since 2008."Narco Arrest 'Shion' Confesses On Blog 1/2"
December 11, 2009, '' J-Cast''

Career

Early life

Born in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

with South Korean nationality,"Singer Shion Is Arrested For Drug Use"
December 11, 2009, ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

'' she grew up with her parents who were owners of a shot bar and during her childhood she had always been close to

black music Music of the African diaspora is a sound created, produced, or inspired by Black people, including Music of Africa, African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including some Caribbean mus ...

sounds such as ones by

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 ...

and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

that were often aired in the bar."Shion Interview 1/2"
June 5, 2008, ''Bounce.com'' She began voice training at the age of 10"Debuting At #9 In The Album Chart, Who Is 'Shion'?"
June 6, 2008, ''

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

'' and later stayed in Detroit, United States, training under Keith John, a long time backing vocalist for

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 ...

. She entered the

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

club scene, signing with an

indie record label Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

in 2004."R&B Shion Debuts At #9 On The Oricon with 'viva voce'"
, June 3, 2008, ''

Sponichi Annex , also known as , is the first Japanese daily sports newspaper, having been founded in 1948. In a 1997 report it was called one of the "Big Three" sports papers in Japan, out of a field of 17 sports dailies. It is an affiliate newspaper of the ...

'' One of her early notable works was to be featured by

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

-based hip hop band LGY in their 2006 album ''Jointed 2 Homies''.

Break

She released her first album ''Candy Girl'' on May 28, 2008 and it debuted at No. 9 on the

album chart. ''Candy Girl'' was issued on an indie label, and it was the first indie-album in the history of the Oricon album chart to hit the top-10 spots. She then released her first single, ''Last Song'', in August of that year and second single, ''Rain of Tearz / Girlicious feat. DJ☆GO'', in April 2009. ''Rain of Tearz / Girlicious feat. DJ☆GO'' debuted at No. 6 on the Oricon singles chart."Shion, Second Single Debuts At #6"
April 9, 2009, ''

'' Her second album ''w/z Friendz'' peaked at No. 11 and third album ''Truth'' peaked at No. 7 on the Oricon album chart.Oricon Profile : Shion > Sales Rankings : Album
''

Arrest

On December 10, 2009, she was arrested for possession of various illegal drugs including

ketamine Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its S- (esketamine) a ...

. She confessed all the charges against her such as using the drugs she possessed, receiving a suspended 1-year jail sentence . She further revealed in the trial that she had attempted to commit suicide since October 2009.

Comeback

After three years absence, in July 2012, Shion released a song, "Distance", with a music video featuring model Hozunyam."Shion the Bayside Diva releases a new song after 3 years absence!"
July 12, 2012, '' Music Lounge'' In 2013, she made a surprise appearance in the ''

Koakuma Ageha ''Koakuma Ageha'' (, lit. "Little-devil Swallowtail ") is a Japanese magazine that introduces the latest fashion magazine, fashion and lifestyle magazine, lifestyle trends popular among hostesses that is published twice a year, with the main targ ...

'' fashion magazine, as one of the issue's special guests along with

Gackt , better known as Gackt (stylized in all caps), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Born in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa to a Ryukyuan people, Ryukyuan family, Gackt learned the piano at a young age and was rai ...

and one other man, getting interviewed by Emiri Aizawa. She covered hide's song "

Hurry Go Round "Hurry Go Round" is the eleventh single by the Japanese musician hide, the fourth to bear the hide with Spread Beaver name, released on October 21, 1998. The song was left incomplete at the time of hide's death on May 2, 1998, being finished by hi ...

" for ''Tribute VI -Female Spirits-'', released on December 18, 2013.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Filmography

Television shows

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shion South Korean rhythm and blues singers South Korean women singers Zainichi Korean musicians Musicians from Yokohama Living people Year of birth missing (living people)