better known by her
stage name
A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
, Sowelu, is a Japanese
pop/
R&B singer signed onto
Avex Group
Avex Inc. ( kabushiki gaisha , commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex) is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J- ...
's label
Rhythm Zone.
History
Her career started in 2002 with the release of her first single ''Beautiful Dreamer'', a soft love ballad which did very well in the charts, and was later featured on the ''Relaxin’ with Japanese Lovers'' compilation album. Her first single was modestly successful, and it wasn't until the release of her album ''Geofu'' in the summer of 2003 that she gained recognition. ''Geofu'' did exceptionally well in the charts, scoring a number 4 position with more than 300,000 copies sold. Her first single after ''Geofu'', "Rainbow" was used as the theme song for the Japanese drama ''Netsuretsuteki Chukahanten'', and the other A-side song on that single, "breath ~Omoi no Youryō~" was used for the national promotion campaign of
JFN Radio. She performs under
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 ...
's
DefSTAR Records label.
Her next big single "Glisten" was used in a make-up commercial for
Menards products and did fairly well in the Japanese market. With this success, she gained even more popularity, and was asked to sing the end theme for the popular
TBS animated series ''
Fullmetal Alchemist'', entitled "I Will", giving her an easy in with American fans. Because of "'I Will"', the two other songs included with her "I Will" single, "Candy Rain" and "Pearl Color ni Yurete", became popular among American fans. In 2005, her song "Candy Rain" was featured on the ''Soul Tree: a Musical Tribute to Toshinobu Kubota'' album and "Pearlcolor ni Yurete" was on the Momoe Yamaguchi tribute album ''Thank You For...''. Likewise, her third single "Fortune" was selected for the American J-Pop compilation album ''Neo Soul'', and "Across My Heart" written by Kenny Lerum and Barry J. Eastmond, from the ''Geofu'' album, was added to the "Smooth Listening Compilation" album.
In November 2004, Sowelu released her 8th single, "Last Forever", which became the TV insert song for the new drama ''There goes Nurse-man'', and her cover of "The Rose" was featured on a
Nescafe commercial. Then finally, after one and a half years of waiting, Sowelu released her second album ''Sweet Bridge'' on January 7, 2005.
In 2005, Sowelu contributed to
M-Flo's album ''
Beat Space Nine'' on the track "So Exclusive", and again on their album ''Dope Space Nine'' in the same song, remixed by Korean fusion band,
Clazziquai.
The Japanese version of
The Pursuit of Happyness uses "Shiawase no Chikara" as its theme song.
In the music video for the song "to YOU" several photographs of her family and her childhood are intercut with scenes of her singing in a wide room with large glass windows. According to her website, the video location is a church about one hour away from Tokyo by car. At the end of the PV, the family members in the photos make an appearance together with Sowelu, including her grandmother, her mother and even Sowelu's pet
chihuahua.
Her 4th album "24 -twenty four-" was released on July 12, 2006. It debuted at #3, her highest ranking yet. The album remained at the #3 spot for two weeks on the Weekly Oricon Album Charts. One of the album's songs entitled "守るべきもの", (''Mamoru Beki Mono''/The One You Should Protect) is used as the ending of the 9th Pokémon movie
Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy.
On December 12, 2007 Sowelu released her latest single "光", (''Hikari''). The single had moderate success and reached #28 on the
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 ...
Weekly Charts More recently Sowelu will participate in the 2008
Nike ad campaign, "MY MUSIC,MY FORCE"; along with
Perfume
Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...
,
Home Made Kazoku,
Tohoshinki,
Shota Moriyama and
Shoko Nakagawa.
In Spring 2009, Sowelu's contract with Sony Music Japan's DefSTAR label wasn't renewed, resulting in the label dropping her from the web site's roster. Less than a week after the news of Sowelu being dropped from her label, it was announced that Sowelu had signed to
Avex Trax
is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group.
History
Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...
, one of Japan's most powerful record labels (under its sister label
Rhythm Zone).
On May 30, 2012, Sowelu released her 5th studio album, "29 tonight".
Personal life
She was born in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
to a half
Irish and half
Japanese mother and Japanese father .
Sowelu is a martial arts fan and has stated that she is only attracted to fighting men (as for show-business men), such as
mixed martial artists and
professional wrestlers, especially those who look like
Mark Hunt or
Kazuyuki Fujita
is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestling, freestyle wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Championship ...
.
[CD DATA, July 14, 2007, (B000SO7038, Kadokawa Shoten), p.41 "Artists Now : Sowelu"]
Discography
Studio albums
*2003: ''
Geofu''
*2005: ''
Sweet Bridge''
*2008: ''
24 (Twenty Four)''
*2008: ''Naked''
*2010: ''
Love & I (Ren'ai Henreki)''
*2012: ''
29 tonight''
Extended plays
*2011: ''
Let Me...''
Compilation albums
*2005: ''Heads or Tails?''
*2009: ''
Sowelu the Best 2002–2009''
Top 20 singles
*2002: "
Beautiful Dreamer"
*2003: "
Glisten"
*2004: "
I Will"
*2005: "
Get Over"
*2006: "
To You"
*2006: "
Dear Friend"
*2007: "
Shiawase no Chikara"
*2007: "
24 Karats (Type S)" with
Exile
Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
,
Doberman Inc
References
External links
Sony Music, Japan(In English)
https://web.archive.org/web/20090917005333/http://rhythmzone.net/sowelu/(In Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowelu
Avex Group artists
Defstar Records artists
1982 births
Living people
People from Tachikawa
Singers from Tokyo
Japanese people of Irish descent
Japanese women pop singers
21st-century Japanese singers
21st-century Japanese women singers