Tomomi Kahala

(formerly Tomomi Kahala) born on August 17, 1974 in Tokyo), is a Japanese pop singer. She is famous for working with Tetsuya Komuro who gave her much success in the 1990s, which led to her deep dip in popularity after 1999, the year in which she released her first non-TK produced album, One Fine Day. Tomomi Kahara and Tetsuya Komuro dated for a few years, but they suffered from personal problems which led to their breakup. After a period of sickness, Kahara's talent agency terminated her contract on June 29, 2007.

Biography

Before 1995: Early life and career Kahara was born in Koto, Tokyo in 1974. She attended Showa Gakuin Elementary, Shoin Junior, and Senior High School. She started her horse-riding lesson when she was three, and later received the 4th place in the National Sports Festival of Japan in 1992. Before she started her career as a singer, she worked as a model, and appeared in fashion magazines such as CanCam and Vivi as well as TV shows.

1995–1997: Rise to fame While working with Tetsuya Komuro, her first single "Keep Yourself Alive", was released in late 1995. It sold over 360,000 copies and went Top 10, peaking at No. 8. Her second single, "I Believe", was her first million-seller and added to her popularity. In March 1996, she released the single "I'm Proud" which peaked at No. 2 and was her best-selling single. It outsold Namie Amuro's singles released that year. In June 1996, she finally released her first album, Love Brace, a collection of songs about love and stated by Tetsuya Komuro to be his best work to date. It was a huge success selling over 2.5 million copies, half of them within the first week of release.

Already a big star, she and Tetsuya Komuro became an item and she continued to release singles, all peaking at 1. In December 1997, she finally released her second album, Storytelling. It went to the top of the charts and sold 1.37 million copies, much less than the 2.5 million copies that her previous album has sold.

1998–1999: Decline Since the release of Storytelling, her popularity began to decline and her relationship with her mentor, Tetsuya Komuro, was in every tabloid. Gossip magazines rumored that both of them were abusing drugs and that their relationship was beginning to fall apart. Her next single tumblin dice went only to the number-two position. Her music did not reach the top position again. Her next album, nine cubes, sold a depressing 261,000 copies, much less than her first two albums.

Her breakup with Tetsuya Komuro, frequent scandals, and suicide attempts shed her in a negative light in the conservative Japanese media. She finally left her record company, who released a compilation which sold well, over 600,000 copies and debuted at No. 1. At that time, gossip magazines were labeling rising-star, Ami Suzuki, as Kahara's replacement.

After some time relaxing after the scandals, Tomomi Kahara resumed her career at Warner writing her own lyrics.

1999–2006: Post-Tetsuya Komuro After Komuro, Kahara worked with a variety of producers at Warner Music Japan, including American Andy Marvel (Diana King, Jessica Simpson) and recorded songs by Gary Carolla (N Sync) and Vincent Degiorgio (N Sync, Atomic Kitten, Love, Inc., Mink, Nakano Mori Band) which appeared on her albums One Fine Day and Love Again, released in 1999 and 2001, respectively.

In 2004, Kahara signed with Universal Music Japan. (Now credited as Kahara. formerly Kahala.) Her most recent recordings for Universal Music Japan have shown her in a dazzling and sultry light with some of her best vocal performances to date. She covered some of her biggest hits and also recorded new songs from Korean and Japanese composers as well as pop standards such as "Ben", a cover version of the song by Michael Jackson. Her best-selling album at Universal sold a little over 50,000 copies and her latest album, Naked, sold only 12,000 copies, but she was still be seen in the media.

In 2006, after years of average fame, Tomomi Kahara returned briefly to the spotlight. She starred in a musical and her latest photobook, Crystallize II, which came with two strawberry condoms, sold unexpectedly well. She was one of the voice actors for the 'Sound of Music' Japanese DVD and she sang the theme song for a NHK Taiga drama.

2007–present: hiatus and comeback announced On June 29, 2007, Kahara canceled her contract with Ogipro after repeated personal issues began affecting her professional appearances.

On November 4, 2008, Tetsuya Komuro was arrested. According to the Japanese weekly magazine Josei Jishin, Kahara was reportedly shocked by the news and suffered from insomnia.

On January 17, 2009, she was hospitalized after allegedly taking an excessive amount of tranquilizers.

On October 30, 2011, Kahara announced her intention to return to the entertainment industry. She began taking vocal and acting lessons in preparation.

By the end of 2012, she made her comeback with a live appearance on the FNS TV program.

On April 17, 2013, she released a new single titled Dreamed a Dream. This was followed by a self-cover album titled Dream: Self-Cover Best, released on June 26, 2013.

In August 2013, following the suicide of Hikaru Utada's mother, Kahara sparked controversy by stating that she wished to create a song about the event. Her comment was widely criticized as being insensitive.

In 2016, Kahara appeared as a guest artist in the Japanese touring ice show Fantasy on Ice, where she performed live in collaboration with various figure skaters during tour stops in Makuhari and Sapporo.

Discography Singles + List of singles, with selected chart positions Year Single Peak chart positions Sales Label Formats JPNPhysical Love Brace Released: June 3, 1996 Label: Orumok Records Formats: CD, digital download, streaming12,571,210 Storytelling Released: December 24, 1997 Label: Orumok Records Formats: CD, digital download, streaming2,000,000 Nine cubes Released: November 26, 1998 Label: Warner Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming5400,000 One Fine Day Released: November 25, 1999 Label: Warner Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming756,530 Love Again Released: November 21, 2001 Label: Warner Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming2611,370 Naked Released: June 29, 2005 Label: Universal Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming3011,944

Compilation albums Title Album details Peakchartpositions Sales(JPN) JPNOricon Kahala Compilation Released: February 10, 1999 Label: Orumok Records Formats: CD, digital download, streaming1695,730 Best Selection Released: September 27, 2001 Label: Warner Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming2321,860 Natural Breeze: Kahala Best 1998-2002 Released: July 17, 2002 Label: Warner Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming377,620 Super Best Singles~10th Anniversary Released: December 14, 2005 Label: NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming655,012 All Time Singles Best Released: June 26, 2015 Label: Universal Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming9 - All Time Selection Best Released: June 26, 2015 Label: Universal Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming29 -

Self-cover albums Title Album details Peakchartpositions Sales(JPN) JPNOricon Dream: Self Cover Best Released: June 26, 2013 Label: Universal Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming15 -

Cover albums Title Album details Peakchartpositions Sales(JPN) JPNOricon Memories: Kahara Covers Released: March 12, 2014 Label: Universal Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming10 - Memories 2: Kahara All Time Covers Released: October 1, 2014 Label: Universal Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming9 - Memories 3: Kahara Back to 1995 Released: December 2, 2015 Label: Universal Music Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming30 -

Videography Live albums No. Release Title Formats 1st December 12, 2001 Tomomi Kahala First Live DVD, VHS 2nd December 7, 2005 10th Anniversary Celebration Concert 2005 DVD, VHS

Music-videoclip albums No. Release Title Formats 1st March 27, 2002 very best of Music Clips VHS

Publications Books Mirai wo Shinjite - January 27, 2000 Ku ari Raku ari: Mirai wo Shinjite Part 2 - July 25, 2001 Showbiz - December 12, 2001 Crystallize - December 20, 2005 Crystallize II - March 27, 2006