Nanase Aikawa
相川七瀬
Birth name 佐伯みさ
Born February 16, 1975 (1975-02-16) (age 33)
Origin Osaka, Japan
Genre(s) Japanese rock/pop
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 1995-present
Label(s) Avex Trax
Website Official Site

Nanase Aikawa (相川 七瀬, Aikawa Nanase?) is a Japanese musician known for employing a variety of musical styles, most notably rock. She publishes her music under the Motorod label, a division of Avex Group.

History
Nanase Aikawa was born on February 16, 1975, in Osaka, Japan. Throughout her school years, Nanase had sung and participated in a several singing competitions, which brought her to the attention of a well-known music producer Tetsuro Oda. At the age of 15, she dropped out of school to be trained by Oda. At the age of 20 she released her first single, Yume Miru Shoujo ja Irarenai on 8 November 1995.


Personal Life
Aikawa married on 16 February 2001 and gave birth to her first child, a boy, on 6 September 2001. She gave birth to her second child, also a boy, on 9 September 2007. She is good friends [as stated in an interview] with Yumi from PUFFY [Puffy AmiYumi].


Career

The cover for the album "Red" and the CD from the album.After she released her first single on 8 November 1995, she released three more singles, and then her first full album Red in 1996, which sold more than two million copies in its first month. That album won her an invitation to perform on Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a New Year's Eve singing contest between male and female teams of popular singers sponsored by NHK (one of Japan's television networks).

Since then, she has released about one album each year, plus an average of three mini- or maxi-singles. Her second album, Paradox, was released in July of 1997, selling 1.8 million copies, coinciding with her first concert tour Live Emotion '97 (consisting of 20 concert dates, and attracting a total of 65,000 fans, according to Avex).

July of 1998 saw her third album Crimson, and another concert tour with over 40 concert dates. Her 1999 release, I.D. was a compilation album, but it debuted at number one on the rock chart, her fourth consecutive album to be released at the number one slot.

In 2001, she also released a 'mini-album' (sometime between a full album and a single) with only 7 tracks called the Last Quarter of uncharacteristically soft ballad-style music, recorded during her later months of pregnancy.

It wasn't until 2003 that she released another album, another compilation, called ID: 2.

At the 11th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards, Nanase's album Red was voted the Best Album (Japanese Rock and Folk music, female vocalist category). Her album Paradox was also voted Best Album of the Year at the 12th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards.

In February of 2004, three years after her last original album and many singles, she released 7 Seven. An album devoted to feelings relating to music and color, with each song dedicated to a certain color. Since then she has released four more singles.

In July 2004 her song BYE BYE was covered by UK singer Jennifer Ellison.

As of August of 2004, Nanase Aikawa has released six albums, plus two compilation albums and the mini-album, a total of 24 singles, and no less than three separate concerts and two music video collections on video and DVD.

A year later, in February of 2005, she released The First Quarter mini-album. This album focused more on ballads and soft music than her well-known rock edge. In November of that same year she released R.U.O.K?!, a mini-album with seven songs. In July 2007, Nanase Aikawa began work on her new album.


Band Members
A list of her band for the R.U.O.K?! album and with whom she is currently touring:

Guitar: Marty Friedman (ex. Megadeth)
Guitar: Tomoaki Ishizuka, more commonly known as Pata from ex. X Japan
Drums: 真矢 (trans. Shinya Yamada) (ex. Luna Sea)
Bass: 'Crazy' Cool Joe (ex. Dead End)
Keyboards: "D.I.E" (ex. Hide with Spread Beaver)


Discography

Albums
Red
ParaDOX
Crimson
I.D. (19 May 1999) (Compilation)
01 - Yume Miru Shoujo ja Irarenai (夢見る少女じゃいられない)
02 - Bye-Bye. (バイバイ。)
03 - LIKE A HARD RAIN
04 - BREAK OUT!
05 - Imademo... (今でも…。)
06 - Koi Gokoro (恋心)
07 - Trouble Maker (トラブルメイカー)
08 - Sweet Emotion
09 - Konnani Aishite Mo (こんなに愛しても)
10 - Tori Ni Naretara (鳥になれたら)
11 - OOOO?
12 - Bad Girls
13 - Kanojo to Watashi no Jijou (彼女と私の事情)
14 - Nostalgia
15 - Lovin' You
16 - Koi Gokoro (Acoustic Version)
Foxtrot (16 February 2000)
01 - Second Wind
02 - Bitch
03 - Heat Of The Night
04 - China Rose
05 - THANK U
06 - "7"
07 - Cosmic Love
08 - Gin Iro No Fune (銀色の舟)
09 - -Gozen Niji No Koibito- (－午前2時の恋人－)
10 - Sekai Wa Kono Te No Naka Ni (世界はこの手の中に)
11 - Crying
12 - Jealousy
13 - Hanabi Ga Owaru Koro (花火が終わる頃)
Purãnã (21 February 2001)
01 - Party☆2001
02 - Trick
03 - NO FUTURE
04 - SEVEN SEAS
05 - Adieu
06 - trust me
07 - Sakura Saku (サクラサク)
08 - Shugaa Beibi (シュガーベイビー)
09 - midnight blue
10 - 「THE END」
11 - Anata no Ondo (あなたの温度)
12 - ~dandelion~
ID:2 (26 March 2003) (Compilation)
7 seven (18 February 2004)
01 - LIE LIE　LIE
02 - R-shitei (R-指定)
03 - BLUE KNIFE
04 - Renai Taishitsu (恋愛体質)
05 - BLACK ANGEL
06 - Mokka no Koibito (目下の恋人)
07 - Dahlia -She Knows Love- (ダリア-She Knows Love-)
08 - Ai no Uta - Magenta Rain- (愛ノ詩-マジェンタレイン-)
09 - Natsu no Hi no Coral (夏の日のコーラル)
10 - Hi wo Tsukeru Baby!! (火をつけろベイビー!!)
11 - Toki no Kaze (時の風)
12 - NIGHT RAINBOW
13 - Shock of Love

Mini Albums
The Last Quarter (27 September 2001)
01 - Koibito ja Naku Naru Hi (恋人じゃなくなる日)
02 - STILL RAIN
03 - Shiawase na Jikan (しあわせな時間)
04 - Saikou no Tomodachi (最高の友達)
05 - HIMAWARI (ヒマワリ)
06 - BYE-BYE-BYE
07 - THE LAST QUARTER
The First Quarter (16 February 2005)
R.U.O.K?! (19 November 2005)
01 - FOOLISH 555
02 - R.U.O.K?!
03 - FLY TO RAINBOW RAY
04 - ROCK STAR's STEADY
05 - RED WHEEL
06 - Snowfall
07 - EVERYBODY GOES

Mini-Singles
Yumemiru Shoujou Ja Irarenai (8 November 1995)
Bye Bye (9 February 1996)
Like A Hard Rain (17 April 1996)
Break Out! (5 June 1996)
Koigokoro (7 October 1996)
Troublemaker (13 February 1997)
Sweet Emotion (1 May 1997)
Bad Girls (12 November 1997)
Kanojo To Watashi No Jijou (4 February 1998)
Nostalgia (8 May 1998)
Lovin You (6 November 1998)
Cosmic Love (17 March 1999)

Maxi-Singles
Sekai Wa Kono Te No Naka Ni (23 July 1999)
Jealousy (29 September 1999)
China Rose (8 December 1999)
Midnight Blue (31 May 2000)
Seven Seas (9 August 2000)
No Future (31 January 2001) (Zoids: New Century Zero opening theme)
Dandelion (31 January 2001)
Owarinai Yume (5 June 2002) (InuYasha third opening theme)
Roppongi Shinjyu (9 October 2002)
Shock of Love (13 February 2003)
R-Shitei (27 November 2003)
Ai no Uta (21 January 2004)
Round ZERO ～ BLADE BRAVE (18 February 2004) (Kamen Rider Blade first opening theme)
Mangekyo/UNLIMITED (29 September 2004) (Samurai 7 first opening theme)
Kagiriaru Hibiki (19 January 2005)
Everybody Goes (25 February 2006) (Madan Senki Ryukendo first ending theme)

Theme Songs
No Future - Zoids: New Century Zero opening theme
Owarinai Yume - InuYasha third opening theme
Unlimited - Samurai 7 opening theme
Everybody Goes - Madan Senki Ryukendo ending theme
Round ZERO ~ BLADE BRAVE - Kamen Rider Blade first opening theme
Love Terrorist - Heavy Metal Thunder OST