Kaela Kimura

Born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan to a British father and Japanese mother, Kaela started working as a model in 2002 for the Japanese idol magazine Seventeen. She went on to host the popular Morning Television show 'Saku Saku' between (April 14, 2003 - March 31, 2006). Kaela released her first and last indie single entitled "Level 42", but later it was released as her major debut single on June 23 2004, which was used over the end credits of 'Saku Saku', after signed with Columbia Music Entertainment. In October 27, she released her second single "happiness!!!", which was followed by her debut album Kaela on December 8 of the same year. Her fanbase grew considerably after her third single "Rirura Riruha" (リルラ リルハ ,Real Life Real Heart?) released on March 30, 2005; the song was used in a series of Vodafone commercials in Japan which helped make her a household name. It sold over 100,000 copies, being her most successful single to date; it also received a nomination for "Best Video" in the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2005. Almost seven months later, she released her fourth single, "Beat", where Kaela's music turns into more punk pop influenced music. She also participated in a tribute album for the popular manga Nana with a new version of her song "Twinkle", later included in her second album. During that year, she would start her first national tour 'Kaela First Tour 4 You', performing in places as the Nippon Budokan. In January 18, 2006, she released her fifth single "You"; the song was used in Kit Kat commercials, becoming a huge airplay success and topped the Tokyo Hot 100 from japanese radio station J-Wave for eleven weeks. In March, she released her second album Circle which debuted at #2 in the Oricon chart. She continued promoting Kit Kat with a promotional single titled "Circle"; a CD with the song was sold along with the chocolate in a limited package. At this point, Kaela decides to leave the TV show 'Saku Saku' to focus in her music career, so she hosted her last show in March 31. During 2006, Kaela became the lead vocalist of the rock band Sadistic Mika Band, which started as a collaboration for Kirin products promotion, and later resulting in the album Narkissos as Sadistic Mikaela Band. That year, she also covered Roy Orbison's Oh, Pretty Woman, which was used as the theme song of 2006 Japanese television dramas "Attention Please" starring Aya Ueto. She appeared on the program in a cameo role, as an airline passenger in episode 10. In June 28, she released a new single entitled "Magic Music" and her hit single "Tree Climbers" three months later. After her eighth single "Snowdome", she released her third studio album Scratch in February 7, 2007. The album had a huge success, topping the Oricon Albums Chart for two weeks and selling over 300,000 copies. Her ninth single "Samantha" was released in July 18, 2007. The song is inspired in ABC TV series 'Bewitched's protagonist Samantha Stephens, and the music video features Hanna-Barbera designs. In September, Kaela released her second DVD from her 'Scratch Tour' and her tenth single "Yellow" the following month; it contained two b-sides (her first time to do so), one of them being a British indie rock band Farrah's cover. Starting 2008, she released her eleventh single "Jasper", a dance song very different from her previous works. In April 2, Kaela released her fourth album +1 which debuted at #2. After the album release, she hosted her '+1 TOUR' and released her first music video compilation Best Video 1. In September 10, 2008, she released her first double a-side single "Moustache/memories (original version)" (マスタッシュ ,Moustache?); the first a-side was used in 'Lucido-L' commercials, while the second was featured in the japanese film Paco to Maho no Ehon (パコと魔法の絵本 ,Paco and the Magical Book?). Kaela released her first ballad, entitled "Doko" (どこ ,Where?) in January 28, 2009, and reached #5 in Oricon. discography Albums Kaela Release Date: December 8, 2004 Chart peak: #7 Singles: "Level 42", "happiness!!!" Sales: Circle Release Date: March 8, 2006 Chart peak: #2 Singles: "Rirura Riruha (リルラ リルハ ?, Real life, Real heart))", "You", "BEAT" Scratch Release Date: February 7, 2007 Chart peak: #1 (JP) Singles: "Magic Music", "TREE CLIMBERS", "Snowdome" +1 Release Date: April 2, 2008 Chart peak: #2 Singles: "Samantha", "Yellow", "Jasper" Singles Level 42 – June 23, 2004 - #14 Happiness!!! – October 27, 2004 - #11 Rirura Riruha (リルライフ リルハ ?, Real life, Real heart) – March 30, 2005 - #3 Beat – October 5, 2005 - #7 You – January 18, 2006 - #7 Magic Music – June 28, 2006 - #7 Tree Climbers – September 6, 2006 - #6 Snowdome – January 17, 2007- #6 Samantha – July 18, 2007 - #8 Yellow – October 24, 2007 - #5 Jasper – February 6, 2008- #9 Moustache/memories (Original Version) – September 10, 2008- #7 どこ – January 28, 2009- #5