Mari Hamada

Mari Hamada (浜田麻里 born July 18, 1962 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese female rock singer , songwriter and producer. She must not be confused with an homonymous singer and actress, Mari Hamada (濱田マリ?), who released two solo albums and solo singles in the 90's, and was the singer of two Japanese band: Modern Choki Chokies and Unknown Soup & Spice. Mari Hamada started her professional singing career in 1983, as a heavy metal idol, produced by Munetaka Higuchi, drummer of Japanese metal band Loudness. Her records were successful in the Japanese rock market. Later, she changed her musical style to AOR (adult oriented rock), with mainstream commercial and even international success. In 1989, she hit No. 1 on the oricon music charts for the first time, and performed at the Budokan hall two days successfully in the same year. Two of her songs where used by the NHK to promote the 1988 Seoul olympics games TV diffusions in Japan. She was the best-selling Japanese export artist from late 80's to mid-90's, since her records were popular abroad but not available outside Japan. She released her only international album in 1994, "Introducing...", a compilation of songs in English, supported by a European tour with Kim Wilde, and the same year released an international duet with Australian boys-band Indecent Obsession: "Fixing a Broken Heart"