中島美嘉 (Mika Nakashima), born on February 19, 1983 in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, is a popular Japanese singer. Nakashima had dreamed of becoming a singer since she was a child. She decided not to attend high school or college, and pursued her dream in a musical career. She was chosen out of three thousand girls as the heroine of the 2001 fall season drama, 傷だらけのラブソング (Kizudarake no Love Song, Scarred Love Song) from Fuji TV Station. In November, she made her sensational debut under Sony Music Associated Records with the song STARS, which was also the theme song of the drama. STARS is Nakashima’s best-selling single to date, with sales nearing 470 000 copies since its release in November of 2001. Her second single, CRESCENT MOON, was limited to only 100 000 copies. Amazingly, it sold out on the first day of its release. In March of 2002, she released her third single ONE SURVIVE and her first video compilation DVD, FILM LOTUS. In May her fourth single Helpless Rain. In August her fifth single, WILL, was released, tying up sales of over 200 000 copies. She released her first album, TRUE, in August of 2002. TRUE peaked at #1 on the Oricon 200 Album Chart in Japan, and has sold 1,174,000 copies since its release. In 2003, she released five singles, 愛してる (Aishiteru, I Love You), Love Addict, 接吻 (Seppun, Kiss), FIND THE WAY and 雪の華 (Yuki no Hana, Flowers of Snow), a mini-album, RESISTANCE, and a full-length album, LOVE. LOVE went on to sell over 1.5 million copies, surpassing the sales of her debut. During the next two years, Nakashima released another five singles: SEVEN, 火の鳥 (Hi no Tori, Phoenix), LEGEND, 桜色舞うころ (Sakura Iro Mau Koro, When the Colors of Cherry Blossoms Flutter), and ひとり (Hitori, Alone). She also released another mini-album, 朧月夜～祈り (Oborodzukiyo～Inori, A Misty, Moon-lit Night ～ Prayer), and her third full-length album, MUSIC. Her compilation album BEST, which was released in December 2005, surpassed the 1.2 million sales mark, and is the second best-selling album in Mika’s career after LOVE. Nakashima was chosen to play one pf the main roles in the live-action movie NANA in 2005, and also sang its theme song, GLAMOROUS SKY under the name NANA starring MIKA NAKASHIMA. In December of 2006, Nakashima released 一色 (Hito Iro, A Single Color) for the NANA 2 movie under the name NANA starring MIKA NAKASHIMA, as well as a NANA album titled THE END, which marked the conclusion of her association with NANA. Nakashima released another five singles, CRY NO MORE, ALL HANDS TOGETHER, MY SUGAR CAT, 見えない星 (Mienai Hoshi, A Star that Can’t Be Seen), and 素直なまま (Sunao Mama, Gentle Ways). that led up to the release of her fourth album in 2007, YES. During the last part of 2007 and during 2008, Nakashima released five singles, LIFE, 永遠の詩 (Eien no Uta, Song of Eternity), SAKURA ～花霞～ (SAKURA ～Hanagasumi～, SAKURA ～Mist of Flowers～, I DON’T KNOW, which was a collaboration with the comedy group 森三中 and released under the artist name MICA 3 CHU (pronounced Mika San Chū), and ORION. She then released her fifth album in November of 2008, entitled VOICE. In the current era, which began in March of 2009 with the release of the compilation album NO MORE RULES., Nakashima has released two singles entitled Over Load and CANDY GIRL. The single 流れ星 (Nagare Boshi, Shooting Star) will be released on November 4th, and the single ALWAYS will be released in January of 2010. Nakashima is known to make cover versions of English songs, such as AMAZING GRACE, THE ROSE, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD and You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To. Apart from singing and sometimes modeling, Nakashima has been involved in several commercial campaigns, including KANEBO Cosmetics 「KATE」, Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd. 「BODA」「GALBO」「FRAN」, SONY 「Hi-MD Walkman」, and ROHTO 「ROHTO Zi:φ」.
