Yui (singer) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yui
Yui at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards Japan in Tokyo
Background information
Birth name	Yui Yoshioka
Born	(1987-03-26) March 26, 1987 (age 38) Koga, Fukuoka, Japan
Genres	Pop rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, drums
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Studioseven, Gr8!, Leaflet

Yui Yoshioka (born March 26, 1987), known as Yui, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and musician. She plays many instruments. During her solo career, she sold over 5 million copies of her music in Japan. She is very popular in Japan and nearby countries. In 2011, she was ranked as the number one "Dearest Female Artist" by Count Down TV. She was also voted "Artist You Most Want to Marry" by Music Station.

Yui was born and grew up in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. She performed live in her hometown. At 17, she was discovered by Sony Music Japan. She released her first single a few months later. Her early songs had some success. Then, her song "Good-bye Days" became a huge hit. It stayed on the Oricon music charts for 44 weeks. This made her a rising star in the Japanese music world.

Since her first album, From Me to You, all her solo albums have reached the top of the charts. Many of her singles also hit number one on the Oricon charts. This happened from 2007 until she took a break in 2012. After stopping her solo music in 2012, she started a new band called Flower Flower in 2013.

About Yui

Her Early Life

Yui was born in Fukuoka, Japan. Her full name is Yui Yoshioka. She grew up with just her mother. Her father left when she was three years old.

Yui always felt a strong connection to music. She could remember song beats from the radio. She would then sing them herself. When she was in elementary school, Yui wanted to become a singer. As a child, she described herself as shy. She found it hard to talk to others. She often played alone outdoors. She explored mountains, rivers, the sea, and rice fields.

In primary school, her mother encouraged her to write a journal. She wrote down her feelings. She tried to turn them into poems. By high school, Yui started writing songs. She felt this helped her express herself. She also worked part-time at a Chinese restaurant. This helped her pay for school. But she had little sleep because of music, school, and work. She felt she couldn't follow her music dreams.

She became ill and went to the hospital. There, she strongly felt she needed to make music. She decided that school and music could not work together. After leaving the hospital, she saw her first live street performance. She told the band, Bianco Nero, that she wanted to be a musician. They told her to join a private music school, called a juku. Even though it's common to finish school in Japan, Yui left high school. She began to learn guitar and songwriting at the "Voice" music school in Fukuoka. To become a professional, she started performing on the streets. These street shows helped her become less shy.

Starting Her Music Career

Yui's professional music journey began in March 2004. Her music school teachers suggested she try out for Sony Music Japan. She was only supposed to sing two songs. But she sang "Why Me," then "It's Happy Line," and then half of "I Know." She sang the third song even though it wasn't finished. She wanted the judges to hear a hopeful song.

The judges gave her the highest score. Even though "I Know" was not complete, the judges heard her unique way of writing songs. She would hum made-up English words to a tune. This was later called "Yui-go" or "Yui-speak." You can hear an example of "Yui-go" in the movie Song of the Sun.

On December 24, 2004, Yui released her first single, "It's Happy Line." It was released by a small label called Leaflet Records. It also included the song "I Know." Only 2,000 copies were made and sold in her home area.

Her Solo Albums

From Me to You (2005–2006)

When Yui moved from Fukuoka to Tokyo, she wrote "Feel My Soul." It was a song about her hometown. A TV producer, Yamaguchi, loved Yui's voice. He wanted her to create music for his TV drama Fukigen na Gene. So, her songs "Feel My Soul" and "It's Happy Line" were used in the drama.

On February 23, 2005, Yui released "Feel My Soul" as her first major single. Because of the TV drama, "Feel My Soul" sold over 100,000 copies. It reached number 8 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Her next three singles were "Tomorrow's Way" (for the movie Hinokio), "Life" (for the Bleach anime), and "Tokyo". These songs were not as successful as "Feel My Soul." Yui released her first album, From Me to You, on February 22, 2006. It did well, reaching number 4 on the Oricon charts.

Can't Buy My Love (2006–2007)

Yui acted for the first time in the movie Song of the Sun. The movie came out on June 17, 2006. It was even shown at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Yui worked hard on her role. She imagined conversations and stayed in her character's room. This helped her understand the part better. Yui won the Best Newcomer Award at the Japan Academy Prize for Midnight Sun.

Before the movie, Yui released her fifth single, "Good-bye Days." She wrote it just for the film. This single became her best-selling song. It sold over 200,000 copies. All three songs on the single were in Midnight Sun. The single also re-released "It's Happy Line."

Yui's next single, "I Remember You", also sold well. This was because "Good-bye Days" was so popular. Her seventh single, "Rolling Star", was used as the opening song for the Bleach anime. Her eighth single, "Cherry", was used in commercials for KDDI.

She released her second album, Can't Buy My Love, on April 4, 2007. This album was number 1 on the Oricon charts for two weeks. It sold more copies in one week than her first album sold in total. Can't Buy My Love sold over 680,000 copies. Because of its success, her first album, From Me to You, also went back on the charts.

I Loved Yesterday (2007–2008)

Yui released her ninth single, "My Generation/Understand", on June 13, 2007. It was her first single with two main songs. "My Generation" was the ending song for the TV drama Seito Shokun!. "Understand" was the theme song for the movie Dog in a Sidecar. This single reached number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts.

Her tenth single, "Love & Truth", came out on September 26, 2007. This song was the theme for the movie Closed Note. Around this time, her first two albums were re-released. They had new covers from her "Love & Truth" photoshoot. Her first live concert DVD, Thank You My Teens, was released on November 14, 2007. It showed her second concert tour.

On November 19, 2007, Yui performed her first show at Nippon Budokan. All the tickets sold out quickly. The Budokan concert felt like a live street performance. This was fitting since she started by performing on the streets of Fukuoka.

Yui started 2008 with her eleventh single, "Namidairo", on February 27, 2008. Yui wrote it to be a "mysterious and sad" song for the TV drama 4 Shimai Tantei Dan. She wanted to show how people say "I'm fine" to not worry loved ones. She also wanted to show how we notice small things during such times. The main part of the song was written when Yui first started singing.

A week after "Namidairo," a video for a new song, "Laugh Away," was released. This song was used in a Glico commercial. "Laugh Away" was released as a digital song on March 10, 2008.

Her third album, I Loved Yesterday, was released on April 9, 2008. It quickly became number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. It sold over 400,000 copies. The song "Oh Yeah" from the album was used as the opening song for Mezamashi TV, a morning TV show. A special version of the album came with a DVD. It had music videos and live clips from her Nippon Budokan show. The album mostly had calm, emotional songs. They talked about themes like youth.

Yui's third tour, "Oui: I Loved Yesterday," ran from May to July 2008.

My Short Stories and Holidays in the Sun (2008–2010)

On July 2, 2008, Yui released "Summer Song." It also reached number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. "Summer Song" sold 83,440 copies in one week. This made it her second-highest selling single in its first week.

Yui released her album of B-sides, My Short Stories, on November 12, 2008. It debuted at number 1 on Oricon. This album included all the B-side songs from her singles. It also had a new song, "I'll Be." Yui was only the second female artist to have a B-side album reach number 1. The first was Seiko Matsuda in 1984. Because My Short Stories was so popular, sales of her first album, From Me to You, increased again.

In her "Yui Diary" blog on August 29, 2008, Yui said she would take a break from music. She would not make public appearances after her album. She said the break would help her focus on her plans for the next year. During this break, she helped write the song "I Do It" with the band Stereopony. It was released on April 22, 2009.

Yui announced her return on March 25, 2009. Her official website shared the news. The song for her return was an upbeat song called "Again." This song was chosen as the first opening theme for the new season of the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime. It came out on April 5, 2009. The single was released on June 3, 2009. "Again" debuted at the top of the Oricon charts. It sold over 110,000 copies in its first week. This was the highest first-week sales for a female artist in 2009.

Her website, Yui-net.com, announced her second double-A side single. It was called "It's All Too Much/Never Say Die" and was announced on July 27, 2009. These two songs were used in the movie Kaiji. The single was released on October 7, 2009. It debuted at number 1, selling 75,000 copies. This was her fifth number one single. On January 20, 2010, Yui released "Gloria." It sold over 80,000 copies in the first week and topped the Oricon charts again. Her next single, "To Mother," was released on June 2, 2010. It also topped the charts.

On July 14, 2010, Yui released her fourth album, Holidays in the Sun. It included her five singles from "Summer Song" to "To Mother." It was her fourth album in a row to top the Oricon charts. It sold over 300,000 copies.

How Crazy Your Love (2010–2013)

Her single "Rain" was released on November 24, 2010. Yui then released a double-A side single, "It's My Life/Your Heaven," on January 26, 2011. Yui went to Sweden to film the "Your Heaven" music video. She also made a short film about her trip to Sweden.

Yui's tour DVD, Holidays in the Sun, was released on March 9. Her next single, "Hello (Paradise Kiss)", came out on June 1, 2011. The songs were used in the live-action movie "Paradise Kiss." On June 16, 2011, Yui went to Hong Kong for her first concert outside Japan. She performed for 14,000 people.

Yui visited schools in areas affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on July 7, 2011. She performed a charity concert. Her single "Green a.Live" was inspired by her feelings from this visit. It was released on October 5, 2011. "Green a.Live" debuted at the top of the charts. It was her first number one single since "To Mother."

On November 2, 2011, Yui released her fifth and last album as a solo artist, How Crazy Your Love. The album debuted at number one on the daily charts. It sold almost 50,000 copies on its first day. It also reached number one on the weekly charts. This made How Crazy Your Love her fifth album in a row to debut at number one. She started her fifth major tour on November 11, 2011. The tour promoted her new album.

Yui's next single was announced through her involvement in Ncon (Nコン). This is a national school music competition. Yui was chosen to write a song for the middle school category. The song was "fight." It was released on September 5, 2012.

In a video on Yui's official Vevo channel on December 18, 2012, she announced a break from music. She said, "Yui is so precious and special for me, so I want to leave it as is for a while." She told her fans, "The biggest reason is that I don't want them to see me with a broken-off heart, if that happens."

Flower Flower (2013–present)

Yui returned from her break soon after. She formed a new band called Flower Flower. The band performed secretly across Japan. They released several digital singles. On March 27, 2014, Yui shared in her band's blog that she had a health issue. This led to some concert cancellations. However, the band released their first album, Mi (実), on November 26, 2014. The album reached number 5 on the weekly Oricon charts.

On April 17, 2015, Yui announced she had married someone not in the music industry. She also shared that she was expecting a baby. In August 2015, it was announced that Yui had given birth to twin boys.

Flower Flower released their first physical single, "Takaramono (宝物)," on September 9, 2016. It reached number ten on the charts. Yui said about the release, "I did not think I could release songs again, and to be honest I am quite happy that I can."

In the summer of 2017, Flower Flower played at several music festivals. These included Rock in Japan Festival 2017 and Summer Sonic 2017. This made people wonder if the band would release another single. The group announced they would release "Mannequin (マネキン)" on August 2, 2017. Yui said the song started as a summer pop rock song. But during recording, it became more like hard rock. She felt that putting a strong song like "Mannequin" with a softer song like "Drama" made a good balance.

Flower Flower released their second album, "Spotlight (スポットライト)," on March 14, 2018. It came out two and a half years after their first album, Mi. It included songs that were played live early in Flower Flower's career.

Discography

Filmography

DVDs

• 2007: Thank You My Teens
• 2011: Yui 4th Tour 2010: Hotel Holidays in the Sun
• 2012: Yui 5th Tour 2012 Cruising: How Crazy Your Love

Films and TV

Live Performances

Tours

• Yui First Tour 2006 "7 Street": Live Life Love (March 21 – April 18, 2006)
• Yui Second Tour 2007 "Spring & Jump": Can't Buy My Love (April 13 – June 1, 2007)
• Yui Third Tour 2008 "Oui": I Loved Yesterday (May 5 – July 19, 2008)
• Yui Fourth Tour 2010: Hotel Holidays in the Sun (September 12 – November 2, 2010)
• Yui Fifth Tour 2011: "Cruising": How Crazy Your Love (November 11, 2011 – January 25, 2012)

Special Shows

• Yui Live 2007 at Nippon Budokan (November 19, 2007)
• Yui Live 2011: Hong Kong Hotel Holidays in the Sun (June 26, 2011)

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Yui (cantautora) para niños