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, including guitar, bass, piano, and drums. During her solo career, she sold over 5 million copies of her music in Japan.

Yui 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 grew up in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. She started performing live in her hometown. At 17, Sony Music Japan noticed her talent. She released her first single a few months later. 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.

After her first album, From Me to You, all her solo albums reached the top of the charts. Many of her songs also hit number one. In 2012, Yui took a break from her solo music. In 2013, she started a new band called Flower Flower.

About Yui

Her Early Life and Music Journey

Yui was born in Fukuoka, Japan. She grew up in a family 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 and sing them.

When she was in elementary school, Yui dreamed of becoming a singer. She described herself as shy and not good at talking to people. She often played alone outside in nature.

In primary school, her mother encouraged her to write a journal. Yui then started turning her feelings into poems. By high school, she began writing songs. She felt this helped her express herself. Yui also worked part-time at a Chinese restaurant to help pay for school.

Balancing music, school, and work was very hard. She often got only one or two hours of sleep. Yui felt she didn't have time for her music dreams. She became ill, but while in the hospital, she felt a strong desire to make music. She decided that school and music could not both be her main focus.

After leaving the hospital, Yui saw her first live street performance. She told the band, Bianco Nero, that she wanted to be a musician. They suggested she join a private music school called juku. Even though it's common in Japan to finish school, Yui decided to leave high school. She started studying guitar and songwriting at "Voice" music school in Fukuoka. To become a professional, she began performing on the streets near Tenjin Station. These street shows helped her become less shy.

Starting Her Career

Yui's professional music journey began in March 2004. Her music teachers suggested she try out for an audition with Sony Music Japan. She was supposed to sing two songs. But she sang "Why Me," then "It's Happy Line," and then half of "I Know." She sang the unfinished third song because she wanted the judges to hear a song full of hope.

The judges were very impressed and gave her the highest score. Even though "I Know" wasn't finished, the judges heard what would later be called "Yui-go." This was her unique way of humming nonsensical English to a tune while writing songs. 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 record label called Leaflet Records. Only 2,000 copies were made and sold in her hometown area.

Her First Albums: From Me to You and Can't Buy My Love

When Yui moved from Fukuoka to Tokyo, she wrote "Feel My Soul." It was a song about her hometown. A TV producer named Yamaguchi heard her voice and loved it. 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 show.

On February 23, 2005, Yui released "Feel My Soul" as her first major single. Because it was used in the TV drama, it became very popular. It sold over 100,000 copies and reached number 8 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Her next three singles, "Tomorrow's Way" (for the movie Hinokio), "Life" (for the Bleach anime), and "Tokyo" were also successful.

Yui's first album, From Me to You, came out on February 22, 2006. It reached number 4 on the Oricon charts and stayed there for a long time.

Yui also started acting! She made her movie debut in Song of the Sun (Taiyou no uta). The movie came out on June 17, 2006. She played her role in a special way, even staying in her character's room to understand her better. The film was even shown at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Yui won the Best Newcomer Award at the Japan Academy Prize for her role.

Before the movie, Yui released her fifth single, "Good-bye Days." She wrote this song especially for the film. It became her best-selling single, selling over 200,000 copies. All three songs on the single were in Midnight Sun.

Her next single, "I Remember You," also sold well. Yui's seventh single, "Rolling Star," became the opening song for the Bleach anime. Her eighth single, "Cherry," was used in commercials for KDDI.

Yui released her second album, Can't Buy My Love, on April 4, 2007. This album was a huge success! It stayed at number 1 on the Oricon charts for two weeks. It sold more copies in one week than her first album did in total. Can't Buy My Love sold over 680,000 copies. Because of its success, her first album, From Me to You, also became popular again.

I Loved Yesterday and My Short Stories

Yui released her ninth single, "My Generation/Understand," on June 13, 2007. This 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 in its first week.

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 with new covers. Her first live concert DVD, Thank You My Teens, was released on November 14, 2007. It showed footage from her second concert tour.

On November 19, 2007, Yui performed her first show at Nippon Budokan, a famous concert hall. All the tickets sold out quickly. The concert felt like a live street performance, which was special because that's how she started.

In 2008, Yui released her eleventh single, "Namidairo," on February 27. She wrote this song to be "mysterious and sad." It was used in the TV drama 4 Shimai Tantei Dan. A week later, a video for a new song called "Laugh Away" was released. This song was used in a commercial. "Laugh Away" was released as a digital single on March 10, 2008.

Her third album, I Loved Yesterday, was released on April 9, 2008. It quickly reached number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. It sold over 400,000 copies. A song from the album, "Oh Yeah," was used as the opening theme for the morning TV show Mezamashi TV. The special edition of the album included a DVD with music videos and live footage from her Budokan show.

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

On July 2, 2008, Yui released "Summer Song," which also reached number 1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. It sold over 83,000 copies in one week.

Yui released her B-side collection album, My Short Stories, on November 12, 2008. It debuted at number 1 on Oricon. This album included all the extra songs from her singles, plus a new song called "I'll Be." Yui was only the second female artist to have a B-side album top the charts.

In August 2008, Yui announced she would take a break from public appearances. She wanted to focus on her plans for the next year. During this break, she helped write a song called "I Do It" with the band Stereopony.

Return to Music and Holidays in the Sun

Yui announced her return from her five-month break on March 25, 2009. Her comeback single 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. The single was released on June 3, 2009. "Again" debuted at the top of the Oricon charts, selling over 110,000 copies in its first week. It was the highest-selling opening week for a female artist in 2009.

Yui released another double-A side single, "It's All Too Much/Never Say Die," on October 7, 2009. These two songs were featured in the movie Kaiji. This single also debuted at number 1, becoming her fifth number one single. On January 20, 2010, Yui released "Gloria," which sold over 80,000 copies in its first week and topped the Oricon charts again. Her next single, "To Mother," released on June 2, 2010, also reached number one.

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

How Crazy Your Love and a New Chapter

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 traveled 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, 2011. Her single, "Hello (Paradise Kiss)", came out on June 1, 2011. The songs were used as the theme and ending songs for the movie "Paradise Kiss." On June 16, 2011, Yui had her first concert outside Japan in Hong Kong. She performed for 14,000 people.

On July 7, 2011, Yui visited schools in areas affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. 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, and reached the top of the charts.

On November 2, 2011, Yui released her fifth and final album as a solo artist, How Crazy Your Love. It debuted at number one on the daily charts and became her fifth album in a row to reach number one on the weekly charts. She started her fifth major tour on November 11, 2011, to promote her new album.

Yui was chosen to compose a song for the middle school category of Ncon (Nコン), a national school music competition. The song was "fight," and it was released on September 5, 2012.

In December 2012, Yui announced she would be taking a break from music. She explained that she wanted to protect what Yui, the solo artist, meant to her. She also said she didn't want her fans to see her if she felt her heart was "broken-off."

Flower Flower and Other Projects

Yui returned from her break soon after with a new band called Flower Flower. They performed secretly around Japan. The band released several digital singles. On March 27, 2014, Yui shared that she had been diagnosed with a health challenge that caused some concert cancellations. However, the band released their first album, Mi (実), on November 26, 2014. It reached number 5 on the Oricon charts.

On April 17, 2015, Yui announced she had gotten married and was expecting children. In August 2015, she gave 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 shared that she was very happy to be able to release songs again.

In the summer of 2017, Flower Flower performed at several music festivals, like Rock in Japan Festival 2017 and Summer Sonic 2017. They announced a new single, "Mannequin (マネキン)," released on August 2, 2017. Yui mentioned that while the song started as a pop-rock song, it became more like hard rock during recording.

On November 11, 2017, Yui confirmed that she and her husband had separated in August 2017. She has custody of their twin boys.

Flower Flower released their second album, "Spotlight (スポットライト)," on March 14, 2018. This album included songs that the band had played live in their early days.

Music Albums

Movies and TV Shows

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 Appearances

Live Performances

Concert 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 Concerts

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

Cover Songs Performed Live

• YUI × Bianconero - Goodbye to You (Our Music, April 8, 2005)
• YUI × Suga Shikao - Yozora no Mukou (Our Music, August 12, 2005)
• YUI - M (Our Music, June 23, 2006)
• YUI × Bianconero - Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta Nara (Our Music, July 7, 2006)
• YUI - Friends (Our Music, September 28, 2007)
• YUI × Hideaki Tokunaga - Sotsugyou Shashin (Our Music, October 19, 2007)
• YUI × BO GUMBO3 - Yume no Naka (Our Music, July 16, 2010)
• YUI × Kazuyoshi Saito - Zutto Suki Datta (Our Music, November 4, 2011)
• YUI - Tsubasa wo Kudasai (Music Lovers, April 2012)

Awards and Recognitions

See also

In Spanish: Yui (cantautora) para niños