Ken Hirai
Ken Hirai ( Japanese 平井 堅 , Hirai Ken ; born January 17, 1972 in Higashiōsaka ) is a Japanese R&B and J-Pop singer. Since his debut in 1992 he has worked as a model, actor and songwriter.
In his career he sold a total of 13 million records. In the Oricon charts was Hitomi where Tojite with nearly 900,000 copies, the best-selling single of 2004 and 2006 also reached its best-of album with 2 million sales No. 1 on the charts of the year.
Life
Ken Hirai grew up in Nabari . As a student, he took part in a national audition for Sony Music Entertainment Japan and emerged victorious in 1992. His first single Precious Junk was the theme song of the drama Ousama no Restaurant and reached number 50 on the charts. After his second single Kataho zutsu no earphone , which also became the title track of a drama series, his album un-balanced came out in July 1995 and his second album Stare At towards the end of the next year . The latter, however, remained without entering the chart.
1997 to 2000
After his first albums, Ken Hirai took a break to change his style. He released only one single in 1997 and 1998 and did not produce any new works until his third studio album The Changing Same on June 21, 2000. The first single from this album was Rakuen , with whom he also became one of the most important singers in Japan. This was followed by an appearance at the Apollo Theater in New York and the award for Best New Japanese Act from MTV in Taiwan .
2001 to 2003
Ken Hirai's single Kiss of Life was released in 2001 and was used for the Love Revolution drama series known in Japan . His fourth album Gaining Through Losing sold over 1.5 million copies in Asia and was accompanied by a major tour. Then his first remix album Kh remixed-up 1 was released , which brought him to the dance charts for the first time.
In 2002, Ken Hirai was voted Best Male Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan and also performed at the World Cup concert in Japan. He released a cover of the well-known Japanese song Ōkina Furudokei and, contrary to the opinion of critics, was a great success.
Ken Hirai became the first Japanese male artist to appear in New York in 2003 on MTV Unplugged and gave an interview for CNN The Music Room , which was broadcast to 230 million viewers in 210 countries. His fifth album Life is… was released on January 22nd, 2003.
On December 10, 2003 he released his cover album Ken’s Bar , on which he sang mainly well-known jazz and blue songs.
2004 to 2006
In November 2004 his album SentimentaLovers was released with the single Hitomi wo Tojite , which became the best-selling single of the year in Japan.
In 2005 he achieved success for the first time in the USA and Canada with the single Pop Star . The song was made for the Nintendo DS game Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 and for the drama show Kiken na Aneki . It is Ken Hirai's best known and most successful single outside of Japan.
2007
In 2007 Ken Hirai released 2 singles, both of which reached number 5 on the Oricon charts. The single fake star was released on September 12th . It only sold 30,000 copies, making it his worst single since he started over in 2000.
Discography
Albums
| publication | title | Chart position | Sales | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 7, 1995 | Un-balanced | 57 (3 weeks) |
18,000 | Debut album |
| December 1, 1996 | Stare At | - | - | 2nd studio album |
| June 21, 2000 | The Changing Same |
1 (18 weeks) |
1,265,000 | 3rd studio album |
| 4th July 2001 | Gaining Through Losing | 2 (27 weeks) |
1,081,000 | 4th studio album |
| November 28, 2001 | Kh Re-mixed Up 1 | 6 (8 weeks) |
186,000 | 1. Remix album |
| January 22, 2003 | Life Is ... |
1 (89 weeks) |
806,000 | 5th studio album |
| December 10, 2003 | Ken's bar | 2 (63 weeks) |
492,000 | 1. Cover album |
| November 24, 2004 | Sentimentalovers |
1 (52 weeks) |
1,661,000 | 6th studio album |
| November 23, 2005 | Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95 -'05: Utabaka Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95 -'05 " 歌 バ カ " |
1 (89 weeks) |
2,107,000 | 1st compilation |
| March 12, 2008 | Fakin 'pop | 2 (19 weeks) |
332,000 | 7th studio album |
| May 27, 2009 | Ken's Bar II | 2 (13 weeks) |
122,000 | 2. Cover album |
| November 10, 2010 | Ken Hirai 15th Anniversary C / W Collection '95 -'10: Ura Utabaka Ken Hirai 15th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95 -'10 " 裏 歌 バ カ " |
5 (10 weeks) |
44,000 | 2nd compilation |
| June 8, 2011 | Japanese singer | 3 (32 weeks) |
140,000 | 8th studio album |
| "-" means no chart entry, no information or no publication. * Charts and sales for Japan only . |
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Singles
| publication | title | Chart position | Sales | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 1995 | Precious junk | 50 (9 weeks) |
44,000 | 1. Single |
| June 21, 1995 | Katahō Zutsu no Earphone 片 方 ず つ の イ ヤ フ ォ ン |
- | - | 2nd single |
| November 22, 1995 | Yokogao 横 顔 |
- | - | 3. Single |
| August 21, 1996 | Doshaburi ド シ ャ ブ リ |
- | - | 4. Single |
| November 1, 1996 | Stay with Me | - | - | 5. Single |
| July 21, 1997 | Heat up | - | - | 6. Single |
| May 30, 1998 | Love love love | - | - | 7. Single |
| January 9, 2000 | Rakuen 楽 園 |
7 (28 weeks) |
538,000 | 8. Single |
| May 10, 2000 | Why | 8 (10 weeks) |
211,000 | 9. Single |
| October 18, 2000 | Love or lust | 6 (15 weeks) |
264,000 | 10. Single |
| December 6, 2000 | Even If | 3 (9 weeks) |
334,000 | 11. Single |
| February 15, 2001 | Miracles | 4 (10 weeks) |
240,000 | 12. Single |
| May 16, 2001 | Kiss of Life | 2 (11 weeks) |
555,000 | 13. Single |
| January 30, 2002 | Missin 'You: It Will Break My Heart | 4 (6 weeks) |
115,000 | 14. Single |
| May 22, 2002 | Strawberry sex | 13 (5 weeks) |
49,000 | 15. Single |
| August 28, 2002 | Ōkina Furudokei 大 き な 古時 計 |
1 (35 weeks) |
772,000 | 16. Single |
| November 7, 2002 | ring |
1 (16 weeks) |
322,000 | 17. Single |
| May 8, 2003 | Life Is ... (Another Story) | 3 (19 weeks) |
191,000 | 18. Single |
| June 30, 2003 | Style | 12 (7 weeks) |
44,000 | 19. Single |
| April 28, 2004 | Hitomi wo Tojite 瞳 を と じ て |
2 (59 weeks) |
893,000 | 20th single |
| May 29, 2004 | Kimi wa Tomodachi キ ミ は と も だ ち |
5 (22 weeks) |
161,000 | 21. Single |
| October 6, 2004 | Omoi ga Kasanaru Sono Mae ni ... 思 い が か さ な る そ の 前 に… |
1 (16 weeks) |
272,000 | 22. Single |
| October 26, 2005 | Pop star |
1 (17 weeks) |
244,000 | 23. Single |
| June 14, 2006 | Bye My Melody バ イ マ イ メ ロ デ ィ ー |
2 (10 weeks) |
81,000 | 24. Single |
| January 17, 2007 | Elegy 哀歌 (エ レ ジ ー) |
5 (17 weeks) |
118,000 | 25. Single |
| February 28, 2007 | Kimi no Suki na Toko 君 の 好 き な と こ |
5 (12 weeks) |
103,000 | 26. Single |
| September 12, 2007 | Fake star | 6 (6 weeks) |
32,000 | 27. Single |
| February 20, 2008 | Canvas / Kimi wa Su-Te-Ki キ ャ ン バ ス ／ 君 は ス ・ テ ・ キ ■ |
6 (6 weeks) |
40,000 | 28. Single |
| April 23, 2008 | Itsuka Hanareru Hi ga Kite mo い つ か 離 れ る 日 が 来 て も |
19 (8 weeks) |
19,000 | 29. Single |
| September 23, 2009 | Candy | 2 (6 weeks) |
14,000 | 30. Single |
| October 21, 2009 | Boku wa Kimi ni Koi wo Suru 僕 は 君 に 恋 を す る |
3 (14 weeks) |
70,000 | 31. Single |
| October 13, 2010 | Sing forever | 7 (5 weeks) |
16,000 | 32nd single |
| November 10, 2010 | Aishiteru ア イ シ テ ル |
9 (10 weeks) |
33,000 | 33.Single |
| May 4, 2011 | Itoshiki Hibi yo い と し き 日 々 よ |
7 (13 weeks) |
31,000 | 34.Single |
| May 30, 2012 | Kokuhaku 告白 |
5 (11 weeks) |
44,000 | 35th single |
| April 2, 2014 | Grotesque グ ロ テ ス ク |
4 (12 weeks) |
51,000 | 36th single with Namie Amuro |
| "-" means no chart entry, no information or no publication. * Charts and sales for Japan only. |
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Web links
- Official website
- Second official website
- Nippop profile
- Ken Hirai in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hirai, Ken |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 平井 堅 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese R&B and J-Pop singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th January 1972 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Higashiōsaka |