Suzuka Nakamoto

Suzuka Nakamoto at Rock am Ring 2018

Suzuka Nakamoto ( Japanese 中元 す ず 香 , Nakamoto Suzuka , also known as Su-metal ; born December 20, 1997 in Hiroshima ) is a Japanese singer . Since 2010 she has been the lead singer of the kawaii metal band Babymetal . Before or in parallel, she was a member of two Idol pop groups, Karen Girl’s (2008–2009) and Sakura Gakuin (2010–2013). She also worked as a model and musical actress .

biography

She is the youngest of three sisters. Himeka, the second oldest sister, was a member of the idol pop group Nogizaka46 from 2011 to 2017 . Her father is a former professional musician and for several years was the bass player in a punk band called Hooligans , which released a single in 1991 called "U-Soldier".

In 2002, at the age of four, Nakamoto won a Bandai children's modeling competition , whereupon she appeared in several commercials for the Jewel Drop cosmetics line . It was also the model for children's fashion for a regional department store chain. After winning first place in an audition , in March 2006 she entered Actor's School Hiroshima (ASH), an evening performing arts school . There she met Mikiko Mizuno , who later became the choreographer of Sakura Gakuin and Babymetal. Together with other ASH graduates, Nakamoto has appeared at various events in Hiroshima. In 2007 she reached second place in the Star Kids Audition of the talent agency Amuse and was then signed.

Appearance at the O2 Arena in London (2016)

In 2008, her agency formed the three-piece idol pop group Karen Girl’s , to which Nakamoto was a member. They sang several theme songs for the Zettai Karen Children anime series . In one episode, Nakamoto appeared as seiyū (voice actress) with a cameo appearance. After the series ended in March 2009, Amuse disbanded the group. In the same year Nakamoto played a role in the musical Bōkensha-tachi ( 冒 険 者 た ち ), also in 2010 in the sequel Bōkensha-tachi saien ( 冒 険 者 た ち 再演 ). In 2009/10 she was the exclusive model for the girls' magazine DiaDaisy , which ceased its publication after the fourth issue.

In April 2010, Nakamoto was a founding member of Sakura Gakuin , an idol pop group newly formed by Amuse. It deals with everyday school life and is made up of several subgroups that are based on various leisure activities organized by schools. One of these subgroups was the Jūon-bu ( 重音 部 ), the "club for hard music", whose appearances took place under the name Babymetal . The producer Kei Kobayashi (Kobametal) had the idea to merge metal with J-Pop , for which he thought Nakamoto's powerful singing voice was particularly suitable. He made her the leader of the subgroup, which also included Yui Mizuno and Moa Kikuchi .

In the spring of 2012, Nakamoto was a prominent contributor to a large-scale PR campaign for the Hiroshima Prefecture Tourism Board and appeared in a lengthy commercial. In 2012/13 she was the leader of Sakura Gakuin (as the so-called “student representative”). In March 2013 she graduated from middle school and had to say goodbye to Sakura Gakuin. Unexpectedly, Babymetal had become so successful that the management at Amuse decided to continue this subgroup as an independent project.

Since she left Sakura Gakuin, Nakamoto has appeared in public almost exclusively as part of Babymetal. Loudwire readers voted her “Rock Goddess of the Year” in 2017.

Discography

With Karen Girl's

• Fly to the Future (2009)

With Sakura Gakuin

• Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message (2011)
• Sakura Gakuin 2011 Nendo: Friends (2012)
• Sakura Gakuin 2012 Nendo: My Generation (2013)

With Babymetal

• Babymetal (2014)
• Metal Resistance (2016)
• Metal Galaxy (2019)

Filmography

• 2009: Zettai Karen Children (episode 40): Herself ( cameo with Karen Girl's)
• 2012: Oshii! Hiroshima : yourself

Web links

Commons : Suzuka Nakamoto  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Masayuki Ōnuki: 随 一 の 「ザ ・ ア イ ド ル」 初選 抜 入 入 で 本領 発 揮 へ . Nikkei Business Publications, Chiyoda 2013, ISBN 978-4-8222-7578-5 , pp. 40-41 .
2. ↑ ^{a b} ベ ビ メ タ の SU-METAL と 乃 木 坂 46 ・ 中 元日 芽 香 は 実 力 派 な ア イ ド ル 姉妹！ Toretame, May 16, 2016, archived from the original on May 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 15, 2018 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ 中元 す ず 香 バ ン ダ イ ・ ジ ュ エ ル ド ロ ッ プ ・ イ メ ー ジ ガ ー ル - 広 島 の す ぅ ち ゃ ん. hatenadiary.com, February 28, 2016, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
4. ↑ さ く ら 学院 『感謝 を 込 め て』. In: さ く ら 学院 オ フ ィ シ ャ ル ブ ロ グ 「学院 日誌」. Sakura Gakuin, March 31, 2010, accessed January 20, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Official profile (outdated). Amuse , 2013, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
6. ↑ 可憐 Girl's 、 ア ニ メ 『絶 対 可憐 チ ル ド レ ン』 に 本人 役 で 登場. Barks, November 28, 2008, accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
7. ↑ ス ペ シ ャ ル 12 月 増 刊号. In: DiaDaisy . Shogakukan , Tokyo, October 2009.
8. ↑ ^{a b} BABYMETAL プ ロ デ ュ ー サ ー KOBAMETAL 徹底 イ ン タ ビ ュ ー. In: Hedoban, No. 1, pp. 42-55. Shinko Music Entertainment, Chiyoda, July 2013, ISBN 978-4-401-63846-8 .
9. ↑ お し い を お い し い へ。 広 島 県 PR キ ャ ン ペ ー ン の 真相 と は. mynavi.jp, March 28, 2012; accessed January 20, 2018 (Japanese). 
10. ^ Graham Hartmann: Babymetal Win Five Honors in the 6th Annual Loudwire Awards. Loudwire , January 10, 2017, accessed January 20, 2018 .