AZU

Overview

AZU (born December 8, 1981) is a Japanese R&B singer from Tsu, Mie Prefecture. She is best known for her collaborations with rapper SEAMO, notably "Kokoro no Koe," the lead track from his second album Live Goes On. She made her major debut in 2007 with the single "CHERISH." Her stage name carries the meaning of putting feelings into every word from A to Z and conveying them to U (you). Her real name has not been made public.

Career

Before her debut

AZU began performing on club stages at 16, appearing at many events and clubs mainly in the Kansai and Tokai regions. She was part of the units JAZZY BLAZE (with Meg) and R (with EILYSH, who sang female backing vocals on SEAMO's "Mata Aimashou"), both of which appeared regularly at events organized by HOME MADE KAZOKU, before going solo.

She began working with SEAMO in 2005, singing backing vocals on "Honey Honey" (the B-side of "DRIVE") and contributing the intro to his first album Get Back On Stage. In 2006 she was a billed featured artist on "Kokoro no Koe" from Live Goes On, which debuted at No. 1; the song was certified by the RIAJ for 100,000 cellphone downloads.

Major debut and the 2000s

AZU debuted on May 30, 2007 with "CHERISH," used as the ending theme of the xxxHOLiC Shunmuki OVA. In 2008 "Jikan yo Tomare feat. SEAMO" brought her wider attention and became the second ending theme of the anime Itazura na Kiss. "Ima Sugu ni..." and "YOU & I feat. LOVE LOVE LOVE" topped Recochoku's weekly and daily rankings for ringtones, full-length ringtones and standby screens. Her albums Two of Us and AZyoU both entered the Oricon daily top 10. "Ring M&M," the B-side of her 11th single "Broken Heart," was used in a Shin Nihon Seiyaku commercial and became a long-running download hit, and her 13th single "Woman" was also used in a commercial for the same company. Her songs generally perform better digitally than physically, and since November 2009 five have been certified gold by the RIAJ for cellphone downloads. "For You" was the 12th ending theme of Naruto Shippuden, "In My Life" the third ending theme of Yorinuki Gintama-san, and she composed "Akatsuki no Hana" for Akatsuki no Yona.

The 2010s

AZU released her fourth album Love letter on January 18, 2012, and marked her fifth anniversary on May 30. On October 31 she released her first best-of album, BEST, which reached No. 9 on the Oricon daily chart and No. 12 weekly. The newly recorded "Mata ne." was used as the ending theme of the Yomiuri TV/NTV program Jouhou Live Miyane-ya, and she achieved 12 consecutive No. 1 spots on lyrics sites.

In June 2013 she released the wedding song "Promise," her 14th single, whose B-side "I LOVE YOU TOO feat. MIKU a.k.a tomboy" is a sampling cover of Deborah Morgan's 1998 hit. That summer, "Summer Time!!!" (released July 24) became the 2013 campaign song for Oiso Long Beach and Epson Shinagawa Aqua Stadium and reached No. 3 on iTunes, while "Circles of Life" (released August 22) was the theme song of TV Asahi's drama Kyoto Chiken no Onna, her first TV drama theme. She earned 15 consecutive No. 1 singles on lyrics sites. On October 1 she moved from Avex Management to Avex Vibe Production. Releases followed including "LIFE" (December 2013), "Monokuro" (January 2014), the albums 4seasons (January 2014), WINTER LOVE BEST (December 2014) and Co.Lab (January 2015).

In February 2016 she released the collaboration album THE SAME AS YOU as SEAMO & AZU, followed by the single "again" in December. In May 2017, on stage at her 10th anniversary concert "AZU 10th Anniversary PREMIUM LIVE: AZUDECHANeeL FINAL," she announced her marriage to a man outside the music industry, and released SINGLE BEST + 10th Anniversary that month. She announced her pregnancy on March 29, 2018 and gave birth to a daughter, Ao, on August 6, 2018.

Recent activity

In 2019 she featured on Hiromi's "Overflow feat. AZU." She released "AO" and "#Follow me (feat. MAE)" on May 5, 2023, and "Milky Way" along with a sped-up version on April 9, 2025. She also continues to appear regularly at events in Nagoya and Mie, including SEAMO's "GOLDEN TIME."

Musical style

AZU's work is rooted in J-R&B and J-POP, with numerous anime tie-ins. Collaboration is a defining trait: besides SEAMO, she has worked with artists such as mihimaru GT, KEN THE 390 and Emi Hinouchi. She has been especially strong in the digital download market, and her warm, gentle material, such as her wedding songs, has won lasting support.