Mao Abe

Stage name:Mao Abe 阿部真央(abe mao)
Also known as :Abema (あべま)
Born :24 January 1990 Ōita, Japan
Genres:J-Pop
Occupations:Singer-songwriter, serialised novel writer
Instruments:Acoustic guitar
Years active:2008–present

Biography

Abe started learning the piano from age three, and from junior high school she had begun to want to be a singer. She stopped learning the piano in favour of the guitar, wanting to be an acoustic pop singersongwriter in the style of Canadian pop musician Avril Lavigne. While at high school she frequently busked and attended music auditions.In February 2006 (on a morning when she had skipped school) she wrote her first song, "My Baby."Late in mid 2006, she entered the Yamaha Teens' Music Festival's Ōita regional contest on the recommendation of a musical instrument store manager, and performed "My Baby." She won the grand prize, and later entered the country-wide version, where she won an honourable mention prize after performing "Haha no Uta" (母の唄, Mother Song).

After finishing high school, she moved to Tokyo and was signed to the major record label Pony Canyon. Abe performed at many different live events, some high-profile like the Rock in Japan Festival.[4] From August until November, four acoustic demos of Abe songs were released on iTunes.The third of these, "My Baby," was chosen as the October iTunes Single of the Week free download song.

Abe released her debut album "Free" in January 2009. The eponymous title track was released as a radio single, and did extremely well on radio stations: Abe hit #1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, despite only the airplay component counting to her rank (as opposed to airplay and physical sales, like most other releases).

Since the release of the album, she has released three singles, the first two reaching the top 20 on the Oricon single charts.The third, "Itsu no Hi mo," reached #2 on the Japan Hot 100 chart, a week before the physical release of the single.The single was be followed by her second album, "Pop," which has sofar reached #3 on Oricon's daily albums chart.