Mari Hamada (Japanese: 浜田麻里, Hepburn: Hamada Mari, born July 18, 1962) is a Japanese rock singer and songwriter. Having performed in bands since high school, Hamada made her professional debut as a solo act in 1983. She quickly became known as the "Queen of Japanese Heavy Metal" (日本のヘヴィメタルの女王, Nihon no Hevī Metaru no Joō).[1][2][3] In 2019, Hamada become the first Japanese musician to top the vocalist category of heavy metal magazine Burrn!'s readers poll in its 36 year history.[a] Throughout her career, she has released 25 singles and 23 studio albums.[5]
Biography
Early history
Mari Hamada started singing when she joined a choir at elementary school and participated in recording TV commercial jingles while in junior high. While at Musashigaoka High School, she formed a punk rock band called Mari Band. During her tenure at Aoyama Gakuin University, Hamada was a backing vocalist for the band Hamachan and the lead vocalist of the all-female rock band Misty Cats; the latter having recorded the demo song "Misty Blue" for the various artists album Kichijōji Yamaha Studio Take-1 Presents: 7th One Way Contest in 1982.[5][6][7]
1980s
In 1983, Hamada released her debut album Lunatic Doll ~ Ansatsu Keikoku, which was produced by Daiko Nagato and Loudness drummer Munetaka Higuchi and released by Victor Entertainment under the "Invitation" label. She gained some attention when Shigesato Itoi wrote: "Mari-chan is heavy metal." (麻里ちゃんは、ヘビーメタル。, Mari-chan wa, hebī metaru.). The album made her the flag bearer for Japanese female rock vocalists, which was a small and unusual market at the time. A year later, Hamada released the album Misty Lady, which began her career as a songwriter.[5][6][8] Hamada said it was around the time she headlined the Music Wave 84 event, which also featured Earthshaker, 44Magnum, Ann Lewis and Make-Up, at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in July of that year that she was first dubbed the "Queen of Heavy Metal".[1]
Hamada's 1990 album Colors reached No. 2 and was certified Gold. A year later, she switched labels to MCA Victor, with Tomorrow also peaking at No. 2, but going Platinum. Hamada's 10th anniversary album Anti-Heroine topped the albums chart in 1993. That year, she participated in the charity group "Used to Be a Child", concept similar to Band Aid where performers donate earnings from a single to charitable causes; in this case the money went to Imabari City's Islet Organization. Hamada also went global with the international release Introducing... Mari Hamada, which consists of original English-language songs and some of her hits reworked in English. The album was released in Asia on May 30, 1993.[10] She made her European debut in 1994 with a re-arranged version of the album and participated at that year's Midem in France.[11] Hamada also released the follow-up album All My Heart in Asian markets that year. The album features "Fixing a Broken Heart", a duet with Australian band Indecent Obsession.[5][6]
In 1996, Hamada's album Persona hit No. 2 on Oricon's albums chart. During this time, she put her touring activities on hold to focus on songwriting and recording. Two years later, Universal Music Japan transferred her to the Polydor label. Her two albums under the label, Philosophia and Blanche, failed to crack the top-10.
2000s
In 2002, Hamada signed with Tokuma Japan Communications and released Marigold. She also resumed live touring that year when she performed at the Akasaka Blitz just before it was completely demolished and rebuilt. Since then, Hamada would release a new album and tour every two years. Her album sales, however, were not of the same level as the decade before, with each album barely hovering within the Top 100.[6]
2010s
In 2010, Hamada returned to her heavy metal roots with Aestetica, which received heavy airplay. The album sparked a resurgence in her career, reaching No. 35 on Oricon's albums chart. Her live video Mari Hamada Live in Tokyo "Aestetica", which was filmed at the Nakano Sun Plaza, peaked at No. 2 on Oricon's DVD chart. Hamada followed up the success with her 2012 album Legenda.
Hamada kicked off her 30th anniversary celebration in 2013 with the compilation album Inclination III and an extensive national tour. In 2014, she released the boxed set Mari Hamada Complete Single Collection.[12][13] At the same time, her former and current labels reissued her past albums in Super High Material CD (SHM-CD) format. In April, Hamada performed an extended concert in Tokyo, which was filmed for WOWOW. The concert was aired on Japanese television on July 20, 2014, including two interviews with Mari, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2015. On August 16, Hamada performed live at the Summer Sonic Festival, an annual two-day rock festival held at two venues simultaneously with bands switching venues for the second day.[14] On August 31, September 3 and 7, 2014, she performed concerts with a symphony orchestra titled "Rock Queen Orchestra".[15][16] On October 11, 2015, Hamada performed live at the Loud Park Festival, with Loudness guitarist Akira Takasaki as a special guest. On January 13, 2016, Hamada released the album Mission, which peaked at No. 11 on Oricon's albums chart. The last show of the Mission tour was filmed and released on DVD and Blu-ray as Mari Hamada Live Tour 2016 "Mission" on February 22, 2017.[17]
In 2020, Hamada became the first Japanese vocalist to win the reader's popularity vote on Burrn! magazine's 36th Heavy Metal Championship for 2019.[4][21]
Hamada's 24th studio album Soar was released on April 19, 2023 to coincide with her 40th anniversary.[22]
Personal life
Hamada's younger sister Eri Hamada (浜田 絵里, Hamada Eri) tours with her band as a backing vocalist.[5]
In a 2014 interview with Japanese media website Natalie, Hamada stated that she does not do Twitter or blogs because she is not good at using social media.[8] She did, however, open her official Twitter account in February 2017.[23] She also does not follow other artists and prefers to listen to anything different from her genre, such as Celtic music or world music.[8]
^From 1984 to 1986, Burrn! had separate vocalist categories for men and women. Hamada topped the female poll all three years, before the categories were combined in 1987.[4]
^Note: Readers unfamiliar with Japan should note that Oricon is essentially the Japanese equivalent of the Billboard charts seen in the United States. Oricon is an English word, a compound of "original confidence" and they rank sales of much more than records and albums, they provide charts for sales of films on DVD, computer games, books, magazines, television programs and commercials, and even lists for computers and consumer electronics.
