Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi Hamasaki is a singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, model, spokesperson, and businesswoman from Japan. Throughout her career, she has authored all of her lyrical content and has occasionally composed her music. Under the mentorship of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, Hamasaki released her debut song "Poker Face" and major-label debut album A Song for XX in 1998. The album debuted at the top of the Oricon charts and held that position for five weeks, selling over a million copies. In Japan, her next eleven albums sold over a million copies, with her third, Duty, selling nearly three million. Her debut compilation album, A Best, is her best-selling album, selling over four million copies in Japan.

As of 2019, Hamasaki had sold over 60.94 million units, making her the best-selling Japanese solo artist in history. For her singles, Hamasaki holds various domestic records, including the most number-one hits by a female artist (38), the most consecutive number-one hits by a solo artist (25), and the most million-sellers. From 1999 to 2010, Hamasaki had at least two chart-topping songs per year. Hamasaki is the first female recording artist to have ten studio albums chart at number one in Japan since her debut, as well as the first artist to have a number one album for 13 consecutive years from her debut.