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Tomomi Kahara

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Tomomi Kahara
OriginTokyo, Japan
Years active1995-present

Tomomi Kahala, sometimes spelled Kahara (華原朋美, kahara tomomi) (Born August 171974 in Tokyo), is a Japanese J-pop singer. She is famous for working with Tetsuya Komuro who gave her much success in the 1990s, which ironically lead to her deep dip in popularity after 1999, the year in which she released her first non-TK produced album, One Fine Day. Tomomi Kahala and Tetsuya Komuro were also lovers at one point, but they suffered from personal problems which lead to their breakup. They were never married.

Musical career

Rise to fame

While working with Tetsuya Komuro, her first single Keep Yourself Alive was released in late 1995, selling over 360.000 copies and went Top 10, peaking at #8. Her second single, I Believe, was her first million-seller and added to her popularity. In March 1996, she released the single I'm Proud which peaked at #2 and was her best-selling single, outselling all of Namie Amuro's singles released that year. In June, she finally released her first album, Love Brace, a collection of songs about love and stated by Tetsuya Komuro to be his best work to date. It was a huge success selling over 2.5 million copies, half of them within the first week of release.

Already a big star, she and Tetsuya Komuro became an item and she continued to release singles, all peaking at 1. In December 1997, she finally released her second album, Storytelling. It went to the top of the charts and sold 1.37 million copies, much less than the 2.5 million copies that her previous album has sold.

Decline

Since the release of Storytelling, her popularity began to go down and her relationship with her mentor, Tetsuya Komuro, was in every tabloid. Gossip magazines rumored that both of them were abusing drugs and that their relationship was beginning to fall apart. Her next single tumblin dice went only to the Top 20 and she didn't reach the top position again. Her next album, nine cubes, sold a depressing 261,000 copies, much less than her first two albums.

Her breakup with Tetsuya Komuro, frequent scandals, and suicide attempts shedded her in a negative light in the conservative Japanese media. She finally went out of her record company, who released a compilation which sold well, over 600,000 copies and debuted at 1. At that time, gossip magazines were labeling rising-star, Suzuki Ami, as Kahala's replacement.

After some time relaxing after the scandals, Tomomi Kahala resumed her career at Warner writing her own lyrics.

Post-Tetsuya Komuro

She signed with Universal Music Japan, where she worked with a variety of producers such as American Andy Marvel (Diana King, Jessica Simpson), and recorded songs by Gary Carolla (N Sync) and Vincent Degiorgio (N Sync, Atomic Kitten, Love Inc. Mink, Nakano Mori Band) which appeared on her albums One Fine Day and Love Again, released in 1999 and 2001 respectively.

Her personality is made for television, and she's appeared countless times on entertainment programs in Japan. Her most recent recordings for Universal Music Japan have shown her in a dazzling and sultry light, with some of her best vocal performances to date. She has covered some of her biggest hits as well as recording new songs from Korean and Japanese composers, as well as pop standards such as "Ben," a famous song by Michael Jackson.

Her popularity has declined since the mid 1990s. Her best-selling album at Universal sold a little over 50,000 and her latest album, Naked, sold only 12,000, but she can still be seen in the media.

As for 2006, after years of average fame, Tomomi Kahala is getting back on the spotlight. She's starring in a musical and her latest photobook, with butt shots, that come with two strawberry condoms, sold unexpectedely well. She was one of the voice actors for the 'Sound of Music' japanese DVD and she will sing the theme song for a NHK Taiga drama.

Discography

Singles

Albums:

DVD:

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