| Mie | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Native Name: | 未唯mie | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | ja | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Mitsuyo Nemoto (根本 美鶴代) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 9 March 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Agent: | MHO Artist Co. Ltd. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(born March 9, 1958, in Shizuoka, Japan) is a Japanese singer and actress, better known by her stage name . She is a member of the popular 1970s idol group, known in the United States for their self-titled TV program.[1] Mie is represented by her own management firm MHO Artist Co., Ltd.
Mitsuyo Nemoto met Keiko Masuda at Suehiro Junior High School in 1972. A year later, they attended Tokoha University and the Yamaha Music School in Hamamatsu. In May 1974, the duo formed a folk group called and passed Yamaha's audition.[2]
After winning an audition on the talent show Star Tanjō! in March 1976, Nemoto and Masuda signed with Victor Entertainment and became Pink Lady. Nemoto took the stage name while Masuda became . After their debut single "Pepper Keibu" peaked at No. 4 on Oricon's singles charts in August 1976, Pink Lady's second single "S.O.S." reached No. 1, beginning a nine-song streak of No. 1 hits from November 1976 to December 1978. Their biggest single was "UFO" which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 and sold over 1.55 million copies.
When their popularity took a downturn in 1979, Pink Lady turned their focus on the United States, with their first U.S. single "Kiss in the Dark" reaching No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the first Japanese recording act to chart in America since Kyu Sakamoto in 1963. In 1980, the duo starred with comedian Jeff Altman in the NBC variety show Pink Lady and Jeff. Unfortunately, the show was plagued by the language barrier between the duo and the production crew. Poor ratings and scathing reviews resulted in Pink Lady and Jeff being cancelled after five episodes, with a sixth episode remaining unaired.
Following the failure of Pink Lady and Jeff, as well as the decline of disco music, Pink Lady held a press conference on September 1, 1980, to announce their disbandment within six months.[3] During the press conference, Mie stated that her stage name would change from "ミー" to "MIE" to reflect her solo career. Pink Lady performed their final concert at Korakuen Stadium on March 31, 1981, before going their separate ways. Mie and Kei have since reunited several times to record new songs and perform special concerts.
Following Pink Lady's disbandment, Mie released her first solo album "I MY MIE" on August 21, 1981. Her biggest single was a Japanese-language cover of Moving Pictures' "Never" in 1984, which peaked at No. 4 in Oricon's singles chart and sold 270,000 copies. "Never" was also used as the theme song for the TBS drama series .[4] Her song won the Silver Award at the 1984 Tokyo Music Festival. Majority of her singles from 1984 to 1995 were used as either TV drama themes or commercial jingles for companies such as Shiseido, Sanden Corporation, Satsuma Shuzo, and Takefuji.[1]
In 1982, Mie tried her hand in acting in the films and ; the latter being her first lead role. With these two films, she shed her wholesome family-friendly Pink Lady image for a sexier, more mature persona.[5] A year later, she starred in her own gravure idol TV special titled Mie: Private Time, which was shot in Hawaii.[6]
In 1985, Mie starred as the kunoichi in seasons 4 and 5 of the jidaigeki TV series Shadow Warriors.
In 1994, Mie starred in Sanrio's direct-to-video children's special, which featured her songs and .
In 1998, Mie joined the heavy metal novelty band Animetal as, a reference to Pink Lady. At the same time, she once again changed the style of her stage name; this time, as the kanji "未唯". On February 21, Animetal Lady Marathon was released, featuring metal covers of popular female-oriented anime theme songs. Animetal Lady Marathon II was released on April 10, 2002, as Mie's final contribution to Animetal.
In 2001, Mie starred as Ethel McCormack in the Japanese adaptation of the Footloose stage musical. The production also featured her Pink Lady partner Keiko Masuda as Vi Moore.[7] She also collaborated with the heavy metal band X.Y.Z.→A to record the single "Nobody Knows Me (but Only Heaven)" that year.
In 2002, at the age of 45, Mie published the gravure book Future Lady: Mothership.[8]
In 2007, Mie produced me ing, her first studio album in 15 years. Released on her own label MHO, the album features songs written by Mie herself. To coincide with the album's release, Victor Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment Japan, and Universal Music Japan reissued Mie's previous albums with bonus tracks on each CD. A year later, Mie wrote the children's storybook as part of Save the Children's .[9]
In September 2018, Mie was selected by Kao Corporation to be the brand ambassador of the company's line.[10] [11]
On March 11, 2022, Mie participated in the Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami tribute concert "One Last Live", performing "Pepper Keibu" (with Yo Hitoto), "Wanted (Shimei Tehai)" (with Maki Ohguro) and "UFO" (with Chisato Moritaka).[12] On December 26, Victor Entertainment announced it will release a new compilation album titled on March 1, 2023.[13]
Mie currently performs with her band at Blues Alley Japan in Tokyo, often doing alternate renditions of Pink Lady songs.[14]
Mie married music producer in 1998, but they divorced in 2004.[15]
Mie's brother Katsuyoshi Nemoto runs a restaurant in Tokyo called .[16]
| Title | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| I My Mie |
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| Call Girl "From Mie to You" |
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| Never | ||
| Diamond & Gold |
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| me ing |
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| Title | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| Mie Live |
| |
| Shinshun Pink Lady Night: 10th Anniversary Special Live |
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| Title | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| Best One Zenkyoku-Shū Mie |
| |
| ||
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| Title | Date | Peak chart positions | Sales (JPN) | RIAJ certification[17] | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Oricon [18] | ||||||
| "Brahms Loves Rock" | July 5, 1981 | 51 | 35,000 | I My Mie | ||
| "More More" | January 21, 1982 | 94 | 2,000 | Call Girl "From Mie to You" | ||
| "Call Girl ~Maria at Dawn~" | September 5, 1982 | 60 | 26,000 | |||
| "Madobe kara" | June 5, 1983 | — | rowspan="2" | |||
| "Shampoo" | November 5, 1983 | — | ||||
| "Never" | June 1, 1984 | 4 | 274,000 |
| Never | |
| "Hai to Diamond" | June 21, 1984 | 80 | 7,000 | |||
| "Kagami no Naka no Onna" | March 21, 1985 | — | rowspan="3" | |||
| "Dreamer" | January 22, 1986 | — | ||||
| "Hirugao Roman" | April 21, 1986 | — | ||||
| "Ima ga, Choice" | April 25, 1988 | — | Diamond & Gold | |||
| "Otonadōshi" | April 25, 1990 | — | ||||
| "Jinx" | October 1, 1990 | — | ||||
| "Heisei iki Onna Ade Otoko" | April 25, 1991 | — | ||||
| "Dance with Kitty | " | March 21, 1994 | — | rowspan="2" | ||
| "Love Jail." | November 25, 1995 | — | ||||
| "Soar ~Mada Minu Sora e~" | October 25, 2006 | — | me ing | |||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||