Mao Abe
{{short description|Japanese singer-songwriter}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image =
| name = Mao Abe
| native_name = 阿部 真央
| native_name_lang = ja
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Mao Abe
| alias = {{nihongo|Abema|あべま}} (nickname)
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1990|1|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = Ōita, Japan
| origin =
| instrument = {{flatlist|
- Acoustic guitar
- vocals}}
| genre = Pop
| occupation = Singer-songwriter
| years_active = 2008–present
| label = {{flatlist|
- Pony Canyon (2008–present)
- Yamaha Music Artist (talent agency) (2008–present)}}
| associated_acts =
| website =
}}
{{nihongo|Mao Abe|阿部 真央|Abe Mao|born 24 January 1990}} is a Japanese singer-songwriter.
Biography
Abe started learning the piano from age three, and from junior high school she wanted to be a singer.{{cite web |title=イデータ of あべま｜阿部真央オフィシャルサイト |url=http://abemao.com/profile/ |accessdate=2009-12-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202160210/http://abemao.com/profile/ |archivedate=2011-02-02 |url-status=dead }} She gave up the piano in favour of the guitar, wanting to be an acoustic pop singer/songwriter in the style of Canadian pop musician Avril Lavigne.{{cite web |title=阿部真央 悲しみも孤独も楽しさもすべてリアル |url=http://smash.music.yahoo.co.jp/pow_dtl/itv/powyjm00281/ |work=Yahoo.co.jp |date=2009-01-16 |accessdate=2009-12-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511085705/http://smash.music.yahoo.co.jp/pow_dtl/itv/powyjm00281/ |archivedate=2011-05-11 |url-status=dead }} While at high school she frequently busked and attended music auditions.{{cite web|title=阿部真央 アーティストページ - TSUTAYA online |url=http://www.tsutaya.co.jp/artist/00078180.html |accessdate=2009-12-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511120520/http://www.tsutaya.co.jp/artist/00078180.html |archivedate=2011-05-11 |url-status=live }} In February 2006, on a morning when she had truanted from 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 {{nihongo|"Haha no Uta"|母の唄|Mother Song}}.
After finishing high school, she moved to Tokyo and was signed to the record label Pony Canyon. Abe performed at many live events, including some high-profile events like the Rock in Japan Festival. 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 first album Free in January 2009. The eponymous title track was released as a radio single, and did extremely well on radio stations: Abe reached #1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, despite only the airplay component counting towards her ranking (as opposed to airplay and physical sales, like most other releases).{{cite web |title=Mao Abe - Free |work=Music Charts |url=http://acharts.us/song/45795 |accessdate=2009-12-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511051833/http://acharts.us/song/45795 |archivedate=2011-05-11 |url-status=dead }}
Since the album, she has released three singles, the first two reaching the top 20 on the Oricon single charts.{{cite web|title=阿部真央 リリース一覧 |work=Oricon |url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/artists/h/468856/ |accessdate=2009-12-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802225116/http://www.oricon.co.jp/artists/h/468856 |archivedate=2009-08-02 |url-status=live }} The third, "Itsu no Hi mo", reached #2 on the Japan Hot 100 chart, a week before the physical release of the single.{{cite magazine|title=Japan Billboard Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |url=http://www.billboard-japan.com/system/jp_charts/hot100/ |date=2010-01-18 |accessdate=2010-01-13 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923110621/http://www.billboard-japan.com/system/jp_charts/hot100/ |archivedate=2010-09-23 |url-status=dead }} The single was followed by her second album, Pop, which was her first top 5 album on the Oricon albums chart.{{cite web |title=オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」 |url=http://ranking.oricon.co.jp |work=Oricon |accessdate=2010-02-03 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716064722/http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/ |archivedate=2011-07-16 |url-status=dead }} (subscription only)
Discography
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of albums, with selected chart positions ! style="width:12em;" rowspan="2"| Title ! style="width:16em;" rowspan="2"| Album details ! colspan="2"| Peak positions ! style="width:12em;" rowspan="2"| Sales (JPN){{cite web | title=オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」 |trans-title=Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree' | url=http://ranking.oricon.co.jp | work=Oricon |url-access=subscription | accessdate=September 24, 2014}}{{efn|group=upper-alpha|Sales provided by Oricon database and are rounded to the nearest hundred copies.}} |
| style="width:2.5em;"|JPN {{cite web | title=阿部真央のリリース一覧 |trans-title=List of Mao Abe's Releases | url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/468856/products/ | work=Oricon | accessdate=February 22, 2023}} ! style="width:2.5em;"|TWN East Asian |
|---|
| scope="row" | Free
|
| 17 || 15 | 21,000 |
| scope="row" | Pop
|
| 5 || — | 54,000 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Su.|素。||"Naked"}}
|
| 6 || — | 41,000 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Tatakai wa Owaranai|戦いは終わらない||"The Fight Is Not Over"}}
|
| 6 || — | 28,000 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Anata o Suki na Watashi|貴方を好きな私||"The Me Who Likes You"}}
|
| 7 || — | 17,000 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Oppajime!|おっぱじめ!||"Start!"}}
|
| 7 || — | 14,000 |
| scope="row" | Babe.
|
| 14 || — | |
| scope="row" | YOU{{cite web |url=https://www.tokyohive.com/article/2018/01/abe-mao-to-release-a-new-album-in-march|title=Abe Mao to release a new album in March|date= January 2, 2018|access-date= January 2, 2024|work= Tokyohive|publisher= 6Theory Media, LLC}}
|
| 18 || — | |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Mada Ikemasu|まだいけます| |
|
- Released: January 22, 2020 {{small|(JPN)}}
- Label: Pony Canyon
- Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download
| 14 || —
|-
! scope="row" | Not Unusual
|
- Released: February 15, 2023 {{small|(JPN)}}
- Label: Pony Canyon
- Formats: CD, digital download
| 22 || —
|-
|colspan="12" align="center" style="font-size:90%;"|"—" denotes items that did not chart.
|}
=Compilation albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of albums, with selected chart positions |
| style="width:12em;" rowspan="2"| Title
! style="width:16em;" rowspan="2"| Album details ! colspan="1"| Peak positions |
|---|
| style="width:2.5em;"|JPN |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Single Collection 19—24|シングルコレクション19-24|Shinguru Korekushon Naintīn Tuentifō}}
|
| 7 | 13,000 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Abe Mao Rental Best: Koi no Uta-hen|阿部真央 レンタルベスト ～恋の唄 編～||"Mao Abe Rental Best: Love Song Edition"}}
|
| — | |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Abe Mao Rental Best: Ōenka-hen|阿部真央 レンタルベスト ～応援歌 編～||"Mao Abe Rental Best: Fighting Song Edition"}}
| | — | |
=Live albums=
= Singles =
==As a lead artist==
==As a featured artist==
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions |
| scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:3em;" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |
|---|
| style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|JPN Hot 100 {{efn|group=upper-alpha|name=JBillb}} |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|"Bitansan Syndrome"|微炭酸シンドローム||"Soda Syndrome"}} (Kreva featuring Mao Abe) | 2011 | 97 | Go |
==Promotional singles==
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |
| scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album |
|---|
| style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|Billboard Japan Hot 100 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|"Hitomishiri no Uta"|人見知りの唄||"Shy Song"}}
| rowspan="3" | 2008 | — |rowspan="3" |Free |
| scope="row" | "My Baby"
| — |
| scope="row" | "Free"
| 1 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|"Mada"|未だ||"Still"}}
| 2010 | 23 | Pop |
| scope="row" | "Tatakai wa Owaranai"
| 2012 | 27 | Tatakai wa Owaranai |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|"Tenshi wa Ita n da"|天使はいたんだ||"There Was an Angel"}}
| 2013 | 83 | Anata o Suki na Watashi |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|"Yasashii Kotoba"|優しい言葉||"Kind Words"}}
| rowspan="2"|2015 | —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|Charted at number 21 on the Adult Contemporary Airplay chart and at number 46 on the Hot Top Airplay chart.{{cite magazine | title=Adult Contemporary Airplay | url=http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=adult_airplay&year=2015&month=03&day=2 | magazine=Billboard |language=Japanese | date=February 25, 2015 | accessdate=February 25, 2015}}{{cite magazine | title=Hot Top Airplay | url=http://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=top_airplay&year=2015&month=03&day=2 | magazine=Billboard |language=Japanese | date=February 25, 2015 | accessdate=February 25, 2015}}}} | rowspan="2"|Oppajime! |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|"Haiagare My Way"|這い上がれ MY WAY||"Climb My Way"}}
| —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|Charted at number 53 on the Hot Top Airplay chart.}} |
| colspan="12" align="center" style="font-size:90%;"|"—" denotes items that did not chart. |
=Video albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ List of media, with selected chart positions |
| style="width:12em;" rowspan="2"| Title
! style="width:16em;" rowspan="2"| Album details ! colspan="1"| Peak positions |
|---|
| style="width:2.5em;"|JPN DVD |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Abe Mao Live No. 2 @ Zepp Tokyo|阿部真央らいぶNo.2@Zepp Tokyo}}
|
| 33 || — |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Abe Mao Live No. 4 @ Shibuya Kōkaidō|阿部真央らいぶNo.2@渋谷公会堂}}
|
| 18 || 35 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|Abe Mao Live No. 5 @ Tokyo Kokusai Forum|阿部真央らいぶNo.5@東京国際フォーラム}}
|
| 45 || 41 |
| scope="row" | {{nihongo|5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live 2014 @ Nippon Budokan|5th Anniversary 阿部真央らいぶ2014@日本武道館}}
|
| 26 || 24 |
Tours
- Abe Mao Live No. 0 (2009)
- Abe Mao Live No. 0.7 (2009)
- Abe Mao Live No. 1 (2010)
- Abe Mao Live No. 2 (2010)
- Abe Mao Live Natsu no Jin (2011)
- Abe Mao Live No. 3: Zepp to Quattro Dake de Gomen ne Tour (2011)
- Abe Mao Live No. 4 (2012)
- Abe Mao Hikigatari Live 2012 Fuyu: Christmas da yo! Kuru desho? Kuru yo ne!? no Maki (2012)
- Abe Mao Hikigatari Live 2013 Natsu (2013)
- Abe Mao Live No. 5 (2013)
- 5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live "Ochikarazoe, Negaimasu." Tour 2014 (2014)
- 5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live 2014 @ Nippon Budōkan (2014)
Notes
{{notelist-ua|2}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://abemao.com/ Mao Abe Official Site] {{in lang|ja}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090529073732/http://hp.ponycanyon.co.jp/pchp/cgi-bin/PCHPM.pl?TRGID=PCHP_ART_1010&CMD=DSP&DSP_ATSCOD=30673200 Pony Canyon Official Label Site] {{in lang|ja}}
{{Mao Abe}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abe, Mao}}
Category:Japanese women pop singers
Category:Japanese women singer-songwriters
Category:Singers from Ōita Prefecture
Category:People from Ōita (city)