is a Japanese-born singer, songwriter, actress and radio host.
After releasing her first single, "Eternal Memories" (1999), Crystal Kay gained fame for her third studio album, Almost Seventeen (2002), which debuted at number 2 on the Japanese Oricon charts. Almost Seventeen eventually sold over 400,000 copies and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Crystal Kay, formerly signed to Epic Records, a sub-label of Sony Music Japan for 12 years, suddenly transferred to Delicious Deli Records, a sub-label of Universal Music Japan in 2011.
As of April 2021, she has released thirteen albums. Her seventh studio album, All Yours (2007) became Crystal Kay's only number-one release in her career when it debuted on top of the Oricon chart in June 2007. Throughout her career, Crystal Kay has collaborated with M-Flo and BoA, Chemistry as well as other well-known recording artists. With over 5 million records sold to date, Crystal Kay is one of the best-selling musicians in Japan.
Early life and education Crystal Kay was born and raised in Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture to a South Korean mother and an African-American father. Her father was a bassist from New Jersey and a sailor in the United States Navy stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. Her mother was a 23-year-old professional singer with one album while her father played music as a hobby. As a child, Crystal Kay met artists such as Diana Ross and Bobby Brown through her parents taking her to shows.
Crystal Kay attended Nile C. Kinnick High School at the Yokosuka military base, and Sophia University. She briefly studied the Korean language in Seoul, learning how to read and write hangul, but does not speak Korean fluently and considers herself to be Japanese. Crystal Kay is fluent in English and Japanese, the latter influencing and making a regular appearance in her songs. She has also studied French. Crystal Kay has cited Janet Jackson, Brandy, Aaliyah and Michael Jackson as her biggest influences. In Japan she cites the acts of producer Tetsuya Komuro as her J-pop influences, particularly Speed and Namie Amuro.
Recording career 1999–2001: Debut and subsequent image change Crystal Kay began singing for TV commercials as child from the age of 4. At the age of 11 years old, Crystal Kay signed to the label Epic Records in Japan when a jingle she recorded for TV CM for Vitamin water garnered attention. One year later the jingle was expanded into her debut single "Eternal Memories", on July 1, 1999. Despite peaking at number 47, "Eternal Memories" has since become Crystal Kay's eighth best-selling single. 1999 saw the release of two more singles, "Teenage Universe (Chewing Gum Baby)" on September 8 and "Komichi no Hana" on November 3, the former peaking at number 47 and the latter at number 80.
Crystal Kay's first studio album, C.L.L Crystal Lover Light was released on March 23, 2000. This album is noted by fans to have a more indie and acoustic feel as opposed to her later albums which mainly come under the genres of pop and R&B. Crystal Kay was only 13 years old when this album was released.
C.L.L Crystal Lover Light debuted at number 60 on the Oricon charts. A fourth single was released on the same day as C.L.L Crystal Lover Light, "Shadows of Desire". Because of its release date it became Crystal Kay's first single to fail to chart. "Shadows of Desire" was Crystal Kay's first A-side to be sung entirely in English.
After a year-long period of inactivity, Crystal Kay returned to the music scene with the single "Lost Child". The single, which was a collaboration with Shinichi Osawa and Hiroshi Fujiwara was released on February 15, 2001, and reached number 55 on its debut week. Despite Crystal Kay only being credited as a featured artist on the song, it was still featured on her next album, 637: Always and Forever. Her fifth single "Girl's Night" came three months later on May 9, 2001. The single saw the introduction of urban influences in Crystal Kay's music. Despite this new style, the single peaked at number 100. One of the b-sides, "Make Me Whole" was a cover of the Amel Larrieux song of the same name. Crystal Kay's next single, "Ex-Boyfriend", was released on July 4, 2001. It featured rapper Verbal of M-Flo. The single was a success for Crystal Kay, peaking at number 44, and became her best selling single at the time of its release. Crystal Kay released her sophomore effort on August 22, 2001, 637: Always and Forever. The album became Crystal Kay's first album to reach the top twenty of the Oricon chart when it debuted at number 19, and sold 15,640 copies in its first week. Crystal Kay finished off 2001 with her seventh single, "Think of U", released on November 28, 2001. The single was Christmas-themed. It debuted and peaked at number 60.
2002–2006: Rise in popularity Nine months after her last single, Crystal Kay released her eighth single, "Hard to Say", on August 7, 2002, and sold over double than her previous best selling single, "Ex-Boyfriend". It became her first top thirty single when it debuted peaked at number 26 on the Oricon chart. The single was followed by the release of Crystal Kay's next single "Girl U Love" and her third studio album Almost Seventeen, on October 23, 2002. Almost Seventeen became Crystal Kay's breakthrough album, exceeding expectations and debuting at number 2 on the charts behind Mai Kuraki, selling 51,360 in its first week. The album spent a year on the charts, quickly being certified platinum by RIAJ. Three months later Crystal Kay released "Boyfriend (Part II)" on January 22, 2003. It peaked at number 23. Her next single came five months later, and was another collaboration with M-Flo. The single, called "I Like It", was released as "Crystal Kay loves m-flo" and was notably the first in a long-running hit series for m-flo. It was also Crystal Kay's first top ten hit.
"I Like It" peaked at number 8, becoming Crystal Kay's first top ten hit and eventually sold around 50,000 copies. Another single, "Candy" was released a month before her fourth studio album, 4 Real, on October 22, 2003. "Candy" debuted inside the top thirty of the Oricon charts at number 21, her fourth single in-a-row to do so. 4 Real was released on November 27, 2003, along with Crystal Kay's thirteenth single, "Can't Be Stopped". 4 Real debuted at number 6 on the charts behind household names in Japan such as Aiko, Do As Infinity and Mika Nakashima and sold 86,310 copies in its first week.
Crystal Kay's first English-language album, Crystal Kay (released as Natural: World Premiere Album in Japan), was released several weeks before 4 Real on November 7, 2003, in Asian territories including South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Thailand. The album was her first to be released outside Japan, and compiled English language songs from her previously released albums and singles, and covers of Gladys Knight, Cyndi Lauper and Judy Garland songs. Crystal Kay performed at the 2003 Mnet Music Video Festival in Seoul, South Korea to promote its release. It was her first performance outside Japan.
On May 12, 2004, released her fourteenth single, "Motherland", the first of two that year. "Motherland" was used as the third ending theme for the anime adaption of Fullmetal Alchemist. It was the ending theme from episodes 26 to 41. The single debuted at number 9 on the Oricon chart, her second single to debut in the top ten. Just under two months after "Motherland", Crystal Kay released her first compilation album, CK5, which was released on June 30, 2004, featuring a selection of tracks from Crystal Kay's four previous studio albums, as well as her latest single, "Motherland". The album celebrates Crystal Kay's fifth anniversary since the release of her debut single "Eternal Memories" in 1999, hence the title. CK5 peaked at number 2 on the weekly chart and charted for 49 weeks, eventually being certified platinum by RIAJ. Another single, "Bye My Darling!" was released on November 17, and peaked at number 40 on the Oricon chart. It was Crystal Kay's final release of 2004.
The single "Kiss" started off 2005 for Crystal Kay. It was released on January 26, 2005, and peaked at number 10 on the Oricon chart. The single had longevity at eventually became her second best-selling single. "Kiss" was the CM song for NTT DoCoMo "Music Porter". "Kiss" was written by the same songwriter of the ballad "Yuki no Hana" by Mika Nakashima. Crystal Kay's fifth studio album, Crystal Style followed two months later on March 2, 2005. The album debuted at number 2 and sold 296,756 copies. The album was the 44th best-selling album of 2005 in Japan. Crystal Kay released her seventeenth single, "Koi ni Ochitara", on May 18, 2005, which was used as the theme song for the drama . The single is currently the best-selling single of her career, selling 295,456 copies, and Crystal Kay has sai that it changed the focus of her career away from R&B and towards J-Pop. In its first week it sold 73,717 copies, in its second week it dropped to number 4 and sold 51,546 copies, and in the third week it fell one place to number 5, selling a further 38,302 copies. Crystal Kay's next single was a collaboration with the R&B duo Chemistry called "Two as One". The single was released on October 5, 2005, and peaked at number 2 on the Oricon charts, much like "Koi ni Ochitara" earlier that year. "Two as One" was released as Crystal Kay × Chemistry.
On February 8, 2006, Crystal Kay released "Kirakuni" / "Together", her nineteenth single and the second A-side to be sung entirely in English. This single was recorded in the U.S. with producers Jam & Lewis, who are known for working with the likes of Crystal Kay's idol Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. Crystal Kay has stated that working with them was the personal highlight of her career and was landed on Crystal Kay as a surprise by her management. The recording took place over a hectic 3 nights in Los Angeles. The second A-side "Together" was used as the theme song in Japan for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. The single debuted at number 27. Two weeks later Crystal Kay released her sixth studio album Call Me Miss... on February 22, 2006. In its first week, Call Me Miss... debuted at number 2 on the Oricon chart as well as number 9 on the World Album Chart, selling 116,050 copies that week. It has since been certified platinum by RIAJ and was the 50th best selling album of 2006 in Japan.
2007–2008: First number-one
After about a year's break, Crystal Kay released the single "Kitto Eien ni" on January 17, 2007. "Kitto Eien ni" was used as the ending theme of the film Boku wa Imōto ni Koi o Suru, starring Jun Matsumoto. The single debuted at number 12 and charted for seven weeks, selling 19,615 copies. Crystal Kay's twenty-first single, "Konna ni Chikaku de...", was released on February 28, 2007. It was used as the ending theme to the anime adaption of the manga Nodame Cantabile. The single debuted at number 14 on the Oricon chart and charted for eight weeks, selling 15,158 copies to date. "Konna ni Chikaku de..." was performed live for the special Nodame Orchestra concert at the Tokyo International Forum on the single's release date. Another single, "Anata no Soba de", was released on May 16, 2007. The single only featured one track and thus was sold at the lower price of ¥525 in Japan. This single was the CM song for Menard Facial Salon. Crystal Kay released her seventh studio album All Yours a month later on June 20, 2007.