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Hikaru Utada to Appear in U.S. Music Stores This Week (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
The official website of pop singer/songwriter Hikaru Utada announced that she will be appearing in music stores in five American cities this week to promote This is the One, her newest English-language album which will ship on Tuesday. She will launch the trip in New York City's Best Buy store on Tuesday. She will then go to Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood & FYE on Wednesday and San Francisco's Best Buy on Thursday. She will finish the promotion tour at the FYE store in Seattle's Southcenter Mall on Friday and Honolulu's Sam Goody store on Saturday. Utada already appeared before overflowing crowds in Sephora beauty care stores in Hollywood, New York City, and Miami in March.
Utada was born in New York City and raised in Japan and the United States. Her debut album, 1999's First Love, is still Japan's bestselling album ever with about 8 million copies sold. Utada's music has appeared in Freedom, Evangelion:1.0 You are (Not) Alone, the live-action Casshern film, and the Hana Yori Dango 2 live-action television adaptation. In addition to her singing career, she played the heroine Pinoko in the 2001-2002 Black Jack net anime series. With This is the One's digital release in March, Utada became the first Japanese musician have a top 20 album on Apple's online iTunes retail store in the United States.
Source: JaME U.S.A. via Tokyograph
Update: Utada has cancelled her American appearances this week due to an acute case of left relapsing peritonsillitis. Doctors advised her not to travel or use her voice for at least two weeks, but Utada's website says that "she looks forward to rescheduling [her appearances] as soon as she can." Thanks, AnimeMaine.
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