Name: Namie Amuro
Date of Birth: September 20, 1977
Place of birth: Naha, Okinawa (Japan)
Ethnicity: 3/4Japanese/1/4Italian
Height: 158
Weight: 40 kg
Measurements: 75-58,5-84,5
Blood type: O
Namie was born in Naha City, Okinawa on September 20th, 1977. Namie's parents divorced when she was only 3, leaving her mother to raise her and her brother and sisters alone.
At the age of 10, Namie discovered Yoshie Hayakasa, the first Okinawa Actors School student to become famous. Full of admiration for Yoshie, Namie decided to follow in Yoshie's footsteps and attended Okinawa Actors School. She walked for 2 hours every day to attend the school, because her family could not spare the money for public transportation.
At 15, Namie along with a group of classmates decided to form a group known as the SUPER MONKEY'S. Their first single "Koi no KYU-TO BI-TO / MISUTA- U.S.A." was a moderate hit debuting at #28 on the charts. The group then decided to relocate themselves from Okinawa to Tokyo, after all, their record label Toshiba EMI was located there.
Once in Tokyo, the group released 2 singles "DANCING JUNK" and "Ai$hite MASUKATTO," but the singles had little success. Once the 4th single, "PARADISE TRAIN," was released, the group changed its name to 'Namie Amuro with SUPER MONKEY'S.'
Once the 5th single, "TRY ME ~Watashi wo Shinjite~," was released, things began to change for the group. The 5th single was a big hit, and instantaneously made the top 10. Because of the song, the group was invited to attend the huge annual show Kouhaku Utagussen.
The 6th and 7th single, "Taiyou no SEASON" and "Stop the music," continued the success of the 5th single, debuting in the top 10 and top 5.
Namie officially went solo in the summer of 1995 after she signed a deal with Avex Trax and began working with the legendary Tetsuya Komuro. The remaining SUPER MONKEY'S were asked to make a new group: Musical Active eXperience a.k.a MAX.
In October of 1995, Namie released her debut solo single, "Body Feels EXIT," which was a huge success debuting at #3 on the charts. Before long, Namie was everywhere. Soon, thousands of fans began to imitate her style of miniskirts, platform boots, and dyed brown hair. They were known as 'Amura'.
Here's some pics