中村中

Nakamura Ataru is a Japanese singer-songwriter born in 1985. Uniquely, she has two main genres in which she sings, the first a traditional enka-inspired style, and the second a modern rock/pop. She has about the same number of songs for each genre and seems to alternate her singles between these two styles, and she is also noted for her powerful vocals.. Born in Tokyo on 28 June 1985, Nakamura began studying music at a young age. She taught herself to play the piano and the drums at age ten, and began to write her own songs at the age of fifteen. She began entering herself in various music competitions at that time. She garnered attention when she won the Katsushika Band Festival, making her the first (and thus far only) solo artist to do so. In 1999, at the age of fourteen, she released an indie label album called Shouchikubai as her prize. In 2006, she convereted to a major lable, the popular Avex Trax. Her first major lable single "Yogoreta Shitagi was released on her birthday, and received minor attention. Her second single "Tomodachi no Uta" received greater attention, and placed in the Top 150 at #150 on the Oricon charts. However, it was not until Nakamura revealed on the television program "All Night Nippon" that she had undergone a sex reassignment surgery and was a transgendered woman that she received major attention. Her explanation garnered a lot of media attention, and her single rose to #9 on the Oricon. "Tomodachi no Uta" became the theme song for the popular television drama Watashi ga Watashi de Aru Tame ni; Nakamura even received a small role on the program. Her third single entered the Oricon at #39. "Watashi no Naka no Ii Onna" quickly rose to #2. On the same day as "Watashi no Naka no Ii Onna" was released, the song "Chewing Gum," written by Nakamura for the band AAA debuted on the Oricon. Her two songs competed with one another for four weeks. Her first album Ten Made Todoke was realeased on 1 January 2007. On that same she she released "Kaze ni Naru," her forth single. "Kaze ni Naru" was Nakamura's first #1 hit and was the theme for the film Sakebi. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.