Quick Facts
Biography
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. 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. While at high school she frequently busked and attended music auditions. 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 "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).
Since the album, she has released three singles, the first two reaching the top 20 on the Oricon single charts. The third, "Itsu no Hi mo", reached #2 on the Japan Hot 100 chart, a week before the physical release of the single. The single was followed by her second album, Pop, which was her first top 5 album on the Oricon albums chart.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales (JPN) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | TWN East Asian | ||||||||||
| Free |
| 17 | 15 | 21,000 | |||||||
| Pop |
| 5 | — | 54,000 | |||||||
| Su. (素。, "Naked") |
| 6 | — | 41,000 | |||||||
| Tatakai wa Owaranai (戦いは終わらない, "The Fight Is Not Over") |
| 6 | — | 28,000 | |||||||
| Anata o Suki na Watashi (貴方を好きな私, "The Me Who Likes You") |
| 7 | — | 17,000 | |||||||
| Oppajime! (おっぱじめ!, "Start!") |
| 7 | — | 14,000 | |||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. | |||||||||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales (JPN) |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | |||
| Single Collection 19—24 (シングルコレクション19-24, Shinguru Korekushon Naintīn Tuentifō) |
| 7 | 13,000 |
| 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") |
| — | |
| 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
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales (JPN) |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN | |||
| 5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live 2014 @ Nippon Budōkan (阿部真央らいぶ2014@日本武道館) |
| 159 | 1,000 |
Singles
As a lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales (JPN) | Certifications | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Oricon | JPN Hot 100 | ||||||||||
| "Tsutaetai Koto" | 2009 | 19 | 11 | 13,300 | Pop | ||||||
| "I Wanna See You" | 39 | ||||||||||
| "Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no Desu" | 19 | 5 | 8,800 | ||||||||
| "Itsu no Hi mo" | 2010 | 12 | 2 | 9,200 |
| ||||||
| "Lonely" | 22 | 5 | 9,500 | Su. | |||||||
| "19-sai no Uta" | 20 | 8 | 6,000 | ||||||||
| "Mottō." (モットー。, "Mooore.") | 2011 | 20 | 9 | 7,800 | |||||||
| "Hikari" (光, "Light") | — | ||||||||||
| "Soba ni Ite" (側にいて, "Come to Me") | 22 | 18 | 7,800 | Tatakai wa Owaranai | |||||||
| "Sekai wa Mada Kimi o Shiranai" (世界はまだ君を知らない, "The World Still Doesn't Know You") | 2012 | 22 | 11 | 6,600 | |||||||
| "Saigo no Watashi" (最後の私, "Me at the End") | 2013 | 20 | 34 | 6,200 | Anata o Suki na Watashi | ||||||
| "Anata ga Suki na Watashi" (貴方が好きな私, "The Me You Like") | 28 | 35 | 3,500 | ||||||||
| "Boyfriend" | — | ||||||||||
| "Believe in Yourself" | 2014 | 20 | 23 | 5,500 | Single Collection 19—24 / Oppajime! | ||||||
| "Sorezore Arukidasō" (それぞれ歩き出そう, "Let's Walk Our Separate Ways") | 29 | 24 | 3,500 | Oppajime! | |||||||
| "You Changed My Life" | 2015 | 37 | — | 2,000 | Non-album single | ||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. | |||||||||||
As a featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Hot 100 | |||
| "Bitansan Syndrome" (微炭酸シンドローム, "Soda Syndrome") (Kreva featuring Mao Abe) | 2011 | 97 | Go |
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Japan Hot 100 | |||||||||||
| "Hitomishiri no Uta" (人見知りの唄, "Shy Song") | 2008 | — | Free | ||||||||
| "My Baby" | — | ||||||||||
| "Free" | 1 | ||||||||||
| "Mada" (未だ, "Still") | 2010 | 23 | Pop | ||||||||
| "Tatakai wa Owaranai" | 2012 | 27 | Tatakai wa Owaranai | ||||||||
| "Tenshi wa Ita n da" (天使はいたんだ, "There Was an Angel") | 2013 | 83 | Anata o Suki na Watashi | ||||||||
| "Yasashii Kotoba" (優しい言葉, "Kind Words") | 2015 | — | Oppajime! | ||||||||
| "Haiagare My Way" (這い上がれ MY WAY, "Climb My Way") | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. | |||||||||||
Video albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN DVD | JPN Blu-ray | ||
| Abe Mao Live No. 2 @ Zepp Tokyo (阿部真央らいぶNo.2@Zepp Tokyo) |
| 33 | — |
| Abe Mao Live No. 4 @ Shibuya Kōkaidō (阿部真央らいぶNo.2@渋谷公会堂) |
| 18 | 35 |
| 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 |
| 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)