Kaori Iida

Infobox musical artist


Name = Kaori Iida
飯田 圭織
| Img_capt = Iida in 2007 on Utaban
Background = solo_singer
Alias = Johnson, Kaorin
Born = birth date and age|1981|8|8
Died =
Origin = Muroran, Hokkaidō, Japan
Genre = Japanese pop, Euro-enka
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 1997–present
Label = Zetima, Chichūkai
Associated_acts = Morning Musume, Tanpopo, Otomegumi, Aoiro 7, 10-nin Matsuri, Odoru 11, 11Water, H.P. All Stars, Puripuri Pink
URL = [http://www.helloproject.com Hello! Project.com]

nihongo|Kaori Iida|飯田 圭織|Iida Kaori|extra=born August 8 1981 in Hokkaidō, Japan is a Japanese pop singer and actress, associated with Hello! Project and best known as a founding member of the girl band Morning Musume. She has also recorded with the Morning Musume side project band Tanpopo and is currently a solo artist. She is currently on maternity leave after having her first child on January 22, 2008.

Biography

Kaori Iida was one of 10 runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new Japanese rock idol. After the contest, musician and producer Tsunku offered Iida and four of the other runners-up (Natsumi Abe, Yuko Nakazawa, Aya Ishiguro, and Asuka Fukuda) the chance to be taken under his wing on one condition: that they sell 50,000 CDs of their song "Ai no Tane" in 5 days. The quintet accomplished that task in four and, thus, in 1997, Morning Musume was born (and their first official single "Morning Coffee" was released in 1998). The group has since been increasingly popular in Japan, has achieved a cult following in the Western world and is infamous for its fluctuation of memberships, with members "graduating" and joining frequently.

In 1999, Tsunku placed Iida into subgroup Tanpopo with Aya Ishiguro and 2nd generation Morning Musume member Mari Yaguchi, and they specialized in singing slower, more mature songs. Together they made four singles and an album. After Ishiguro graduated from Morning Musume and Tanpopo in January 2000, Iida and Yaguchi performed Tanpopo songs as a duet until Tsunku placed 4th generation Morning Musume members Ai Kago and Rika Ishikawa into the subgroup. Tanpopo's style was also given a revamping, with songs being more upbeat and pop-ish, but nonetheless still slower than Morning Musume. In this formation, Tanpopo released 3 more singles, a compilation album, and a compilation DVD.

After Morning Musume's then-leader Yuko Nakazawa graduated in the Spring of 2001, Iida took on the role as the group's leader. Additionally, when Morning Musume "split" into 2 subgroups in 2003—Iida was leader of Morning Musume Otomegumi. She is also known for keeping her hair long throughout her Morning Musume career and also for spacing out frequently.

In July 2002, Tanpopo, along with other Morning Musume subgroups Petitmoni and Mini Moni, experienced changes in their membership - partly due to graduating Morning Musume members and partly to showcase the newer members. As a result, Iida (along with Mari and Ai K.) graduated from Tanpopo.

As with Hello! Project's shuffle groups, Iida was placed in punk-rock Aoiro 7 in 2000, folky festival style 10-nin Matsuri in 2001 and Odoru 11 in 2002, and ska-punk 11Water in 2003. She also participated in the 2004 summer shuffle group H.P. All Stars. In 2005, she participated in the shuffle group Puripuri Pink. She is the only member of Hello! Project to have participated in all the shuffle groups since the tradition started.

Additionally, Iida is pursuing a solo career as an artist and singer. Her solo musical career includes two albums outside of Hello! Project where she sings covers of French, Greek, and Italian songs (in their respective languages). She also has two singles in Japanese, released in advance of her impending graduation from Morning Musume—though still set in a Mediterranean-esque style; many Western fans of Morning Musume and Hello! Project have described the style of Iida's solo material as "Euro-enka". In Morning Musume, Iida mostly sang harmony with a few solo lines. Her signature song in Morning Musume is "Yume no Naka", from the group's first album.

On December 29, 2004, Iida released her third album, this time within Hello! Project and in Japanese.

On January 30, 2005, Iida—the last First Generation member to still be in Morning Musume—graduated from the group to further pursue her solo singing and art careers. Mari Yaguchi took over her role as Morning Musume's leader upon Iida's graduation. Her tenure of over 7 years is the longest of any Morning Musume member, and as of September 2008, she is one of only four members to remain in the group for over 7 years (4th generation member Hitomi Yoshizawa would later achieve this honor just weeks before her graduation in 2007 and 5th generation members Ai Takahashi and Risa Niigaki reached this mark in mid-September 2008).

On December 21, 2005, Iida released Plein D'amour ~Ai ga Ippai~, her fourth album. This album featured songs in Japanese and many European cover songs in their original languages. This was her first album to be released since she graduated from Morning Musume.

In early 2007, Iida was chosen to be a member of nihongo|Morning Musume Tanjō 10-nen Kinentai|モーニング娘。誕生10年記念隊| —a unit created to celebrate Morning Musume's 10th anniversary as a group. Morning Musume Tanjō 10-nen Kinentai also consists of Natsumi Abe, Maki Goto, Risa Niigaki and Koharu Kusumi. Their first single, nihongo|Bokura ga Ikiru My Asia|僕らが生きるMy Asia|, was released on January 24 2007.

On July 6 2007, Iida's agency announced that she was ten weeks pregnant and getting married to Kenji, a former member of the disbanded "7 House", a band formed by Tsunku; [A similar pregnancy situation occurred with fellow ex-Morning Musume member Nozomi Tsuji.] Iida's marriage took place the next day. Iida is on maternity leave, which began after the "Morning Musume 10th Year Anniversary Concert Tour ~Summer '07 Thank You My Dearest~" on September 1 2007. [cite web|url= http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertainment/geinou/news/20070706mog00m200014000c.html|title= MSN Mainichi Daily News - 飯田圭織：元バンドメンバーと結婚　妊娠も|date= 2007-07-06|language= Japanese|publisher= Microsoft] [cite web|url= http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/flash/KFullFlash20070706053.html|title= Sponichi Annex - 元モー娘・飯田圭織ができちゃった婚|date= 2007-07-06|language= Japanese|publisher= Sports Nippon Newspapers] [cite web|url= http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/f-et-tp0-20070706-223166.html|title= 元モー娘リーダー飯田圭織できちゃった婚|date= 2007-07-06|language= Japanese|publisher= Nikkan Sports News]

On February 3, 2008, Iida released a statement to her fan club that she had given birth to a healthy baby boy on January 22, 2008 at 10:30 am. [cite web| url=http://www.helloproject.com/newslist/iida_0802012000.html| title=Announcement from the Hello! Project Fan Club| date=2008-02-03| publisher=Hello! Project| language=Japanese]

Discography

Albums

DVD

* 2004-02-04 – nihongo|Aegekai DVD|エーゲ海| with Shoko Aida

Appearances

Dramas

* 2001 – nihongo|"Kochira Dai San Shaikabu"|こちら第三社会部|

Radio

* (March 2003)
* (April 2 2005)

Publications

Photobooks

Art/Picture Books

* December 2001 – nihongo|Sketchbook of Heart|心のスケッチブック。|Kokoro no Suketchi Bukku
* December 2002 – nihongo|Lion's Margin|ライオンのマルジャン|Raion no Marujan

Essays

* May 1999/June 2001 – nihongo|"Paranoia Diary"|パラノイアダイアリー|Paranoia Daiarī

References and footnotes

External links

* [http://www.helloproject.com/artist/31/index.html Official Hello! Project profile]
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s-ttl|rows=2|title=Leader of Morning Musume
years=2001 – 2005