Japanese-American singer/songwriter and pop megastar Utada may mean nothing to you, but in her home country she’s the equivalent of Britney Spears circa 2000 plus every other pop star rolled into one. Born in New York City to musician parents, Utada quickly made a name for herself in the J-pop (Japanese pop) scene, releasing five Japanese-language albums and two English-language albums. She’s sold almost 40 million albums in Japan alone, and first came to light in the West by providing two songs to the video game Kingdom Hearts: “Simple and Clean” and the “Sanctuary” suite.
Utada released her album,This is the One, in 2009 (Island/Def Jam).
Here’s “Sanctuary (Ending)”: