Yumi Matsutoya born January 19, 1954), nicknamed Yuming is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. She is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice, and live performances, and is an important figure in Japanese popular music. Her recording career has been commercially successful with more than 42 million records sold. In 1990, her album The Gates of Heaven became the first album to be certified "2x million" by the RIAJ, and she has had twenty-one #1 albums listed on the Oricon charts. She is the only artist to have at least one number-one album every year on the Oricon charts for 18 consecutive years.
After gaining several years of experience as a session musician, she debuted as a singer-songwriter in 1972. During her early career, she worked under her birth name Yumi Arai. In 1975, Arai became known as a composer for "Ichigo Hakusho wo Mou Ichido", a commercially successful song recorded by the folk duo BanBan. She also gained popularity as a vocalist in the same year, through the success of "Ano Hi ni Kaeritai" that became her first number-one spot on the Japan's Oricon Charts.
After marrying her musical collaborator Masataka Matsutoya in 1976, Arai began recording under her married name and has continued to do so. Throughout the 1980s, Matsutoya's music was prominently featured in advertisements for Mitsubishi Motors in her native Japan and her image was used to promote their vehicles. In addition to multiple hit singles, she has obtained enormous commercial success on the Japanese Albums Chart, particularly during the late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.
Unique contact sheet print of AC/CD's, Angus Young by photographer David Corio, taken at Hammersmith Odeon, London, November 1st, 1979
Johnny Cash at home on his ranch in San Antonio, Texas in 1960, he always wore black, because he identified with the poor & the down trodden
Punk icon Sid Vicious reading MAD magazine in Baton Rouge, Louisiana during the Sex Pistols one and only US tour in January 1978.
Sir Elton John is an English pianist, singer-songwriter, composer & pop icon who has sold millions of records and won countless awards.
As a self-taught composer and performer, Zappa's diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often difficult to categorize.
Van Morrison is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter and musician who is usually known by the name "Van the Man" to his fans.
Johnny Cash was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice and a trademark look, which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black"
A photographic celebration of Manchester's rock music history. Free exhibition at the University of Manchester
A fantastic curated collection of museum quality fine art prints by leading music photographer Barry Schultz
For eight years photographer Brian Duffy worked with David Bowie and shot his most iconic and enduring images. View his fantastic collection
Welcome to our Jazz & Blues Print Collection - over 50 years of iconic images of the world's greatest Jazz & Blues musicians
