Utada Hikaru, born in New York in 1983, grew up immersed1 in music． Recently she＇s earned much praise for her musical sense and for her talent as singer－songwriter． Everything started with the single “Time Will Tell,” which registered2 on numerous FM charts3 more than a month before her official debut “Automatic”． That release also did well on the charts, and since then, she＇s followed it up with4 more and more songs, many of them entering the charts at the same time!
Utada won the “PowerPlay5” on dozens of nationwide FM stations． It is still freshly remembered that on the week of its release, her single set the record of ranking No．1 in frequency of airplay6 on FM and AM stations in both the Kanto and Kansai7 regions． And it＇s a well－known fact that “Automatic time will tell”amazed8 everybody, achieving the extraordinary distinction9 of being ranked highly on various sales charts for both 12cm discs and 8cm discs, including the Original Confidence (Ori－Con) chart10．
Her following second single “Movin＇ on without you”(released February 17, 1999), a commercial song for Nissan Terrano11, earned the top position as it appeared in the Original Confidence chart． And her debut album, “First Love” (March 10, 1999 release), sold out at record stories prior to its official release date． In addition to instantly ranking No．1 on the Ori－Con chart, it also set new records for “Highest Initial Points for a Debut Album”，and“Highest Initial Points for an Original Album12”． In the May 10 issue of Ori－Con, it became No．1 on the All Albums Chart． Five months after her debut, Utada climbed to the top of the Japanese pop music scene．
After the title track13 of “First Love” became the main theme14 for TBS network＇s weekly drama “Majo no Joken” (To Be a Witch), it was released as a single． Together with the drama the song continues to give heart－throbbing excitement to all the audience．
The first live performance15 as “Utada Hikaru” were held on April 1 and April 2 with a full invitation system． Each host radio station was swarmed16 by applications from fans． Each performance had a full house17． And as Utada voiced, “Life is great and fun．．．” everybody and everything in the hall became as one in the highest excitement．
As is evident from the above18, it is no exaggeration19 to say that Utada has become a social phenomenon20, the female artist receiving the most attention from everybody regardless of age21． “I will continue to do my own music, as ‘Utada Hikaru’, without the constraints of22 musical genres23． I want to keep betraying everybody in a good sense24!” She says with a genuine25 smile． It will be fun to see how things develop, given her motto26, “As it goes,” Hikaru Utada will certainly continue to surprise everybody．
Utada was raised in an environment of constant exposure to27 music including studio visits because both her parents were engaged in28 music－related work． It was, however, after the family returned to Japan and Hikaru was about ten that she really started listening to music． In those days, she listened mainly to rock, for instance “Queen” and “Bon Jovi29”． The reason for her current preference of a wide range of musical genres has its roots in her past． Later, on the advice of a friend, she encountered R＆B, which she ended up devoting herself to30．
Hikaru started her professional activities writing lyrics in English only at age ten． As soon as she debuted as “Cubic U” in New York, she, caught the attention of many well－known artists and the music industry． In addition to releasing three 12－inch singles, she also released (still as “Cubic U”) a maxi－single31 in the U．S． and Europe when she was 12．
In Japan, the Toshiba Free Base label32 released the first maxi－single, “Close to you” and the album “Precious” under the name “Cubic U” in January 1998 before any other country． It＇s well known that Lenny Kravitz33, listening to “Precious,” offered great praise． And on Dec, 9, 1998, she debuted as “Utada Hikaru” with “Automatic ／ time will tell,” songs written in Japanese for the first time．
In the future, she says, she will do her activities globally34 as two totally different artists “Utada Hikaru” in Japan, and “Cubic U” in the U．S．
宇多田光,1983生于纽约，在充满音乐的氛围中长大。最近以其乐感和唱歌写歌的天才颇受赞誉, 名声鹊起。而这一切均起源于她的单曲 “Time Will Tell”。在她的第一张专辑“Automatic” 正式推出前的一个多月，该首单曲已登陆许多调频音乐榜。专辑推出后，上榜形势喜人，此后她的新歌迭出，许多歌曲同时登上排行榜！
宇多田光在多家全国性调频音乐台成为“最强劲歌手”。人们还记忆犹新：她的专辑推出的那个星期，创下了单曲在关东关西地区调频和调幅台的唱片播放频率第一的记录。众所周知, “Automatic”专辑在12英寸碟和8英寸碟各个销售排行榜以及Ori－Con排行榜取得独占鳌头的佳绩而令人刮目相看。
她随后的第二支单曲《独自前行》（“Movin＇ on without you”，1999年2月17日推出）是为Nissan Terrano创作的一首广告曲，在Ori－Con排行榜直登榜首。她的首张個人大碟《初恋》（“First Love”，1999年3月10推出）在正式发行日之前就在唱片店销售一空。不仅立刻在Ori－Con排行榜跃居第一，而且刷新了“首碟最高起始点”和“原创碟最高起始点”两项记录。在5月10号那一期的Ori－Con排行榜里“碟片大全榜”上名列第一。她推出首张专辑五个月后，就在日本流行乐坛成为一号人物。
用作碟片名的《初恋》成为TBS网的每周日剧《魔女的条件》的主题歌之后，以单曲推出。戏与歌都使观众热血沸腾，激动不已。
宇多田光的首场演唱会于4月1日、2日举行，计划邀请各方人士参加，但乐迷们的申请像雪片一般飞向各主办音乐台。表演场场爆满，当宇多田光唱起“Life is great and fun．．．”时，舞台上下群情激昂，和声四起，汇成一片巨大的声浪。
以上情况表明，这位女艺人获得了不同年龄层次的听众的青睐，称宇多田光为社会名流是毫不夸张的。她开心地笑着说：“我将以‘宇多田光’的身份继续创作音乐，而不受音乐流派风格的限制。我要让每个人都感到出其不意！”看看下一步事情将怎么发展将是有趣的，鉴于她有句座右铭“等着瞧吧，”宇多田光肯定会让人们个个吃惊。
宇多田光的父母都从事跟音乐有关的工作，她是在浓郁的音乐环境熏陶下成长的，例如她常去录音棚。不过，她开始认真听音乐却是在十岁左右、父母回到日本之后的事。那个时期，她主要听摇滚乐，例如“Queen” and “Bon Jovi”。她现在对各种乐派乐风的喜爱都可追根溯源到过去。后来，根据一个朋友的建议，她接触了节奏布鲁斯，从此再也丢不开了。
宇多田光才十岁时就开始了用英语创作抒情歌曲的专业活动。她以“U型立方体”（“Cubic U”）为名在纽约的首场演出立刻引起了著名艺术家和音乐界的注意。除开推出了12厘米碟的单曲外，她还在12岁时以“U型立方体”为名在美国和欧洲推出了18厘米的密纹大碟。
1998年元月日本的“东芝自由基地”唱片公司率先推出了“U型立方体”名下的首张密纹唱片《在君之侧》（“Close to you”）和专辑《宝贝》（“Precious”）。众所周知， Lenny Kravitz听着《宝贝》，赞不绝口。1998年9月9日，她首次以“宇多田光”的身份推出“Automatic／time will tell,” 歌词首次用日语写作。
她声称将来要以两个完全不同的艺术家身份在全球从事音乐活动：在日本称“宇多田光”，在美国叫“U型立方体”。
1． immerse vt． 沉浸, 使陷入，常与in 搭配使用。
2． register vt． 记录, 登记, 注册
3． FM charts： 调频音乐排行榜。 FM 为frequency modulation的首字母缩写。
4． follow sth． up with：继……之后又加上……
5． PowerPlay：此处指“被很多人点播的曲子或点播率最高的曲子”
6． airplay： n． (无线电台上) 唱片的播送
7． Kanto and Kansai：日本的关东和关西地区。
8． amaze vt． 使吃惊
9． achieve distinction：获得声望, 变得显赫
10． Original Confidence (Ori－Con) chart：日本精选歌曲榜，通译“公信榜”
11． Nissan Terrano：尼桑Terrano是日产公司在日本本土所推出的大中型 SUV 车系
12． “Highest Initial Points for a Debut Album”和“Highest Initial Points for an Original Album”为两种评比的负责机构，其评比标准不祥。
13． title track：用作专辑名的单曲
14． theme 主题，主题歌／曲
15． live performance：现场直播的演唱会
16． swarm v． 涌往, 挤满, 密集
17． a full house：观众爆满
18． As is evident from the above：惯用语，“由上述情况可知”
19． it is no exaggeration：毫不夸张……，后接从句或不定式
20． a social phenomenon：社会贤达，社交界名人
21． regardless of age：不分老幼
22． without the constraints of：不受……限制， 不拘泥于……
23． genre n． 类型，种类，体裁或一个流派
24． keep betraying everybody in a good sense：在一种积极意义上不停地背叛每一个人，这是一种比喻的说法，显得俏皮，意思是她要不断创新。
25． genuine醉[?謖?諨enju?蘼in] adj． 真实的, 真正的, 诚恳的
26． given her motto：“鉴于她有这样一句座右铭”。given此处为介词，表示前提，条件。
27． have／be under exposure to：受……的影响／熏陶
28． be engaged in：忙于，从事
29． “Queen” and “Bon Jovi”： “Queen”是70年代世界华丽摇滚的代表性乐队，这个来自英国的四人乐队致力于发掘华丽和夸张（并带有同性恋倾向）的艺术风格，创造出一种带有浓厚歌剧色彩的摇滚乐形式，主唱性感而如同唱诗班的嗓音，层层铺垫的键盘和绚烂花哨的吉他独奏是他们的标志。“Bon Jovi” 是美国超级摇滚乐团，在80年代不但以狂放式的舞台表演风格与主唱精湛的歌曲诠释唱功席卷全球，更将硬式摇滚与流行音乐做了最大限度也最贴切的融合。
30． devote oneself to sth．： 致力于……, 献身于
31． maxi－single：直径为18厘米密纹唱片／慢转唱片
32． label：唱片公司
33． Lenny Kravitz：蓝尼·克罗维茨，曾获41届格莱美大奖的最佳摇滚男艺人奖。
34． globally：全球地，在全世界范围内。