Kaori Iida

Kaori Iida (飯田圭織, Kaori Iida^?) (born August 8, 1981, 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.

Biography

Kaori Iida was one of five runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new Japanese rock idol. After the contest, musician and producer Tsunku offered Iida and the 4 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 4 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 of 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.

In Hello! Project's shuffle groups - Iida was placed in Punk-rock Aoiro 7 in 2000, folky festival style 10-tnin 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 2 albums outside of Hello! Project where she sings covers of French, Greek, and Italian songs (in their respective languages). She also has 2 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 3rd album, this time within Hello! Project and in Japanese.

On January 30, 2005, Iida — the last original member to stay on — graduated from Morning Musume to further pursue her solo singing and art careers. Mari Yaguchi started taking over her role as Morning Musume's leader upon her graduation.

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 Morning Musume Tanjō 10-nen Kinentai (モーニング娘。誕生10年記念隊, Morning Musume Tanjō 10-nen Kinentai^?) - 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, Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA (僕らが生きるMY ASIA, Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA^?), was released on January 24, 2007.

Discography

Albums

Singles

DVD

• Aegekai DVD (エーゲ海, Aegekai DVD^?) with Shoko Aida (February 4, 2004)

Appearances

Dramas

• Kochira Dai San Shaikabu (こちら第三社会部, Kochira Dai San Shaikabu^?) (2001)

Radio

• Iida Kaori・Konya mo Koushin Chuu! (飯田圭織・今夜も交信中!, Iida Kaori・Konya mo Koushin Chuu!^?) (March, 2003)
• Chichukai Sound Stroll (地中海 SOUND STROLL, Chichukai Sound Stroll^?) (April 2, 2005)

Publications

Photobooks

• Iida Kaori Photobook (飯田圭織写真集かおりKAORI圭織, Iida Kaori Sashin Shuu Kaori Kaori Kaori^?) (May 2, 2002)
• Aegekai Photobook (エーゲ海―相田翔子&飯田圭織写真集, Ege Kai Aida Shoko & Iida Kaori Sashin Shuu^?) (January 28, 2004)

Art/Picture Books

• Sketchbook of Heart (心のスケッチブック。, kokoro no sukecchi bukku^?) (December, 2001)
• Lion's Margin (ライオンのマルジャン, raion no marujan^?) (December, 2002)

Essays

• Paranoia Diary (パラノイアダイアリー, paranoia daiarii^?) (May 1999 and June 2001)

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