Angela Aki

	Date of Birth:	September 15, 1977 (Shioko)
	Active From:	2000
	Related Projects:	Final Fantasy XII
	Official Web Site:	Angela Aki Official Web Site

Biography

Note: This biography was written exclusively for Square Enix Music Online by Resk. The act of copying it without advance written permission is regarded as a copyright infringement. It was last updated on April 22, 2006.

Born in Shioko, Japan on September 15, 1977, Angela Aki's musical career started late. She grew up in Japan but moved to Hawaii when she was fifteen. In school, she pursued majors in music and politics, and after graduating from University, chose to follow her musical creativity. Due to her childhood, Angela was able to become fluent in both Japanese and English, allowing her to reach both markets with her music.

An independent artist, Angela released her first album in 2000 called These Words. Entirely in English, the album was accepted by the critics, and Angela became popular with the American audience. However, despite the success of the album, Angela wouldn't release again until 2005. Her mini-album One was released in Japan in early 2005, and was a huge success. She was signed for both the Japanese and English versions, which would later be released as a single in early 2006. Before the year was over, Angela released her first single, Home, which was a big success in Japan. A few months later in early 2006, Angela released another single, "Kokoro no Senshi", which featured a piano and vocal only version of "Eyes on Me", the vocal piece from Final Fantasy VIII. Since the track became available to the public, there has been debate among fans of the series as to which version of the track (Wong's or Aki's) is superior.

2006 would prove to be a busy year for Angela. After the success of her second single, her third would be right around the corner, and little did she know how big it would be. After the release of her album One, Nobuo Uematsu was introduced to Angela's musical style, as well as her pure vocals. She was approached by Square Enix and signed on to be the vocalist for "Kiss Me Good-Bye," the vocal theme for Final Fantasy XII. She was signed for both the Japanese and English versions, the latter featured in both versions of the game due to superior instrumental arrangement, and its single was released in March 2006. The Japanese version of the single included a particularly spectacular cover of "Whiter Shade of Pale," written by Procol Harum. The track features both English and Japanese lyrics, and is a excellent example of just why Angela is such a star. Later that year, Angela would release her third studio album, Home, which would become an instant success and further propel Angela's career.

Angela's career is only just starting, yet she has had massive exposure that is guaranteed to support her career for years to come. Having "Kiss Me Good-Bye" in her repertoire has been influential in her success as an artist, giving her not only thousands of fans through the game series, but also national attention when she preformed the track live at PLAY! A Video Game Symphony at the premiere in Chicago in 2006. Now that she has been signed to a major label, Sony Japan, it is only a matter of time before Angela's releases in Japan make their way over to the North American music scene. We can expect to see great things from her in the future.

List of Songs for Related Projects

List of Covered Albums