Sayuri Sugawara

Sayuri Sugawara 菅原紗由理
Birth name	Sayuri Sugawara
Born	June 29, 1990 (1990-06-29) (age 21) Yokote, Akita, Japan
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2008–present
Labels	For Life Music
Website	Official site

Sayuri Sugawara (菅原 紗由理, Sugawara Sayuri^?, born June 29, 1990) is a Japanese singer. She has recently gained recognition outside of Japan for the song "Because You're Here" (君がいるから, Kimi ga Iru Kara^?), the theme song for the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII.^[1]

Biography

In January 2008, Sayuri Sugawara participated in the "7 Days Audition" and the "30 Days Audition". She won both auditions and received a contract with For Life Music Entertainment. On December 17, 2008, Sugawara released her first song digitally through Chaku Uta; Destiny is sampled from Franz Liszt's classical masterpiece Liebesträume and featured rapper Feros. In April 2009, Sugawara released her debut mini-album, Kimi ni Okuru Uta.

Following the digital success of her debut song, Sugawara released her debut single Ano Hi no Yakusoku on September 30, 2009. On September 3, 2009, at the Final Fantasy XIII premiere, it was announced that she would perform its theme song, Kimi ga Iru Kara. Composed by Masashi Hamauzu, Sugawara performed the song with a live orchestral accompaniment at the premiere. A single for Kimi ga Iru Kara was released on December 2, two weeks before the release date of Final Fantasy XIII.

Her first album, First Story, was released on January 27, 2010. And peaked at number 14 on the Oricon charts, selling 10,217 copies. Sugawara's third single, Sunao ni Narenakute, released May 19, 2010 was used as the insert song for the drama of the same title: Sunao ni Narenakute, starring Eita and Ueno Juri. Also on September 1, 2010, Sugawara's fourth single, "Suki to Iu Kotoba", was used as the theme song to the 2010 version of the drama; Kasouken no Onna. On October 16 and 24, Sugawara held her first live tour at Shinsaibashi and Shibuya Club Quattro titled "Sugawara Sayuri Live Tour - The One". And also held school festival live tours in November at Touhou, Kitasato and Momoyama Universities.

On December 22, 2010, Sugawara released her second mini album, Close To You, starting the second chapter of her career.

Starting January 4, 2011 and for the next six months, Sayuri will be a regular on FM Osaka as a DJ. The pre-recorded performance will be broadcast every other week on a Tuesday night at 9 o'clock. The show is titled; "E∞Tracks Selection, Sugawara Sayuri no Osaka Manyuu Nikki" [Sugawara Sayuri's Osaka Pleasure Trip Diary]

After releasing her latest mini-album, Close To You, in December 2010, Sugawara embarked on a mini live tour titled "Close To You" in late February 2011, with performances at Club Quattro in Shinsaibashi on February 25 and Nagoya's E.L.L. on March 2, finally, the final tour took place in Akasaka on March 4, 2011. Over 1,000 fans packed into Akasaka Blitz for the final concert of the tour.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Main article: Sayuri Sugawara discography

Studio albums Kimi ni Okuru Uta (mini-album) (2009) First Story (2010) References ^ 「ファイナルファンタジー」シリーズ最新作「FINAL FANTASY XIII」のテーマソングが、菅原紗由理に決定！ | SQUARE ENIX External links Official site Sayuri Sugawara on Twitter Persondata Name Sugawara, Sayuri Alternative names Short description Date of birth June 29, 1990 Place of birth Date of death Place of death