# Mao Abe

Mao Abe (阿部 真央, Abe Mao, born 24 January 1990) is a Japanese singer-songwriter.

## Biography

Abe started learning the piano from age three, and from junior high school she wanted to be a singer. She gave up the piano in favour of the guitar, wanting to be an acoustic pop singer/songwriter in the style of Canadian pop musician Avril Lavigne. While at high school she frequently busked and attended music auditions. In February 2006, on a morning when she had truanted from school, she wrote her first song, "My Baby". Late in mid-2006, she entered the Yamaha Teens' Music Festival's Ōita regional contest on the recommendation of a musical instrument store manager, and performed "My Baby". She won the grand prize, and later entered the country-wide version, where she won an honourable mention prize after performing "Haha no Uta" (母の唄, Mother Song).
After finishing high school, she moved to Tokyo and was signed to the record label Pony Canyon. Abe performed at many live events, including some high-profile events like the Rock in Japan Festival. From August until November, four acoustic demos of Abe songs were released on iTunes. The third of these, "My Baby", was chosen as the October iTunes Single of the Week free download song.
Abe released her first album Free in January 2009. The eponymous title track was released as a radio single, and did extremely well on radio stations: Abe reached #1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, despite only the airplay component counting towards her ranking (as opposed to airplay and physical sales, like most other releases).
Since the album, she has released three singles, the first two reaching the top 20 on the Oricon single charts. The third, "Itsu no Hi mo", reached #2 on the Japan Hot 100 chart, a week before the physical release of the single. The single was followed by her second album, Pop, which was her first top 5 album on the Oricon albums chart.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Peak positions | Sales (JPN) |
| Title | Album details | JPN | TWN East Asian | Sales (JPN) |
| Free | Released: January 21, 2009 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, digital download | 17 | 15 | 21,000 |
| Pop | Released: January 27, 2010 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, digital download | 5 | — | 54,000 |
| Su. (素。, "Naked") | Released: June 1, 2011 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, digital download | 6 | — | 41,000 |
| Tatakai wa Owaranai (戦いは終わらない, "The Fight Is Not Over") | Released: June 6, 2012 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, digital download | 6 | — | 28,000 |
| Anata o Suki na Watashi (貴方を好きな私, "The Me Who Likes You") | Released: August 28, 2013 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download | 7 | — | 17,000 |
| Oppajime! (おっぱじめ!, "Start!") | Released: February 18, 2015 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download | 7 | — | 14,000 |
| Babe. | Released: February 15, 2017 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download | 14 | — | |
| YOU | Released: March 7, 2018 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download | 18 | — | |
| Mada Ikemasu (まだいけます) | Released: January 22, 2020 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download | 14 | — | 4,300 |
| Not Unusual | Released: February 15, 2023 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, digital download | 22 | — | 2,130 |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. |||||

### Compilation albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales (JPN) |
| Title | Album details | JPN | Sales (JPN) |
| Single Collection 19—24 (シングルコレクション19-24, Shinguru Korekushon Naintīn Tuentifō) | Released: August 20, 2014 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, CD/DVD, digital download | 7 | 13,000 |
| Abe Mao Rental Best: Koi no Uta-hen (阿部真央 レンタルベスト ～恋の唄 編～, "Mao Abe Rental Best: Love Song Edition") | Released: September 16, 2015 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: rental CD | — | |
| Abe Mao Rental Best: Ōenka-hen (阿部真央 レンタルベスト ～応援歌 編～, "Mao Abe Rental Best: Fighting Song Edition") | Released: September 16, 2015 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: rental CD | — | |

### Live albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales (JPN) |
| Title | Album details | JPN | Sales (JPN) |
| 5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live 2014 @ Nippon Budōkan (阿部真央らいぶ2014@日本武道館) | Released: March 11, 2015 (JPN) Label: Pony Canyon Formats: CD, digital download | 159 | 1,000 |

### Singles
#### As a lead artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Sales (JPN) | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | JPN Oricon | JPN Hot 100 | Sales (JPN) | Certifications | Album |
| "Tsutaetai Koto" | 2009 | 19 | 11 | 13,300 | | Pop |
| "I Wanna See You" | 2009 | 19 | 39 | 13,300 | | Pop |
| "Anata no Koibito ni Naritai no Desu" | 2009 | 19 | 5 | 8,800 | | Pop |
| "Itsu no Hi mo" | 2010 | 12 | 2 | 9,200 | RIAJ (cellphone): Gold | Pop |
| "Lonely" | 2010 | 22 | 5 | 9,500 | | Su. |
| "19-sai no Uta" | 2010 | 20 | 8 | 6,000 | | Su. |
| "Mottō." (モットー。, "Mooore.") | 2011 | 20 | 9 | 7,800 | | Su. |
| "Hikari" (光, "Light") | 2011 | 20 | — | 7,800 | | Su. |
| "Soba ni Ite" (側にいて, "Come to Me") | 2011 | 22 | 18 | 7,800 | | Tatakai wa Owaranai |
| "Sekai wa Mada Kimi o Shiranai" (世界はまだ君を知らない, "The World Still Doesn't Know You") | 2012 | 22 | 11 | 6,600 | | Tatakai wa Owaranai |
| "Saigo no Watashi" (最後の私, "Me at the End") | 2013 | 20 | 34 | 6,200 | | Anata o Suki na Watashi |
| "Anata ga Suki na Watashi" (貴方が好きな私, "The Me You Like") | 2013 | 28 | 35 | 3,500 | | Anata o Suki na Watashi |
| "Boyfriend" | 2013 | 28 | — | 3,500 | | Anata o Suki na Watashi |
| "Believe in Yourself" | 2014 | 20 | 23 | 5,500 | | Single Collection 19—24 / Oppajime! |
| "Sorezore Arukidasō" (それぞれ歩き出そう, "Let's Walk Our Separate Ways") | 2014 | 29 | 24 | 3,500 | | Oppajime! |
| "You Changed My Life" | 2015 | 37 | — | 2,000 | | Non-album singles |
| "Kimi no Uta"/"Kotae" | 2019 | 35 | — | 1,200 | | Non-album singles |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. |||||||

#### As a featured artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | JPN Hot 100 | Album |
| "Bitansan Syndrome" (微炭酸シンドローム, "Soda Syndrome") (Kreva featuring Mao Abe) | 2011 | 97 | Go |

#### Promotional singles

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | Billboard Japan Hot 100 | Album |
| "Hitomishiri no Uta" (人見知りの唄, "Shy Song") | 2008 | — | Free |
| "My Baby" | 2008 | — | Free |
| "Free" | 2008 | 1 | Free |
| "Mada" (未だ, "Still") | 2010 | 23 | Pop |
| "Tatakai wa Owaranai" | 2012 | 27 | Tatakai wa Owaranai |
| "Tenshi wa Ita n da" (天使はいたんだ, "There Was an Angel") | 2013 | 83 | Anata o Suki na Watashi |
| "Yasashii Kotoba" (優しい言葉, "Kind Words") | 2015 | — | Oppajime! |
| "Haiagare My Way" (這い上がれ MY WAY, "Climb My Way") | 2015 | — | Oppajime! |
| "—" denotes items that did not chart. ||||

### Video albums

List of media, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak positions |
| Title | Album details | JPN DVD | JPN Blu-ray |
| Abe Mao Live No. 2 @ Zepp Tokyo (阿部真央らいぶNo.2@Zepp Tokyo) | Released: July 27, 2011 Label: Pony Canyon Formats: DVD | 33 | — |
| Abe Mao Live No. 4 @ Shibuya Kōkaidō (阿部真央らいぶNo.2@渋谷公会堂) | Released: December 5, 2012 Label: Pony Canyon Formats: DVD, Blu-ray | 18 | 35 |
| Abe Mao Live No. 5 @ Tokyo Kokusai Forum (阿部真央らいぶNo.5@東京国際フォーラム) | Released: March 19, 2014 Label: Pony Canyon Formats: DVD, Blu-ray | 45 | 41 |
| 5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live 2014 @ Nippon Budokan (5th Anniversary 阿部真央らいぶ2014@日本武道館) | Released: March 19, 2014 Label: Pony Canyon Formats: DVD, Blu-ray | 26 | 24 |

## Tours

* Abe Mao Live No. 0 (2009)
* Abe Mao Live No. 0.7 (2009)
* Abe Mao Live No. 1 (2010)
* Abe Mao Live No. 2 (2010)
* Abe Mao Live Natsu no Jin (2011)
* Abe Mao Live No. 3: Zepp to Quattro Dake de Gomen ne Tour (2011)
* Abe Mao Live No. 4 (2012)
* Abe Mao Hikigatari Live 2012 Fuyu: Christmas da yo! Kuru desho? Kuru yo ne!? no Maki (2012)
* Abe Mao Hikigatari Live 2013 Natsu (2013)
* Abe Mao Live No. 5 (2013)
* 5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live "Ochikarazoe, Negaimasu." Tour 2014 (2014)
* 5th Anniversary Abe Mao Live 2014 @ Nippon Budōkan (2014)