Ai (singer)

, known mononymously as **Ai** (, stylized as **AI** or **A.I.** ), is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter, record producer, spokeswoman, and actress. She is best known in Japan for her 2005 single "Story", which became one of the biggest singles of the 2000s in Japan, peaking at number 8 on the Japanese Oricon singles chart, and was the sixth single in history to receive a triple million digital certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

### 2000–2001: M_y Name Is Ai_

Ai released her debut single "Cry, Just Cry" in 2000 shortly after graduating high school. She released two additional singles from the album before it was released on her birthday in 2001.

### 2003–2004: _Original Ai_ and _2004 Ai_

In 2003, Ai signed to Def Jam Japan after her previous album was a commercial failure. With the release of _Original Ai_ in 2003, she began to rise in popularity in Japan. Her third album, _2004 Ai_, became her first album to receive a certification from the RIAJ.

### 2005–2007: "Story", _Mic-a-holic Ai_, _What's Goin' on Ai_ and _Don't Stop Ai_

In 2005, Ai moved to Island Records. Later that year, she released her best-selling single in her career, "Story". Her fourth album, _Mic-a-holic Ai_, was released later that year. She released her fifth album, _What's Goin' On Ai_ in 2006 and her sixth, _Don't Stop Ai_ in 2007.

### 2008–2010: _Viva Ai_, _Best Ai_ and _The Last Ai_

In March 2009, Ai released her seventh studio album, _Viva Ai_. Later that year, her first greatest hits album, _Best Ai_ was released. _Best Ai_ became Ai's first number one album on the Japan Oricon Albums chart. In December 2010, she released her eighth album, _The Last Ai_.

### 2011–2013: _Independent_ and _Moriagaro_

In 2011, Ai left Universal Music Group and signed a global music publishing deal with EMI to release her music worldwide. She signed a record deal with EMI Music Japan . Her first single with the label, "Letter in the Sky" featured The Jacksons and was released in October 2011. It was the groups first single in 22 years. Her second single "Happiness" became one of her best selling singles since "Story". Her ninth album, _Independent_ was released in 2012. In 2013, following the purchase of EMI by Universal, Ai was moved to EMI Records Japan. She released one album under the label, _Moriagaro_ in 2013 before the label was divided into two separate sublabels.

### 2015–2016: _The Best_

In November 2015, Ai released a compilation album, _The Best_, to celebrate fifteen years in the music industry. It marked her first album release under EMI Records. The compilation album was reissued in mid-2016. A third compilation release of tracks with featured artists titled _The Feat. Best_ was issued in November 2016.

### 2017: _Wa to Yo_

In 2017, Ai teased her eleventh studio album, _Wa to Yo_. It was released in June 2017. A deluxe version of the album was released in October 2017.

### 2019–2022: Twenty-year anniversary and _Dream_

In early 2019, Ai traveled to her hometown, Los Angeles, California, to record new material to celebrate twenty years in the music industry and for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Her fourth compilation album, _Kansha!!!!! - Thank You for 20 Years New and Best_, was released in November 2019, serving as her first international compilation release. Ai's extended play, _It's All Me, Vol. 1_ was planned to be released on the start of the 2020 Olympics, but instead was delayed to July after the event was postponed to summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lead single of _It's All Me, Vol. 1_, "Summer Magic" was her first single to be released internationally in May 2019. Its Japanese version was included in an advertisement for the Amazon Echo.

In February 2021, she released _It's All Me, Vol. 2_ and a digital compilation extended play, _Self Selection Hip Hop_. In June 2021, most of her early discography was made available to stream and purchase digitally outside of Asia. Before, only _Independent_, _Wa to Yo_ and releases after January 2019 were available. Additionally in June, Ai released "The Moment", a single featuring Japanese rapper Yellow Bucks. In August, she released a collaboration single with Daichi Miura titled "In the Middle". In September, EMI issued her second compilation EP, _Self Selection "Piano Ballad"_. In September 2021, Ai announced her next single, "Aldebaran". The song serves as the theme song for the NHK television drama, _Come Come Everybody_. Upon its release in November, it became her first charting single on the _Billboard Japan_ Hot 100 since her 2017 single, "Kira Kira". The song debuted and peaked at number 37 on the chart. On the Oricon charts, "Aldebaran" peaked at number 4 on the Daily Digital Singles Chart and number 6 on the weekly Digital Singles Chart. In December 2021, Ai announced her twelfth studio album, _Dream_ would be released in February 2022.

### 2023: _Respect All_, Respect All Tour, upcoming global tour

In April 2023, Ai announced her fourteenth headlining concert tour, the Respect All Tour. A single titled after the tour was released on May 22. In May, Ai performed live in Hiroshima on the same day the 49th G7 summit took place. Ai performed and gave a speech to the spouses of world leaders, including First Lady Jill Biden and Akshata Murty. Within that same month, a global tour additionally was announced by her management company where Ai will raise donations for UNICEF Japan.

In June 2023, Ai announced her thirteenth studio album, _Respect All_. Released in August, the album featured Nestlé Japan's Kit Kat campaign song, "Start Again", as well as "Life Goes On", the image song for the Japanese film _Haru ni Chiru_.

## Personal life

When Ai was four, she moved from Los Angeles to Kagoshima. She had a difficult time learning Japanese and making friends. She was only able to talk to her mother, Barbara, who was born and raised in the United States and only knew English.

After graduating junior high school, Ai and her family moved back to Los Angeles. She was uninterested in enrolling in high school because she wanted to sing. She registered at Glendale High School and struggled to communicate in English. She later auditioned for Los Angeles County High School for Arts. She took ballet while enrolled.

In 2014, Ai became engaged to Hiro, the leader and vocalist of the rock band Kaikigesshoku. The pair had been dating for 10 years, and wed in January 2014. On August 28, 2015, Ai gave birth to her first child, a baby girl. On July 24, 2018, it was revealed Ai was pregnant with her second child. Her second child, a boy, was born on December 29, 2018.

In 2019, Ai revealed her annoyance of when searching her name online, the results only show for artificial intelligence. An outdoor advertisement at Shinjuku Station that was promoting her 2019 single "Summer Magic" included an image of a search engine with the top results displaying images of artificial intelligence, with a photo of Ai herself cut off at the bottom of the image.

### Studio albums

|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Year|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Album|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|<small></small>|<small></small> <small>HOT ALBUMS</small>||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center;"|2001|style="text-align:left;"|_My Name Is Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|86|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|
|style="text-align:center;"|2003|style="text-align:left;"|_Original Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|15|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|
|style="text-align:center;"|2004|style="text-align:left;"|_2004 Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|3|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|
|style="text-align:center;"|2005|style="text-align:left;"|_Mic-a-holic Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|4|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|11|
|style="text-align:center;"|2006|style="text-align:left;"|_What's Goin' On Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|2|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|18|
|style="text-align:center;"|2007|_Don't Stop Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|4|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|16||
|style="text-align:center;"|2009|_Viva Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|10|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—||
|style="text-align:center;"|2010|_The Last Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|14|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—||
|style="text-align:center;"|2012|_Independent_|style="text-align:center;"|2|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—||
|style="text-align:center;"|2013|_Moriagaro_|style="text-align:center;"|5|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—||
|style="text-align:center;"|2017|_Wa to Yo_|style="text-align:center;"|11|style="text-align:center;"|19|style="text-align:center;"|—||
|style="text-align:center;"|2022|_Dream_|style="text-align:center;"|12|style="text-align:center;"|11|style="text-align:center;"|—||
|style="text-align:center;"|2023|_Respect All_|style="text-align:center;"|17|style="text-align:center;"|30|style="text-align:center;"|—||

### Compilation albums

|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Year|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Album|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|<small></small>|<small></small> <small>HOT Albums</small>||<small></small> <small>Overseas</small>||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="2"  style="text-align:center;"|2004|style="text-align:left;"|_Flashback to Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|55|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|
|style="text-align:left;"|_Feat. Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|33|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|||
|style="text-align:center;"|2009|style="text-align:left;"|_Best Ai_|style="text-align:center;"|1|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|18|style="text-align:center;"|46|
|style="text-align:center;"|2015|style="text-align:left;"|_The Best_|style="text-align:center;"|3|style="text-align:center;"|2|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|
|style="text-align:center;"|2016|style="text-align:left;"|_The Feat. Best_|style="text-align:center;"|28|style="text-align:center;"|33|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|
|style="text-align:center;"|2018|_Side By Side_|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—||
|style="text-align:center;"|2019|_Kansha!!!!! - Thank You for 20 Years New and Best_|style="text-align:center;"|29|style="text-align:center;"|28|style="text-align:center;"|—|style="text-align:center;"|—||

### Extended plays

|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Year|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Album|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|<small></small>|<small></small> <small>HOT 100</small>||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center;"|2020|style="text-align:left;"|_It's All Me, Vol. 1_|style="text-align:center;"|18|style="text-align:center;"|18|
|style="text-align:center;"|2021|style="text-align:left;"|_It's All Me, Vol. 2_|style="text-align:center;"|52|style="text-align:center;"|47|

#### Compilation extended plays

|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Year|style="width:auto; text-align:center;"|Album|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2021|style="text-align:left;"|_Self Selection "Hip Hop"_|
|style="text-align:left;"|_Self Selection "Piano Ballad"_|||

### Singles

|scope="col" style="width:1em;"|Year|scope="col" style="width:12em;"|Song|scope="col"|<small></small>|<small></small> <small>HOT 100</small>|scope="col" style="width:12em;"|Album|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2000|style="text-align:left;"|"Cry Just Cry"|—|—|rowspan="3"|_My Name Is Ai_|||
|rowspan="2"|2001|style="text-align:left;"|"U Can Do"|—|—||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Shining Star"|98|—||||||
|rowspan="4"|2003|style="text-align:left;"||27|—|rowspan="4"|_Original Ai_||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Thank U"|37|—||||||
|style="text-align:left;"||rowspan="2"|35|—|||||
|style="text-align:left;"||—|||||||
|rowspan="3"|2004|style="text-align:left;"|"After the Rain"|32|—|rowspan="3"|_2004 Ai_||
|style="text-align:left;"|"EO"|23|—||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Watch Out!" <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Afra, Tucker)</span>|62|—||||||
|rowspan="3"|2005|style="text-align:left;"|"365" <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Deli)</span>|20|—|_Mic-a-holic Ai_|||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Crayon Beats"|40|—||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Story"|8|7|_Mic-a-holic Ai_|||||
|rowspan="2"|2006|style="text-align:left;"|"Believe"|2|—|rowspan="2"|_What's Goin' On Ai_||
|style="text-align:left;"|"I Wanna Know"|9|—||||||
|rowspan="3"|2007|style="text-align:left;"|"Brand New Day"|rowspan="2"|13|—|rowspan="4"|_Don't Stop Ai_|
|style="text-align:left;"|"I'll Remember You"|—|||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"One"|18|—||||||
|rowspan="3"|2008|style="text-align:left;"||22|9||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"So Special" <span style="font-size:85%;">(with Exile Atsushi)</span>|rowspan="2"|15|14|rowspan="3"|_Viva Ai_|||
|style="text-align:left;"||58|||||||
|2009|style="text-align:left;"|"You Are My Star"|36|11|||||
|rowspan="4"|2010|style="text-align:left;"|"Fake" <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Namie Amuro)</span>|8|5|rowspan="4"|_The Last Ai_||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Still..." <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring AK-69)</span>|15|27||||||
|style="text-align:left;"||60|53||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Stronger" <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Miliyah Kato)</span>|26|30||||||
|rowspan="2"|2011|style="text-align:left;"|"Letter in the Sky" <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring The Jacksons)</span>|rowspan="2"|14|36|rowspan="3"|_Independent_|
|style="text-align:left;"|"Happiness"|2|||||||
|2012|style="text-align:left;"|"Beautiful Life"|—|65|||||
|rowspan="2"|2013|style="text-align:left;"|"Voice"|13|2|rowspan="2"|_Moriagaro_||
|style="text-align:left;"||—|6||||||
|rowspan="2"|2014|style="text-align:left;"|"Let It Be" <span style="font-size:85%;">(with Tee)</span>|84|47||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Story (English Version)"|—|—|_Big Hero 6 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)_|||||
|2015|style="text-align:left;"|"Be Brave" <span style="font-size:85%;">(with Exile Atsushi)</span>|7|12|_40_||||
|rowspan="6"|2016|style="text-align:left;"|"Minna ga Minna ga Eiyū"|—|4|_The Best_|||
|style="text-align:left;"|"No More" <span style="font-size:85%;">(with Exile Atsushi)</span>|||40|||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"I'm the Champion"|—|—|rowspan="6"|_Wa to Yo_||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Happy Christmas"|rowspan="3"|55|—|||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Heiwa"|—|||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Miracle"|84|||||||
|rowspan="2"|2017|style="text-align:left;"|"Justice Will Prevail at Last"|—|74||||
|style="text-align:left;"|<span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Naomi Watanabe)</span>|—|19||||||
|rowspan="3"|2019|style="text-align:left;"|"Summer Magic"|—|—|rowspan="2"|_It's All Me, Vol. 1_||
|style="text-align:left;"|"You Never Know"|—|—||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Baby You Can Cry"|—|—|_Kansha!!!!! - Thank You for 20 Years New and Best_|||||
|rowspan="4"|2020|style="text-align:left;"||—|—|rowspan="3"|_It's All Me, Vol. 1_||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Good as Gold"|—|—||||||
|style="text-align:left;"||—|—||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Not So Different" <span style="font-size:85%;">(Solo or featuring Awich)</span>|—|—|_It's All Me, Vol. 2_|||||
|rowspan="3"|2021|style="text-align:left;"|"The Moment" <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Yellow Bucks)</span>|—|—|rowspan="3"|_Dream_||
|style="text-align:left;"|"In the Middle" <span style="font-size:85%;">(featuring Daichi Miura)</span>|—|—||||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Aldebaran"|—|37||||||
|2022|style="text-align:left;"|"Start Again"|—|—|rowspan="3"|_Respect All_|||
|rowspan="2"|2023|style="text-align:left;"|"Respect All"|—|—||||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Life Goes On"|—|—||||||

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **origin**: Tokyo, Japan
- **embed**: yes
- **instrument**: Vocals


## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Ai
- **image**: 49th G7 Youth Symposium 2023-05-19 184739 (Ai crop).jpg
- **caption**: Ai at the 49th G7 summit in 2023
- **native name lang**: ja
- **birth name**: Ai Carina Uemura
- **birth place**: Los Angeles, California,
- **nationality**: American
Japanese
- **years active**: 1998–present
- **children**: 2