Tribute for YUKI

Hello everyone. Do you know the singer known as YUKI? She was in a popular band called ‘Judy and Mary’. Since the band broke up in 2011, she became a solo artist. I have been a big fan of her for more than 10 years. Today, I would like to talk about her life, her music, and why I think she is so great.
YUKI was born in Hokkaido. After she graduated from short term university, she started working as a tour guide. She met a guitarist, Kaito Onda, who changed her life completely. With his musical talent and YUKI’s unique style, they became really popular so quickly. They were one of the biggest bands in Japan in the 90’s. What I like about her is not just her unique style. When she was working as a tour guide, she had a nasty boss who did not treat her well. When she quit the job to be a singer, the boss laughed at her and told her ‘you can never be a singer. You are a normal person.’ Then Yuki replied ‘No, I will be a singer. In 5 years, I will be on TV shows everywhere and will be one of the most popular singers in Japan.’ 5 years later, true to her word she was actually on TV shows and became one of the most popular singers in Japan.
Her musical style is totally different from others. YUKI has a childlike voice. But her music has huge messages behind them. Sometimes it is about animal nature, human society and life. I really like the quirky style. Her songs are made of a mixture of innocence and maturity. Her music gave me power so many times when I was feeling down.
In 2005, her one year and 11 month old son died of an unknown illness. The night before her son died, she said good night and left him on the bed. In the morning she found him cold. She wrote a song for him called ‘long dream’. After that happened, her musical style changed completely. It was slow and sad. But after awhile, her smile and unique styled music came back.
I recently went to see YUKI performing live, and the experience is something I will never forget. At the end of performance, she stood on the center of the stage and said ‘Thank you for coming and being part of the stage tonight’ without microphone. That’s how she shows her appreciation for her fans.
She taught me a lot of stuff through her music. She also gave me the power when I needed it, and her songs taught me many things I needed for life. As I’ve been a huge fan of her, she is my hero and she always will be in my whole life.

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