ZARD

was a Japanese pop group. Originally a group of five members, with lead vocalist Izumi Sakai as group leader. However, members started leaving the band from 1991 to 1993, leaving Sakai as the only original member of the group. Sakai died on May 27, 2007. Until her death, she was part of the record label B-Gram Records, Inc.

Contents

Career

Sakai's death

Discography

Singles

Albums

Compilations

DVD

Live albums

References

External links

Career

Zard made their debut in February 10 1991 with a single ''Good-bye My Loneliness''. By their third album ''Hold Me'', it appeared that the only member left in Zard was Izumi Sakai, and from that point on, she was the only member in that group. While she was the only member left, the band's name did not change. A member who left said that he regretted that she died so young as he hoped to perform with her some day when he matured in his artistic skills.
Sakai was also a very prolific lyricist. She wrote 150 songs during her 17-year career (except for two songs, and from their first album, ''Good-bye My Loneliness'', which was written by Dariya Kawashima,^[1] and released several books of poetry as well. Although 1992 and 2004 Japan Record Award winner Mr. Children also wrote about 150 songs, Sakai did not advertise aggressively as Mr. Children has. An editorial in ''Asahi Shimbun'' writes that the secret to Zard's success was that while the trend in Japan was decrease in number of music programs on television, Zard used late night commercials that aired her voice to advertise her works.
She also wrote songs for other artists, most notably, for J-pop groups Field of View, Wands and Deen, and the late mainland Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng. She also wrote the lyrics for and participated in the collaboration for the single "Hateshinai Yume o" featuring J-pop groups Zard, Zyyg, Rev & Wands. The single also featured famed Japanese baseball hero Shigeo Nagashima. Some of her singles were used in anime, such as Slam Dunk, Dragon Ball GT and Detective Conan. The lyrics of ''Dan Dan Kokoro Hikarete 'ku'' by Field of View, the opening theme song of Dragon Ball GT, is by Izumi Sakai. Afterward, Zard covered this song in ''Today is Another Day'' album.
Zard's most successful singles, ''Makenaide'' has been used as a theme song for Nippon Television program 24-hour TV, an annual Japanese television programming in which a celebrity host is on screen continually for a whole day. Sakai said that she was honored and looked forward to watching 24-hour TV. She also said that since ''Makenaide'' was widely appreciated by the public, she often felt as if that song was not hers to keep.
Zard was also known for being mysterious. This is partially because her record label did not release too much personal information on their artists, and also because she did not make that many personal appearances. She rarely appeared on any live TV music programs (e.g. TV Asahi's Music Station), which the main public relations tool for the record industry in Japan, since 1993 or do any public appearances. Her first concert was in 1999, which was held on a cruise ship for a mere 600 people in her fan club (300 entries x2 among 2 million concert ticket requests). Her first real concert tour, "What A Beautiful Moment Tour", was held in 2004, 13 years after her debut. Almost every single concert was sold out at the time. The tour ended up having 10 concerts spanning 4 months from March to July 2004, with a final concert held in the famed Nippon Budokan.
Zard was the most successful solo female singer in the 1990s (though originally Zard is a group). And Zard is #8 for overall total in Japan.^[2] She has had 11 singles reach the #1 spot on the Oricon Singles Charts, and 9 albums reach the #1 spot on the Oricon Album Charts.
Zard has released a total of 42 singles and 17 albums.

Sakai's death

Izumi Sakai passed away on May 27, 2007 at age 40 in Keio University Hospital. She was put in the hospital in June 2006 after discovering she had cervical cancer and had the tumor removed. In April 2007 however, the cancer had spread to her lungs, resulting her re-admittance in the hospital. According to the hospital, she took daily walks every morning. During her walk on May 26, she accidentally fell from the stairs and was discovered at around 5:00 a.m. JST. She was sent to the emergency room, but unfortunately, it was too late.^[3] an agency spokesman said:
She had planned to release a new album in the fall, as well as her first live tour in three years to show her fans that she was fighting strongly against her illnesses.
Rumors surfaced that the singer committed suicide, which her management strongly denies. ^[4]
A memorial service for fans was held on June 27 in a funeral hall in Aoyama, Tokyo. On the previous day, a memorial service for the people concerned was held and Maki Ohguro and Tetsuro Oda etc attended at this. At the same time, Tak Matsumoto and Koshi Inaba of B'z, Mai Kuraki and Shigeo Nagashima announced memorial comments for her. ^[5]
Two compilation albums are planned for release on August 15, one that includes a selection of Sakai's personal favorite songs, the other that includes favorites from her staff. A fan-selected compilation album is also planned for the fall. Two tribute concerts are planned to be held—one on September 7 at Osaka Festival Hall, and the other on September 14 at Tokyo Nippon Budokan. The two places were chosen because they were the first and last stops respectively of the ''What a beautiful moment Tour'' in 2004—the only tour that band has gone on. The tour will be called "What a Beautiful Memory". The concert will primarily feature a VTR recording of Sakai singing.

Discography

Singles

#	Title	Release date	Miscellaneous info.	Sold copies
1	"Good-bye My Loneliness"	1991-02-10		★ ,209,460
2		1991-06-25		★ , ★ 31,090
3		1991-11-06		★ , ★ 36,940
4		1992-08-05		★ ,458,480
5	"In My Arms Tonight"	1992-09-09		★ ,321,810
6		1993-01-27	''Highest-selling single''	1,645,010
7		1993-04-21		★ ,801,690
8		1993-05-19		1,396,420
9		1993-09-04		★ ,843,880
10		1993-11-03		★ ,872,130
11		1994-02-02		★ ,887,190
12		1994-08-08		★ ,787,660
13		1994-12-24		★ ,737,910
14	"Just Believe in Love"	1995-02-01		★ ,655,960
15		1995-06-05		★ ,720,790
16		1995-08-28		★ ,551,260
17		1996-01-08	''Closing theme to Slam Dunk.''	1,000,620
18		1996-05-06		★ ,746,980
19	"Don't You See!"	1997-01-06	''Closing theme to Dragon Ball GT.''	★ ,602,760
20		1997-02-26		★ ,635,840
21		1997-07-02		★ ,281,130
22		1997-08-20		★ ,628,770
23		1997-12-03		★ ,331,840
24		1998-03-04	''2nd opening theme to Cooking Master Boy''	★ ,240,740
25		1998-09-17	''4th opening theme to Detective Conan''	★ ,247,560
26		1998-12-02		★ ,205,170
27	"Good Day"	1998-12-02		★ ,223,950
28	"Mind Games"	1999-04-07		★ ,147,130
29		1999-06-16		★ ,201,410
30		1999-10-14		★ ,124,730
31		1999-12-01		★ ,129,700
32	"Get U're Dream"	2000-09-06		★ ,241,220
33	"Promised You"	2000-11-15		★ ,115,360
34		2002-05-22		★ , ★ 69,740
35		2003-04-09	''17th ending theme for Detective Conan''	★ , ★ 62,049
36		2003-07-09		★ , ★ 44,208
37		2003-11-12		★ , ★ 50,489
38		2004-06-23		★ , ★ 46,244
39		2004-11-24		★ , ★ 33,384
40		2005-04-20	''15th opening theme for Detective Conan / Theme song for ''	★ , ★ 79,816
41		2006-03-08	''24th ending theme for Detective Conan''	★ , ★ 32,038
42		2006-05-10		★ , ★ 24,913

Albums

#	Title	Released	Copies Sold
1	''Good-bye My Loneliness''	1991-03-27	★ ,253,740
2		1991-12-25	★ ,333,080
3	''Hold Me''	1992-09-02	1,605,190
4		1993-07-10	2,239,354
5	''Oh My Love''	1994-06-04	2,002,070
6	''Forever You''	1995-03-10	1,773,930
7	''Today is Another Day''	1996-07-08	1,655,430
8		1999-02-17	1,149,931
9		2001-02-15	★ ,371,350
10		2004-01-28	★ ,212,494
11		2005-09-07	★ ,151,840

Compilations

#	Title	Release date	Sold copies
1	''Zard Blend ~Sun & Stone~''	1997-04-23	2,004,699
2	''Zard Best the Single Collection ~Kiseki~''	1999-05-28	3,029,470
3	''Zard Best ~Requested Memorial~''	1999-09-15	1,496,804
4	''Zard Blend II ~Leaf & Snow~''	2001-11-21	★ 230,758
5	''Golden Best ~15th Anniversary~''	2006-10-25	★ 82,6911 (Still selling)
6	''Soffio di Vento ~Best of Izumi Sakai Sellection~''	2007-08-15	N/A
7	''Brezza di Mare ~Dedicated to Izumi Sakai~''	2007-08-15	N/A
8	''Zard Best ~Request Memorial II~''	Fall 2007	N/A

DVD

#	Title	Release date	Sold copies
1	''What A Beautiful Moment Zard''	2005-06-08	14,7656
2	''Le Portfolio 1991-2006 Zard''	2006-10-25	16,2681

Live albums

#	Title	Release date	Sold copies
1	''Zard Cruising & Live''	2000-01-26	★ ,305,550

References

1. Good-bye My Loneliness album notes
2. [1]
3. Female pop star Zard dies after fall
4. Rumors fly over whether 'Never Give Up' singer Izumi Sakai finally gave up
5. 長嶋茂雄名誉監督、B'z、倉木らが、坂井さんに追悼コメント News -Oricon Style-

External links

★ Wezard.net - Official Website

★ ShinKong - Official Website in Taiwan

★ Nippop profile

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