MARI HAMADA

b. 18 July 1962, Tokyo, Japan. The top-grossing female rock artist in her home country of Japan (where she regularly outsells Madonna), Hamada was brought up on the exported sounds of Pat Benatar, Linda Ronstadt and Heart. She was impressed enough to follow the trail back to America in the hope of consulting their writers and producers, and found a sympathetic hearing at MCA Records, who signed her to her first international deal. However, by this time she already had an established career, which began when she formed a rock band which she sang with in school. She joined Misty...