Olivia Longott

Olivia is not one of the easiest talents to pin down in Japanese pop, and not only because she is half-Japanese, half-American. She debuted in 1996 in the short-lived all-girl group D&D before going solo, and her musical eclecticism, whispery vocals, sometimes dark themes, and gothic look put her out of sync with J-pop's mainstream -- namely the shiny Euro-beat of Ayumi Hamasaki, the sultry R&B of Namie Amuro, and the polished ballads of Hikaru Utada. Olivia Lufkin was born in Okinawa on December 9, 1979, to a Japanese mother and American father, and got her first taste of sh...