Honda Minako

Honda Minako was born on July 31, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan. She participated in the Star Tanjou program in the early 80s but did not win a record deal from it. In 1984 she participated in the Nagasaki Kayousai singing contest and won. She was then signed to the Toshiba EMI company and produced her first single "Satsui no Vacance." She held a nice steady run of top ten hits and became known as the Japanese Madonna for her imitation of Madonna's style, midriff showing tops, cross necklaces, even having a concert called "the virgin in concert"... In the late 80s her solo career seemed unstable so she formed an all-girl band called MINAKO and the WILD CATS which disbanded only a year later. As the band was up against Kikuchi Momoko and her band Ra Mu, who in the end did better one the charts. In 1990 she set her solo career aside and started taking formal acting and singing lessons and went on to perform in theatre. She played the role of Kim in the play "Miss Saigon" and became known from then on as the Miss Saigon of Japan. After her performances in Miss Saigon, Minako released an inspirational song "Tsubasa" in which she holds one note for 30 seconds! Shortly after, she began singing opera and making albums mixing pop with opera (how many idols do you know can sing opera as well as regular pop?) She also sang a lot of songs for animes including "Magic Knight Rayearth", "Hunter x Hunter", and "Ashita no Nadja". She has worked with many American musicians, such as Brian May and John Deacon from Queen, Gary Moore, and Joe Jackson from the Jacksons. In early 2005 she was discovered to have Leukemia and under went a lot of therapy, it went into remission and Minako began speaking at cancer benefits as well as continuing her musical career. In late 2005 her leukemia relapsed/came back and she underwent more therapies including blood transfusion. Sadly, on November 6, 2005, Minako lost her battle against leukemia. Minako was one of a kind, a shining starlet who will never be forgotten. It is reportedly said that Iwasaki Hiromi was her best friend, Hiromi even sang Minako's "Tsubasa" in a memorial concert for her. Minako's more famous singles are "Satsui no Vacance", "Temptation", "1986nen no Marilyn", and "Tsubasa."

Personal Favorite Minako Song: HELP
Number ones: 0
Top ten percentage: 11 out of 29 songs = 38%

Singles

#	Song Title	Release Date	Highest Position	My Rating	Picture
1.	Satsui no Vacance	4/20/1985	21	8/10
2.	Suki to ii nasai	7/20/1985	21	7/10
3.	Aoi shuumatsu	8/31/1985	23	8/10
4.	Temptation	9/28/1985	10	8/10
5.	1986nen no Marilyn	2/5/1986	3	9/10
6.	Sosotte	5/1/1986	3	8/10
7.	HELP	7/23/1986	2	9/10
8.	-the Cross- ai no juujika	9/3/1986	5	8/10
9.	Oneway Generation	2/4/1987	2	7/10
10.	CRAZY NIGHTS	4/22/1987	10	7/10
11.	HEART BREAK	6/22/1987	3	7/10
12.	Kodoku na Hurricane	9/9/1987	2	8/10
13.	Kanashimi SWING	11/25/1987	3	9/10
14.	Anata to, nettai (w/ WILD CATS)	7/6/1988	10	7/10
15.	Stand Up ~Full Metal Armor (w/ WILD CATS)	11/30/1988	59	8/10
16.	Katte ni sasete (w/ WILD CATS)	5/31/1989	49	7/10
17.	7th Bird "Ai ni koi"	10/11/1989	53	-
18.	SHANGRI-LA	7/4/1990	62	7/10
19.	Tsubasa	5/25/1994	62	10/10
20.	Lullaby~Yasashiku dakasete	5/10/1995	19	8/10
21.	Boku no heya de kurasou	7/26/1995	99	-
22.	Fall In Love With You	11/6/1995	-	-
23.	shining eyes	7/21/1996	-	6/10
24.	Kaze no uta	11/21/1999	-	7/10
25.	Honey	10/21/2000	-	-
26.	Hoshizora	1/24/2001	-	-
27.	Nadja!!	2/21/2003	-	6/10
28.	Shinsekai	5/14/2004	85	7/10
29.	Amazing Grace (w/ Hailey Westenra)	5/21/2008	-	8/10