Nana Kitade born May 2, 1987 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō) is a Japanese rock and pop singer-songwriter and musician. She was signed on with Sony Music Japan. She is particularly famous for dressing and designing Gothic Lolita fashion, something that many of her fans have in common with her. Many of her songs were used as anime, TV shows, doramas and movie opening/ending/image themes. In September 2009, it was announced she would become vocalist of her new band Loveless. In 2010, Nana Kitade and her band toured Japan promoting Loveless and signed a record deal with German based label "Spark & Shine". In March 2011, it was announced Nana Kitade and her band Loveless would be touring in Europe.
1987-2001: Early Life
As a child, Kitade wanted to be a singer and or an anime artist. She started learning the piano at the age of three, and wrote her own lyrics at twelve. In junior high school, she became a fan of Ringo Shiina and learned to play the guitar, traveling frequently to Tokyo for singing lessons
2002-2009: Solo Career
In February 2002 Kitade passed a Sony Music Japan audition and was chosen as the Sapporo area representative and was given the opportunity to debut as a singer.
In March, 2003, the demo which she submitted caught the attention of Susumu Nishikawa, session guitarist and Ringo Shina's sideman at the time of the debut. She signed a deal with SME Records, a subgroup of Sony Music Japan. On August 1, 2005 Nana Kitade participated in the Hong Kong Comic Festival 2005.
On October 29, 2003, she debuted with the single "Kesenai Tsumi", which was used as the first ending theme song of the popular anime Fullmetal Alchemist. The single reached number 14 on the Oricon charts and stayed on the charts for twenty-two weeks. With the success of "Kesenai Tsumi", Kitade then released "Kesenai Tsumi: Raw 'Breath' Track", a slower version of the song, which charted the Oricon charts and peaked at number 87.
After Kitade's debut single, her CD sales began to steadily decline on the Oricon charts. However, her first album 18: Eighteen reached number 15 and charted for five weeks. Following the release of her album she released Nana Kitade: 18Movies, which contained videos of all her singles from her album, and live performances from her first one-man band show, Showcasing her album.
After the release of "Pureness/Nanairo" (Pureness was used as the ending theme for the anime series Beet the Vandel Buster, Kitade's clothing style began to slowly switch to Gothic Lolita. Her new image was fully revealed with the release of the single "Kiss or Kiss", which is her highest ranking single, reaching number 11. During the releases of "Kiss or Kiss" and "Kanashimi no Kizu" (ending theme song for the PlayStation 2 game Fullmetal Alchemist 3: Kami o Tsugu Shoujo her Gothic Lolita clothing was more subtle, but then changed drastically with the release of her eight single, "Slave of Kiss", which contained a cover of the Princess Princess' song "Kiss" and an English version of her fifth single "Kiss or Kiss".
Although by this time Kitade's popularity had dwindled, she developed a small fan base in areas such as The United States, England, France, Germany, China, and Tokyo,[citation needed] gaining the interest of Lolita clothing companies such as Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, of which she has repeatedly stated to be her favorite brand. Other than Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, Kitade is a regular model in the magazines Kera and the Gothic & Lolita Bible. She has become a fashion icon for many teenage girls and is popular among those of Lolita subculture.[citation needed]
On August 1, 2005 Nana Kitade participated in the Hong Kong Comic Festival 2005.
Beginning on April 27, 2006, Kitade released 13 singles in a row. These were available exclusively via cell phone downloads, each for 100 yen. Each single was released on the 7th, 17th, or 27th of each month until August 27, 2006. Most of the songs were covers of 1980s hit songs, but a few tracks were new. In July 2006, Kitade released a her first mini cover album Cutie Bunny, containing six of her recent download singles, including "Moonlight Densetsu" (opening theme for the anime series Sailor Moon) and "Lum no Love song" (from the anime series Urusei Yatsura).
She was one of the musical guests at Otakon 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her album 18: Eighteen was also released in the United States through Tofu Records on July 11, 2006 with the bonus track "Kiss or Kiss" (English version).
The end of 2006 brought about Kitade's second album, I Scream, which contained the single "Kibou no Kakera" (Opening theme for the anime series Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z) and "Slave of Kiss" A-side track "Sweet Frozen Kiss", as well a remake of Greenday's "Basket Case". The album had a more punk-rock feel on it than her previous work and the music for this record was more complex and elaborated than previous one, with a more dark, loud, and lively tune, but due a low promotion and publicity, the album did not sell well, only charting for a week, peaking at number 150 on the Oricon chart.
In 2007, Kitade found herself in the spotlight again, releasing her ninth single "Antoinette Blue" (ending theme for the anime serie D.Gray-Man) which reached number 34 on the Oricon charts. The single lead-up to her first best of album entitled Berry Berry Singles which featured all of her singles including remakes of "Kesenai Tsumi" and "Alice", and a remake of Daisy Chainsaw's "Love Your Money", which were all composed by ex-Megadeth member Marty Friedman. The album was not promoted that much and only peaked at number 95 on the Oricon chart. In France, Kitade has also performed at Japan Expo9, which took place in Paris in 2007. Her best-of album Berry Berry Singles includes footage of her travel and performances there and was later released in Europe on March 5, 2008.
2008 found Kitade releasing the singles "Suicides Love Story" (ending theme for the anime series Persona: Trinity Soul), "Siren" (theme song for the Japanese version of the Canadian series Ruby Gloom), which was composed once again for Megadeth's former member Marty Friedman with a fast, funny, metal-rock-pop sound, and "Punk&Baby's", which all charted lower than number 60 on the Oricon chart. On July 23, 2008 a cover of Cyndi Lauper's 1983 hit "She Bop" was featured on We Love Cyndi - Tribute to Cyndi Lauper album, track 9. In August 2008 Kitade was featured at the 10th anniversary of AnimagiC Convention in Bonn, Germany.
Recently Kitade's song "月華-tsukihana" was featured as the opening theme for the anime series Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae by Aniplex which charted at number 27 on the Oricon chart, her highest in two years. Kitade later released her third full length album, Bondage, which debuted at number 85 on the Oricon weekly charts, higher than her previous releases. On May 5, 2009 it was announced on Kitade's official website that she had to cancel an upcoming live due to poor physical health. It was also announced a month later that she would be taking a break from all activities due to poor physical health, and that details would be posted on her site as soon as she recovers
2009-Present: Loveless
On October 2, 2009 it was announced on Kitade's official website that she would make her return as the vocalist of her new band, Loveless, although the official Loveless website had been open beforehand with a personal message from Kitade. She showcased live as "the eve" of her revival on the same day. Bassist Hiroki, who is known as a tour member of bands, such as Penicillin and guitarist Taizo (ex-Feel), participated in this band. Currently Taizo is the only member other than Kitade not listed as "Live support". Kitade held the revival live, titled the "Birth festival", at Shibuya eggman on October 7. On October 11 a message on Loveless' site announced Kitade's contract with SME Records had come to an end. Loveless also participated in the large Visual kei festival, "V-Rock Festival09" on October 25. She performed and model during a fashion show.
In 2010, Nana Kitade, along with her new band Loveless, performed live shows throughout Tokyo. On October 9, at Shinjuku Marz. Nana Kitade held her first live Visualand Internet broadcast. Unfortunately bad weather prevented the performance from being broadcast live, However the live show was later transmitted via Ustream on October 24.
In December 2010 Loveless was official signed with Germany record label "Spark & Shine". In March 2011 Loveless began touring across Europe before finally releasing their debut in June 2011, titled "Ai to Hate". Chronology 2003 October 29 - Debuted with the single "Kesenai Tsumi", which was featured as the first ending for the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi). It ranked number 14 on the Oricon Charts and is her best selling single to date. November 1 - Appeared on the NHK television program Pop-jam. July 25 - First national in-store tour was performed until August 15. She toured 7 cities, with 8 public performances. 2004 February 4 - Release of her second single, "Utareru ame". It ranked number 55 on the Oricon Chart. July 22 - Release of her third single, "Hold Heart". It ranked number 95 on the Oricon Chart. September 30 - The song "Pureness" was featured as the ending theme of the anime Beet the Vandel Buster (Bouken'ou Beet). November 17 - Release of her fourth single, "Pureness/Nanairo", which ranked number 60 on the Oricon Chart. 2005 June 1 - Released of her fifth single, "Kiss or Kiss, which ranked number 11 on the Oricon Charts. It was the theme song of the Nippon Television drama anego. July 20 - Release of her sixth single, "Kanashimi no Kizu", which ranked number 26 on the Oricon chart. It was the theme song of PS2 game Fullmetal Alchemist 3: Kami wo Tsugu Shoujo. August 1 - Participated in the Hong Kong Comic Festival 2005. She was the first Japanese person to participate in the festival.[citation needed] August 24 - First album 18: Eighteen was released. It ranked number 16 on the Oricon chart. Track 6, "Alice", was used as the image song for the movie Shinku. August 28 - Participated in Bokura no Ongaku Live on the Odaiba Bouken'ou specially installed stage. A part of this was shown to the public on Bokura no Ongaku 2 September 7 - Held her first one-man live show, which was titled Nana Kitade Live Showcase '18: Eighteen', in Shibuya-Ax. December 7 - Nana Kitade: 18Movies DVD released. The DVD consists of all her music videos up until this point, clips from her one-man live show, commercials for her releases, and a studio recording of "Kesenai Tsumi". 2006 February 8 - Release of her seventh single, "Slave of Kiss", which ranked number 79 on the Oricon Charts. Track 1, "Kiss", is a cover of a Princess Princess song of the same name. A month later, the song was included on the Princess Princess tribute album 14 Princess: Princess Princess Children as track 2. The single includes an English version of Kitade's fifth single, "Kiss or Kiss" and also "Sweet Frozen Kiss" later included on her I Scream album. June 6 - American anime convention Otakon announced that she would be a musical guest for Otakon 2006 in August. July 12 - Release of her first mini-album Cutie Bunny. August 2 - Made an in-store performance at San Francisco's Virgin Megastore. She gave her first US radio interview with EigoMANGA's radio program, Shibuya Airwaves. August 4 - Made her first East Coast performance at the Ram's Head Live at Otakon. October 4 - Release of her eighth single "Kibou no Kakera", which ranked number 64 on the Oricon Chart. It was used as the opening theme song for the anime Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z. December 6 - Release of second full-length album I Scream in Japan which featured a cover of Greenday's "Basket Case". 2007 July 3 - The song "Antoinette Blue" is the fourth ending theme for the anime D.Gray-man. July 7 - Performance at Japan Expo in Paris. September 5 - Release of her ninth single, "Antoinette Blue". It was used as an ending theme for the anime D.Gray-man. November 14 - Release of her first compilation album ,Berry Berry Singles. 2008 March 5 - Release of her tenth single, "Suicides Love Story", which ranked number 64 on the Oricon Chart. It was used as the ending theme to the Aniplex anime Persona: Trinity Soul. March 26 - Release of her 11th single, "Siren", which ranked number 189 on the Oricon chart. It was used as the theme song to the Japanese dub of Ruby Gloom. Nana Kitade used the alias Ruby Gloom for this song. July 23 - Release of her 12th single, "Punk&Baby's", which ranked number 108 on the Oricon charts. It was used as the introduction theme song to the TV program Rank Okoku for June and July 2008. July 23 - Cover Of Cyndi Lauper's 1983 hit "She Bop" was featured on We Love Cyndi - Tribute to Cyndi Lauper album as track 9. August 1 - Nana Kitade was announced as a musical guest at the 10th AnimagiC convention in Bonn, Germany. October 4 - The song "月華- tsukihana" is the opening theme to the Aniplex anime Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae. 2009 February 4 - Release of her 13th single, "月華-tsukihana", which debuted at number 22 on the Oricon charts and peaked at number 27 on the weekly charts. March 11 - Release of her third full-length album, Bondage, which debuted at number 85 on the Oricon weekly charts June 1 - Label announces Kitade is taking a break from all activities due to poor physical health. October 2 - Label announces Kitade's new project, vocalist of new band Loveless. October 11 - It is announced on Loveless' website that Kitade's contract with SME Records has come to an end. 2010 Kitade tours Tokyo Japan along with guitarist Taizo promoting new band Loveless. October 9 - Performance at Shinjuku Marz. with growing popularity for Loveless from fans overseas, Kitade held her First live Visualand Internet broadcast. (Live Internet broadcast was not possible due to bad weather during performance, However the Live show was transmitted via Ustream on October 24). December - Kitade travels to Germany where she and her band signed to German based label "Spark & Shine" and began recording of new songs to be released in March 2011. 2011 Following the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, Nana Kitade announced an upcoming European tour with her band Loveless, Nana Kitade feat. Loveless Europe Tour. April 8 - Marseille, France at le Poste a Galene. April 9 - Paris, France at Manga Party Festival. April 10 - Toulouse, France at TGS Ohanami. April 13 - Cologne, Germany at Werkstatt. April 14 - Berlin, Germany at Magnet. April 15 - Poznan, Poland at Blue Note. April 16 - Krakow, Poland at Japanese Art Center "Manggha". April 18 - Wien, Austria at Reigen Live. April 21 - Budapest, Hungary at A38. April 22 - Rijeka, Croatia at La Noche Club. April 24 - Casablanca, Morocco au cine-theatre Rialto at Manga afternoon 9. April 29 - London, Uk at Underworld. April 30 - Lisbon, Portugal at Music box. May 1 - Barcelona, Spain at LA2. May 4 - Amsterdam, Netherlands at Winston.
