A multi-talented pop artist that not only composes her own songs, but also works hard to engage her fans, Rie fu has attracted many admirers both in her home country and overseas.
Rie Funakoshi was born on January 11, 1985 in Tokyo, Japan. When she was seven years old, she moved with her parents to the United States, where they lived in the state of Maryland until 1995. During her time in America, Rie learned to speak English fluently and her pronunciation is still clear and accent-free. She also gathered her first musical experiences there when she started to play the piano.
Back in Japan she studied at a high school between 1995 and 2003 and in the same period she started to play the guitar. To gain some recognition, Rie fu recorded her songs on a small tape recorder and sent these recordings to various labels. Sony expressed an interest in her, and so she signed with the major label.
Rie who?! became her debut single in March 2004, followed by Life is like a Boat shortly after. This song was used as an ending theme for the popular anime series "Bleach", which gave Rie fu’s popularity a huge boost.
Between 2004 and 2007 the young singer lived in the United Kingdom in order to study at the University of the Arts in London and traveled between her home country and the UK. During her studies in London she of course released more singles and performed in London at clubs and festivals. After graduating, she celebrated with the release of the single Tsukiakari, which was used as the ending theme for the anime "Darker than Black".
Rie also managed to secure a record deal while in the UK, and March 3, 2008 saw Who is Rie fu? become her first album to be released in Europe. It was originally scheduled to be released in Japan two days later, but that part of the release ended up being cancelled.
The next year saw her become the vocalist for delofamilia, the experimental, electronic side project of NAOTO from ORANGE RANGE. She has also written the lyrics for many of their songs.
2011 brought Rie’s first best-of album, I Can Do Better. Her next album of original material, BIGGER PICTURE was released under the name Rie fu & the fu in 2012, and it was the first on her newly-established company, Rie fu Inc. It featured guest musicians zAk from BOREDOMS, Tatsuya Kashima, former support bassist for the pillows, and ex-HOI FESTA guitarist Kouhei.
In March 2013, she released a single in collaboration with Saki called You & Me, which was used as the theme to the anime “Shirokuma Café”.
A talented pop artist that not only composes her own songs, but also works hard to engage her fans, Rie fu continues to attract many admirers both in her home country and overseas.
