Ado

Biography

Ado (born October 24, 2002) is a Japanese singer. In 2020, at the age of 17, she made her debut with "Usseewa", which peaked at number 1 on Billboard Japan Hot 100, Oricon Digital Singles Chart, and the Oricon Streaming Chart. The song reached 100 million plays on Billboard Japan within 17 weeks of charting, which was the sixth fastest in history and made her the youngest to achieve the milestone as a solo singer. In 2022, her song "New Genesis" was used as the theme song for the animated film One Piece Film: Red and topped Apple Music's Global Top 100 charts. Her 2025 Hibana World Tour has been credited as the largest global tour by a Japanese artist.
She is represented by the artist management company Cloud Nine.

Early life and musical beginnings: 2002–2020

Ado was born on October 24, 2002, in Tokyo, Japan.
In 2014, Ado took an interest in music after software for the video-sharing website Niconico was released on the Nintendo 3DS. She began watching videos on the small screen of the handheld game console, and was impressed by cover singers on Niconico who sang without showing their faces.
In 2017, Ado began singing as an utaite (an internet cover singer) on Niconico, beginning with uploading a video of herself singing a cover of "Kimi no Taion" on January 10, 2017. On Nippon TV, she said that during the time she was an utaite singer, she covered her closet in soundproofing material that she bought online and recorded in.
In 2019, she featured in Kujira's digital single "Kinmokusei", which was released on December 23, 2019. A couple months later, she featured as a vocalist in a digital single "Shikabanēze" by Jon-Yakitory, which was released on March 29, 2020. In May 2020, she participated in Pony Canyon's compilation album Palette4. She recorded two songs for the album, "Call Boy" by Syudou and "Taema Naku Ai iro" by Shishi Shishi.

Major label debut and first album: 2020–2022

On October 15, 2020, Ado announced that she would make her debut with Universal Music Japan sublabel Virgin Music. On October 23, the day before her 18th birthday, she released her debut single "Usseewa" written by Vocaloid producer Syudou. The music video, released on her YouTube channel, reached 5 million views by November 14. On December 10, 2020, "Usseewa" ranked number 1 on Spotify Viral 50 Japan. On December 24, she released her second single "Readymade" written by Vocaloid producer Surii, as a digital release.
By January 23, 2021, "Usseewa" had reached 40 million views on YouTube, and on February 3, 2021, it ranked number 1 on both Oricon Digital Singles Chart and Oricon Streaming Chart. On February 14, she released her third single, "Gira Gira", written by Vocaloid producer teniwoha, as a digital release. Four days later on February 18, the number of subscribers on her YouTube channel exceeded 1 million. On March 15, 2021, "Usseewa" reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and on March 20, the music video on YouTube reached 100 million views, 148 days after its release. On March 29, "Usseewa" reached 100 million plays on the Billboard Japan Streaming Songs chart after 17 weeks from its initial debut, which was the sixth fastest in history and the youngest for a solo singer. On April 27, 2021, Ado released her fourth single "Odo", which was used in an NHK show about Vocaloid producers.
On June 11, 2021, she was chosen as the second Japanese female artist for "YouTube's Artist on the Rise". On June 14, 2021, she released her fifth single, "Yoru no Pierrot". Her sixth single "Aitakute" was released on August 12. She collaborated with Jon-Yakitory on "Rasen", the theme song of the video game Lost Judgment.
In October, Ado announced her debut studio album, Kyōgen. Released on January 26, 2022, Kyōgen sold over 140,000 physical copies in Japan during its first week, a first for a female Japanese artist since Superfly's 2008 self titled debut album. Debuting at number one on both the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart and the Oricon Albums chart, Ado become the first woman to have a debut album peak at number one on its first week on Japanese charts since Miwa's 2011 studio album, Guitarissimo.

Growing international success: 2022–present

On June 8, 2022, the cast for the Japanese animated film One Piece Film: Red was revealed. Amongst the cast, Ado was revealed as the singing voice actress for the character Uta while Kaori Nazuka reprised her role for Uta's non-singing parts. On the same day, Ado released "New Genesis", the image song for the film. "New Genesis" was a commercial success on various charts, peaking at number one on the Japan Hot 100 and number 20 on the Billboard Global 200. On Apple Music, Ado became the first artist to have a Japanese song top their Global Top 100 chart. She released another song, "I'm Invincible" two weeks later, which eventually peaked at number two on the Japan Hot 100 and number three on the Oricon Combined Singles chart. In August, Ado released the soundtrack album Uta's Songs: One Piece Film Red. The album later became a global success on various charts. On Japanese charts, Ado become the first artist to occupy the top three rankings of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 with "New Genesis", "I'm Invincible" and "Backlight" respectively. She later broke her own record, having five songs from the album chart in the top 5 of the Japan Hot 100. On the Oricon charts, Ado became the first artist in Oricon history to have five songs chart in the top 5 of the Streaming chart. Following this, Ado signed with Geffen Records to distribute the album worldwide.
Near the end of 2022, Ado released the singles "Rebellion" and "Missing". From December 2022 to January 2023, she embarked on her first tour in Japan, the Mirage tour. From June 2023 to September 2023, Ado embarked on her second tour, Mars, which lasted for 14 shows in 11 different locations across Japan. On August 3, 2023, Ado was featured on the Japanese version of "Unforgiven" by Le Sserafim and Nile Rodgers. In September 2023, Ado released "Show", commissioned by Universal Studios Japan to promote their Halloween event, Halloween Horror Nights. "Show" became a commercial success, becoming her third number-one single. In October 2023, she released "Kura Kura" which was used as the opening theme of the second season of anime adaptation of Spy × Family. Ado announced her first world tour, "Wish", on her 21st birthday; it lasted from February to April 2024.
In December 2023, Ado released her first utattemita (歌ってみた; lit. 'I tried singing') album, Ado's Utattemita Album, which included covers of Ringo Sheena's "Tsumi to Batsu", PinocchioP's "God-ish", Akina Nakamori's "Kazari ja Nai no yo Namida wa", and TK's "Unravel×unravel15 November 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1unravel3:59". The album went on to peak at number two on the Oricon Albums chart and number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart.
On April 27 and 28, 2024, Ado held two solo live performances called "Shinzou (心臓, shinzou)" at the Japan National Stadium, becoming the first solo female artist to do so.
On June 26, 2024, the idol group Phantom Siita, which Ado produced, made their debut with the single "Otomodachi".
In July 2024, Ado released her second studio album, Zanmu. Preceded by 14 singles, the album debuted at number one on both the Oricon and Billboard Japan charts. Zanmu became Ado's fourth consecutive number one album on the Japan Hot Albums chart and her second number one album on the Oricon Albums chart.
In October 2024, Ado announced her second world tour, the Hibana World Tour, taking place from April to August 2025 across multiple continents. Drawing over 500,000 attendees across 33 cities worldwide, the tour has been credited as the largest global tour by a Japanese artist.
On December 16, 2024, Imagine Dragons released a remix of their song "Take Me to the Beach" featuring Ado.
In February 2025, it was announced that Ado would take part in the tribute compilation album Meikyo: Tribute to Akina Nakamori, which includes her cover of Nakamori's 1984's single "Jukkai (1984)". In addition, she was also appointed as a brand ambassador for Georgia Coffee. Her song "Bouquet for Me" was featured as the commercial theme song, and she also participated in the commercial as the narrator. In April, Ado released her first greatest hits album, Ado's Best Adobum.
In July 2025, Ado was ranked as the most-streamed Japanese artist outside of Japan in Spotify's mid-year rankings, with nearly 80% of her streams coming from outside of Japan. It marked the first time she topped the category, ending Yoasobi's four-year streak in the position. On July 10, Ado announced that she will be having her first-ever dome tour, Yodaka, to wrap up her 5th debut anniversary with shows in Japan big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. On July 28, Ado announced that she would provide the theme song for The Silent Service: The Great Sea Battle of the Arctic Ocean, "The Story of the Wind and I", with lyrics by Hiroji Miyamoto and arrangement by Mafumafu.
In a press release on August 25, 2025, Ado's staff revealed she would provide the theme song for the Japanese original net animation reboot of Cat's Eye, "Magic×MAGIC31 October 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track1MAGIC2:52", with lyrics and music by Vocaloid producer Tsumiki. She also provided the ending theme, a cover of Anri's "Cat's Eye×CAT'S EYE12 September 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track1CAT'S EYE3:01", which was originally used as the first opening theme of the 1983 anime adaptation.
In January 2026, Ado was transferred to Universal Japan's Capitol Records division. On February 24, 2026, the biography Vivarium: Ado and Me was released. An accompanying song "Vivarium", which serves as a tie-in with the biography, was released on February 18. The music video for "Vivarium", which was released on February 28, was her first live action music video, featuring several scenes where her face is mostly unobscured.
On March 16, 2026, Ado released "Ai Ai A", which was written by Kikuo. The song premiered on The First Take and was later added digitally on that same day. On April 22, 2026, Ado released the single "Kira" as the official song for the Japan national football team to support their run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The official music video was uploaded on Ado's YouTube channel. In June, Ado partnered with Adidas to release a special football jersey as part of the "You Got This" campaign to support the Japan team.
In June 2026, Ado signed with WME Group to represent her outside of Japan.
Ado's song "Love Me Forever!×Love me forever!2 July 2026 · SingleSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track1Love me forever!4:09", written by Japanese singer-songwriter Tsunku, was featured in the 2026 video game produced by Tsunku, Rhythm Heaven Groove as the soundtrack to one of its various rhythm based minigames.
Ado was cast as the character Keiko Shirai in the 2027 video game Stranger Than Heaven, and also co-performed the theme song with Snoop Dogg, Satoshi Fujihara of the band Official Hige Dandism, and Tori Kelly.
On August 7, 2026, Ado released "Monstruo", which serves as the official theme song for the live-action Blue Lock film which premiered on the same day. She released the song "DND", in collaboration with Sanrio mascot character Kuromi, on September 25, 2026.

Influences

Ado's earliest musical influence was Vocaloid music, which she discovered during her early childhood. Citing Hatsune Miku as her biggest influence, she discussed with NME that "Vocaloid really is who I am. It's all of me." In an interview with Collider, Ado cited American rock band Kiss and British rock band Queen as one of her early influences.

Musical styles

Ado's discography spans J-pop, rock, dance and electronic genres. The First Times reported her being able to "sing a wide range of genres, from rock, electronic, ballads and hip-hop". Described as an utaite artist, Ado's debut album, Kyōgen, primarily has been described by journalists as a J-pop and rock record with "electro numbers". Kylie Northover of The Sydney Morning Herald detailed Ado's debut single "Usseewa" as a "punk-influenced song". Northover noted that "Part of Ado's appeal is that she traverses the musical gamut from punk vitriol to softly sung balladry – sometimes in one song." On her soundtrack album Uta's Songs: One Piece Film Red, Ado explored synth-pop sounds with "New Genesis", while on "Fleeting Lullaby", she explored rapping.

Personal life

Little factual knowledge is available about Ado's personal life. In a 2024 interview with The Guardian, Ado explained her decision to not show her face is tied with the Vocaloid scene and for more focus on her artistry.