Yuko Nakazawa
| Yuko Nakazawa 中澤 裕子 |
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|---|---|
| Born | June 19, 1973 |
| Other names | Yū-chan |
| Occupation | |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts |
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| Website | Hello! Project.com |
Yuko Nakazawa (中澤 裕子 Nakazawa Yūko?, born June 19, 1973 in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese pop and enka singer, and actress, best known as one of the original members of the all-female J-pop group Morning Musume. She is also a member of Japanese pop group Dream Morning Musume.
Yuko Nakazawa was one of five runners-up in a 1997 talent contest for a new Japanese rock idol. After the contest, musician and producer Tsunku offered Nakazawa and the four other runners-up (Natsumi Abe, Kaori Iida, Aya Ishiguro, and Asuka Fukuda) the chance to be taken under his wing under one condition: they must sell 50,000 CDs of their debut song "Ai no Tane" with five days of live promotion. The quintet accomplished that task in four and thus Morning Musume was born. The group has since grown increasingly popular and is infamous for its fluctuating lineup, with members leaving and joining frequently.
In 1998, shortly after Morning Musume's formation, Nakazawa began a solo career, beginning with enka styled songs. She gradually moved to a more pop sound, but has recently gone back to enka with her eleventh single, "Urara." Her solo work has allowed her voice to shine in a way it rarely did in Morning Musume, as she mostly sung harmonies with only a few solo lines.
Nakazawa has been a regular featured singer on Hello! Project's "Folk Songs" series. She was also placed in Akagumi 4 in Hello! Project's 2000 summer shuffles and Puripuri Pink in Hello!Project's 2005 summer shuffles, as well as participating in H.P. All Stars along with most of the rest of Hello!Project in 2004.
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