Seiko Matsuda is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter. Due to her popularity in the 1980s and her long career, she has been dubbed the "Eternal idol" by the Japanese media.

Matsuda was born in the Kamachi clan, which was from the Saga Genji line and was also a former sengoku daimyo of Yanagawa Domain. However, she gained the stage name "Seiko Matsuda" and rose to fame in 1980 as a teen idol, making her debut with the song "Hadashi no Kisetsu" (lit. "Season of bare feet"). Later in the same year, "Kaze wa Aki-iro" (lit. "Wind is autumn color") became the first of her 24 consecutive number 1 hits in Japan. She shattered the former Japanese record of nine consecutive number-ones by popular music duo Pink Lady. Her consecutive number 1 record ended when her 27th single, "Precious Heart", was ranked at number two because Tetsuya Komuro's "Gravity of Love" was ranked at number one. Seiko made one more number 1 single, "Anata ni Aitakute ~Missing You~" (lit. "I want to meet you ~Missing you~") in 1996. The single was certified as a million-seller by RIAJ.

Seiko used to hold the records for the most number 1 singles and most consecutive number 1 singles on Japan's Oricon charts. Both were surpassed by B'z. She still held the record for the most number 1 singles by a female singer until March 2006 when Ayumi Hamasaki's "Startin'/Born to Be..." reached number 1, making it her 26th single to top the charts. Hamasaki's "L" broke Seiko's streak for the most consecutive number 1 singles by a female singer and any soloist in September/October 2010. Nonetheless, holding such a record for 22 years in the second-largest record market in the world is no small feat.

Seiko was also the first person in the Oricon history to have a single and an album debut at No. 1 on Oricon Chart in the same week. In November 1984, Seiko released a single "Heart no Earring" (lit. "Heart's earring") and album Seiko Town: both reached No. 1. The next time it happened by Wands was nearly nine years later, and so far only seven other artists have successfully topped the two major charts at the same time with new releases.

Seiko's angelic voice and singing technique have won her two best performance awards from Nippon Record Awards.
Seiko began to write her songs by herself. She wrote lyrics for the first time when she produced her song "Chisana Love Song" (lit. "Small Love Song") in 1983. This was followed by her first composed song, "Canary". All music and lyrics of her 2007 album Baby's Breath were written by herself. It became her first completely self-produced album.

Seiko attempted to break into the North American market with an English-language, self-titled album in 1990. She scored a hit with "The Right Combination", a duet with boy band New Kids on the Block singer Donnie Wahlberg. Album sales were mediocre, however, and her follow-up Was It the Future failed to generate any significant sales. In 2002, Seiko's English dance hits "All To You" and "Just for Tonight" reached Billboard Dance chart No. 8 and No. 2, respectively.

In July 2006, Seiko's compilation Seiko Matsuda, which consisted of 74 CDs, debuted at number 96, becoming the highest-priced album in Oricon history. Its price was 100,000 yen (about 850 dollars). Hibari Misora held the previous record with her 1989 album Kyō no Ware ni Asu wa Katsu (60,000 yen).

Although female singers like Namie Amuro became successful after the end of the 1980s, "typical" idols like Seiko disappeared in Japan. She has been a secret idol for subsequent female celebrities such as Shoko Nakagawa, who called Seiko "God" and "My Universe". Japanese voice actress Nana Mizuki released her cover version of Seiko's "Akai Sweet Pea" (lit. "Red Sweet Pea") as the B-side of an image song single under the character name Moka Akashiya of the anime Rosario + Vampire on February 14, 2008. There are endless cover versions of Seiko songs and tribute albums being released every year. Among those 'Diamond Eyes', 'Missing You' and 'Akai Sweet Pea'(lit. Red Sweet Pea) and Sweet Memories have been reinterpreted by other artists countless times.

On 5 August 2009, Sony re-released 16 of Seiko's early albums under the Blu-spec CD format. 13 of them entered Oricon Top 100 Album Chart at the same time, surpassing the record of Hibari Misora (12 albums) and making her the first female artist to do so.

Seiko is also on the Top 3 list of Most No.1 albums, Most Top 10 singles and Most Top 10 albums. HMV Japan ranked her No. 10 Top Japanese Artist of All Time and No. 7 Top Singer of All Time.

Seiko still holds annual concerts, Christmas dinner shows, and New Year's Eve Countdown shows. Despite the high ticket prices (her dinner show tickets are the most expensive among female artists) for many years, she has always performed to a sold-out crowd. Seiko is also listed as second only behind Eikichi Yazawa as an artist who has performed many concerts at the Nippon Budokan.

Married to actor Masaki Kanda from 1985 to 1997, Seiko has a daughter, Sayaka Kanda, who is also a singer.
In addition to music, her career includes appearances in television, film, and radio. Several books of photos of Matsuda, including 'Five Seasons', 'No Comments', 'Akai Sweet Pea', along with other books about her, have been published. Seiko has appeared in numerous commercials, including numerous Glico products, including Pocky Curry and chocolate, Minolta camera, Sony walkman, VCR and computer, Diosa Hair Color, Suntory beverages, Direct TV, NTT Docomo mobile phone, cosmetics products endorsements include Fujifilm Astalift, Kanebo, Doctor Drive, Takano Yuri and Shiseido cosmetics.

Her second husband, Hiroyuki Hatano, was a dentist to whom she remarried in 1998 and divorced in 2000. On 13 June 2012, she announced her third marriage to university associate professor Hiromasa Kawana on her official website.

Seiko Matsuda’s official website has announced a brand new set of concerts scheduled for April 2022. “SEIKO MATSUDA Premium Dinner Show 2022”. These shows were previously scheduled for December 2021, but were cancelled along with many other public appearances due to the sudden death of her daughter Sayaka Kanda.

On March 26, 2024, it was announced that she had received a Bachelor of Law degree after graduating from the correspondence course at Chuo University's Faculty of Law.

(Source: Wikipedia) Edit Biography