is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 singer and tarento

Tarento

is a Japanese rendering of the English word "talent" and is used as a catch-all term for mass media personalities who regularly appear on television. Detractors of the phenomenon have referred to it in an English sense as "famous just for being famous" because many that fall into this career line...

.

He is best known as the first lead vocalist of Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five

Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five

Hiroshi Uchiyamada is redirected here. The article is written about the band led by a musician named Hiroshi Uchiyamada. For the imaginary person on the Japanese manga "Great Teacher Onizuka", see List of Great Teacher Onizuka characters....

, which was formed in 1967 and debuted in 1969 with the Japan Record Award

Japan Record Award

for outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association, is major music awards show held annually in Japan.- Categories :The Japan Record Award are four awards which are not restricted by genre....

-winning song "Nagasaki wa Kyō mo Ame Datta". As a frontman of the band, he spawned multiple hit singles such as "Awazu ni Aishite", "Uwasa no Onna","Soshite, Kōbe", "Nakanoshima Blues" and "Tokyo Sabaku" during the 1970s. In 1982, he released the first solo single "Yuki Ressha" composed and produced by Grammy-winning musician Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto

After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...

, and left the group five years later.　Throughout his solo career, he released a sole top-20 hit "Himawari" in 2002, a ballad Masaharu Fukuyama

Masaharu Fukuyama

is a Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, actor, radio personality, and photographer from Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture. He is the best-selling male solo artist in Japan. He is a member of entertainment company Amuse, Inc. and is known for his low, deep voice. Among fans, he is...

 contributed.　

Aside from the recording career, Maekawa has also built up popularity as a TV star, appearing some television shows that comedians such as Kinichi Hagimoto

Kinichi Hagimoto

is a Japanese comedian.He is active as a stage performer, emcee, and manager of the amateur Ibaraki Golden Golds of the Japanese Baseball Association ....

 and The Drifters hosted and aired around the latter half of 1970s and the 1980s.

He is also known as a former spouse for singer Keiko Fuji

Keiko Fuji

, real name , is a Japanese enka singer and actress. She had success in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s with her ballad-type songs. Her parents were itinerant musical performers. Her father was a rōkyoku singer. Her mother was a blind shamisen player or goze...

, who later married to Teruzane Utada

Teruzane Utada

is a Japanese music executive producer and attendant.He married Junko Utada and worked as her attendant. Their daughter and only child is the singer Hikaru Utada, one of Japan’s most successful pop music singers of all time. The couple have been married and divorced to each other seven times. He...

 and had a daughter Hikaru.

Notable singles

• ""(1987)
• "" (1988)
• "" (1988)
• "" (1989, remake of Cool Five hit) - #87
• "" (1991) - #61
• "" (1992) - #71
• "" (1992) - #78
• "" (1994) - #95
• "" (1994) - #69
• "" (1996) - #96
• "" (1996) - #70
• "" (1997) - #97
• "" (1998) - #93
• "" (2000) - #93
• "" (2001) - #92
• "" (2001) - #88
• "" (2002) - #13
• "" (2003) - #74
• "" (2003) - #69
• "" (2006) - #62

Notes

1. Chart positions provided by the Oricon
   Oricon
   , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
   
   , and sources are from the archives on its official site (not available before 1988).

External links

• Official website (in Japanese language)