Ken Hirai

[MHtrStevie]

Greetings!

According to nt2099.com, J-soul singer Hirai Ken has been selected as one of 14 international artists to appear on a new tribute album dedicated to the work of Stevie Wonder. He'll be appearing along with major artists such as Eric Clapton, John Mellencamp and Mary J. Blige. Apparently Hirai will be covering Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".

Cool to see another J-Pop star getting some recognition in the U.S. market... hopefully a sign of things to come.

 

[Twisted]

He recently did an MTV unplugged session in New York. Would be interesting if that show would get airtime in the U.S.
Apparently all of his songs were rewritten in English for this session.

 

[den4]

curious about that mtv unplugged....has it shown yet...I haven't seen anything....and I thought it was only for mtv Japan they were doing it for... :O

 

[Twisted]

I don't know exactly. It's probably going to be shown on MTV Japan, but given that all the songs were done in English and he is to appear on that Stevie Wonder tribute album, Sony obviously has international plans with him.

And why not? Anything related to R&B sells very good in the US. Don't know about the rest of the world though. The European R&B market is not that big.

 

[Ancella]

Hah!!! Really!!!!?????
I just heard about it now. Oh.... Ken
I'm really proud of him

 

[Eve]

I think his singing skills are unique..I think its the blues rhit?

Btw where can i Dl "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" and "Life is another story"

Discuss about him -.-

He said hes full japanese but he looks mixed :?

 

[Dream Time]

no he is pop with R&B and Soul influences
'You are the sunshine of my life' is actually originally by Stevie Wonder

 

[Eve]

oh cool..

yea i know i think he sang that song in stevie wonder's thing when he died. It's so awesome!!

 

[-Yu-]

Indeed, he looks like mixed besides he is very tall for Japanese.
The latest song of his is "Bo ku no to mo da chi" yes? I like it.

 

[Dream Time]

oh cool..

yea i know i think he sang that song in stevie wonder's thing when he died. It's so awesome!!

oh he did? I didn't know that

he sang that song in MTV Unplugged in New York,with a female singer name Nivea

 

[Apollo]

Yes, he is good-looking and a good singer...
I think he was born in the United States.
I am not sure about whether he is mixed...he certainly looks like it, but my friend said he wasn't. :?

 

[okaeri_man]

i dont know how he can sing that high. when he trys to sing upbeat stuff it sends shivers of confusion down my spine.

 

[Winter]

Wait...Stevie Wonder died?

 

[Eve]

I think so -.- do a search for it. yea that song was awesome but I couldn't find it on the net.

 

[Apollo]

Wait...Stevie Wonder died?

NO! Not to my knowledge....He is still alive.

I did a search on Vh1, CNN, MTV, BBC - and could find nothing reporting about his death...Not his fansite either...

 

[kirei_na_me]

Stevie Wonder is still alive. Maybe you're thinking about Ray Charles?

 

[necrozombie]

hrm... *goes to look for picture of him*
..oo... he kinda does look mixed..

 

[Dream Time]

*reads the post by Eve again*


no Stevie Wonder is still alive, maybe Eve was thinking about Ray Charles

 

[Eve]

Stevie Wonder is still alive. Maybe you're thinking about Ray Charles?

Im not sure but he did do a dedication with some other singers around the world because they praise Stevie Wonder..and He sang "You are the sunshine of my life" which was Stevie Wonder's song

 

[Winter]

So....if people dedicate a song to someone, they have to be dead?

Jeez....makes me wonder about myself. My wife has dedicated many a song to me. *pinch*

Nope. I'm alive.

 

[Eve]

lol i guess ur right. But 9 different artists around the world sang in this concert. Thats prolly why I thought stevie wonder died -.-

 

[Winter]

I'm sure if it was a concert dedicated to the memory of someone, they'd clearly state it was dedicated to the 'memory'.

Still, yeah, I can see how you had the idea.

 

[Eve]

Yeah, I found this

so yea I couldn't find that two songs I want badly

 

[Dream Time]

Yeah, I found this

so yea I couldn't find that two songs I want badly

ah~
interesting, thanks for providing the info
I am also interested in that album,gonna try getting some mp3s of that

 

[-Yu-]

Okay, now the confusioin about whether he died was solved, let's get back to the topic:Hirai Ken.
I think he is a pure Japanese, who was born in Osaka and got brought up by normal Japanese.
(I don't know if a pure Japanese or a normal Japanese sounds right in this sentence, what I mean is not being mixed)