Ado: The faceless Japanese singer sensation
By Nathan Brolley
The rising Japanese sensation Ado (Credit: YouTube)
‘Ado’ is the moniker of a Japanese-born singer who took the country by storm in 2020. From then, Ado continued to soar through the Japanese billboards resulting in nationwide tours, providing vocals for a famous movie as well as her most recent worldwide tour. Notably, as of May 2024, Ado is merely 21 years old and has remained enigmatic by not revealing her face.
This is how Ado rose to fame.
Born on October 24, 2002, in Tokyo, Japan, Ado had her musical awakening at the age of 5 through ‘Vocaloid’ which is music created through the use of synthesised vocal technology that can be used to sing anything. The most popular aspect of Vocaloid is the virtual avatar singers brought to life through the use of 3D projections. ‘Hatsune Miku’ – the most popular Vocaloid singer – truly started her fascination with pursuing music.
This fascination would evolve further in 2014 when Ado took a vested interest in the video-sharing website ‘Niconico’, and the people who would upload cover songs without showing their faces. Then in 2017, Ado became an ‘Utaite’ (a faceless cover singer on Niconico) by releasing her first cover video ‘Kimi No Taion’.
Over the years, Ado honed her craft by continuing to cover music until one of her covers caught the attention of the original producer, ‘Syudou’. In October 2020, Syudou went on to write and produce ‘Usseewa’ for Ado to sing. The release of Usseewa catapulted Ado towards stardom, with the track swiftly climbing to the number one spot on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart in less than six months. Simultaneously, the music video on her YouTube channel amassed a staggering 100 million views, solidifying Ado's position as a rising sensation.
Ado's acclaim surged even further in 2022 when she lent her vocals to the character 'Uta' in the ultra-popular 'One Piece: Red' anime film. The film's theme song ‘New Genesis’ broke waves and topped Apple Music's Global Top 100 charts, pushing Ado into the international spotlight.
The character ‘Uta’ brought to life by Ado (Credit: One Esports)
Following this success, Ado went on to perform two nationwide tours in Japan. Keeping in line with her faceless image, Ado performed these sold-out concerts within the confines of a cage, in which only her silhouette could be seen. In order to keep her identity safe, recording equipment and items such as binoculars are prohibited from being used during the performances.
Realising that she has a massive audience overseas, Ado announced on her 21st birthday in October 2023, that she would hold her first worldwide tour ‘Wish’ from February to April 2024 throughout Asia, Europe, America, and the UK. This was a massive hit and all 14 shows completely sold out before the start of the tour. As of now, there is no news of a second worldwide tour but due to the resounding success of Wish, it is only a matter of time.
WATCH: Promotional video from the highly successful first world tour