Yoko Blaqstone

Yoko Ishiguro , known professionally as Yoko Blaqstone, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and lecturer. Based in Osaka, Japan, she has worked with a lot of popular Japanese artists, including Mai Kuraki, Zard and Garnet Crow. As a singer, she debuted in 1997 and has released two full-length albums.

Yoko Blaqstone
Also known as
  • Yoko Ishiguro
  • YOKO Black. Stone
  • YOKO B. Stone
OriginOsaka Prefecture, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, producer, lecturer
Years active1997–present
Associated acts

Biography

1997–1999: Debut as a solo singer

Ishiguro released her first extended play s All Right under the name YOKO Black. Stone'. In Osaka, she attracted a big attention from audience and the extended play has sold more than 15,000 copies, while it failed to enter any charts.

On 1 April 1998, she released the lead single from her second extended play Long Fore-Play, "No Need 2 Worry".[1] It includes her original song "No Need 2 Worry" and Jevetta Steele's cover, "Calling U". The latter was released as a single in July 1998. On 9 October 1998, she released her second extended play Long Fore-Play.

"'s All Right", the lead single from her first studio album The One About Me was released on 16 June 1999 by Giza Studio. The song peaked at seventy-two on the Oricon weekly singles chart.[2] The album was released on 4 August 1999.[3]

On 16 October 1999, Japanese female singer Mai Kuraki released Ishiguro's cover "Baby I Like" as her first single.[4]

2000–2004: As a songwriter

Debuting with "Baby I Like", Kuraki became one of the most popular singers in Japan. Ishiguro wrote some songs for her first album "Delicious Way", which was released on 28 June 2000 and sold over 3,500,000 copies in Japan.

After the success as a songwriter, Ishiguro started to write songs for many singers like Mai Kuraki, Zard, Yumi Shizukusa and Garnet Crow. She has written a lot of popular songs, including "Kiss" by Mai Kuraki and "Kokoro wa Itsumo Rainbow Color" by Yumi Shizukusa.

2005: Comeback as a solo singer

On 16 March 2005, Ishiguro released her second full-length album Back to My Base[5] under the name Yoko Blaqstone. This album charted at two hundred seventy on the Oricon weekly albums chart.[6]

In 2014, she founded the record label "PiZA Studio".[7]

Discography

Albums
  • The One About Me (1999)
  • Back to My Base (2005)

EPs
  • 's All Right (1997)
  • Long Fore-Play (1998)

Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
JPN
Oricon
1998 "Calling U" – 's All Right
Long Fore Play
The One About Me
"No Need 2 Worry" –
1999 "'s All Right" 73

Selected songwriting and production credits
  • Baby I Like (Mai Kuraki) – songwriting, backing vocals
  • Kiss (Mai Kuraki) – songwriting, backing vocals
  • Get U're Dream (Zard) – arrange
  • JUDY -English version- (Garnet Crow) – English lyrics
  • Tasting (Jam Flavor) – Album producer[8]

References
  1. "YOKO Black.Stone / No Need 2 Worry [廃盤] – CDJournal".
  2. "Yoko Blaqstone".
  3. "YOKO Black.Stone / THE ONE ABOUT ME – CDJournal".
  4. "Baby I Like 輸入盤". Amazon.com.
  5. "Yoko Blaqstone / Back to My Base – CDJournal".
  6. "消えゆく夢を数え　枯れてく仲間を見た".
  7. "pizastudio.com".
  8. "Tasting". Amazon.com.
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