Ado is a Japanese singer. In 2014, Ado took an interest in music after software for the video-sharing website Niconico was released on the Nintendo 3DS. She began watching videos on the small screen of the handheld game console, and was impressed by cover singers on Niconico who sang without showing their faces. In 2017, Ado began singing as an utaite (an internet cover singer) on Niconico, beginning with uploading a video of herself singing a cover of “Kimi no Taion” in January 2017. On Nippon TV, she said that during the time she was an utaite singer, she covered her closet in soundproofing material that she bought online and recorded in, as seen in the cover art to her Utattemita Album. In 2019, she featured in Kujira’s digital single “Kinmokusei”, which was released in December 2019. A couple months later, she featured as a vocalist in a digital single “Shikabanēze” by Jon-Yakitory, which was released in March 2020. In May 2020, she participated in Pony Canyon’s compilation album Palette4. She recorded two songs for the album, “Call Boy” by Syudou and “Taema Naku Ai iro” by Shishi Shishi.
In October 2020, Ado announced that she would make her debut with Universal Music Japan sublabel Virgin Music. The day before her 18th birthday, she released her debut single “Usseewa” written by Vocaloid producer Syudou. The music video, released on her YouTube channel, reached 5 million views by November. In December 2020, “Usseewa” ranked number 1 on Spotify Viral 50 Japan. On December 24, she released her second single “Readymade” written by Vocaloid producer Surii, as a digital release. By January 2021, “Usseewa” had reached 40 million views on YouTube, and on February 3, 2021, it ranked number 1 on both Oricon Digital Singles Chart and Oricon Streaming Chart. In February, she released her third single, “Gira Gira”, written by Vocaloid producer teniwoha, as a digital release. On April 27, 2021, Ado released her fourth single “Odo”, which was used in an NHK show about Vocaloid producers. In June 2021, she released her fifth single, “Yoru no Pierrot”. Her sixth single “Aitakute” was released in August.
In October, Ado announced her debut studio album, Kyōgen. Released on January 26, 2022, Kyōgen sold over 140,000 physical copies in its first week, a first for a female artist since Superfly’s 2008 self titled debut album. Debuting at number one on both the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart and the Oricon Albums chart, Ado become the first woman to have a debut album peak at number one on its first week on Japanese charts since Miwa’s 2011 studio album, Guitarissimo.
In June 2022, the cast for the Japanese animated film One Piece Film: Red was revealed. Amongst the cast, Ado was revealed as the singing voice actress for the character Uta while Kaori Nazuka reprised her role for Uta’s non-singing parts. On the same day, Ado released “New Genesis”, the image song for the film. “New Genesis” was a commercial success on various charts, peaking at number one on the Japan Hot 100 and number 20 on the Billboard Global 200. On Apple Music, Ado became the first artist to have a Japanese song top their Global Top 100 chart. She released another song, “I’m Invincible” two weeks later, which eventually peaked at number two on the Japan Hot 100 and number three on the Oricon Combined Singles chart.
In August, Ado released the soundtrack album Uta’s Songs: One Piece Film Red. The album later became a global success on various charts. On Japanese charts, Ado become the first artist to occupy the top three rankings of the Billboard Japan Hot 100 with “New Genesis”, “I’m Invincible” and “Backlight” respectively. She later broke her own record, having five songs from the album chart in the top 5 of the Japan Hot 100. On the Oricon charts, Ado became the first artist in Oricon history to have five songs chart in the top 5 of the Streaming chart. Following this, Ado signed with Geffen Records to distribute the album worldwide.
