Birth name:舩越りえ Also known as Rie fu Born:January 11,1985 Origin:Tokyo,Japan Genre(s):J-pop,Pop,Folk Rock,Folk pop,J-rock,soft rock Years active:2004-Present

Rie fu (リエ フゥ, Rie fū), born Rie Funakoshi (舩越 りえ, Funakoshi Rie) on January 11, 1985 in Tokyo, is a Japanese singer-songwriter. Rie fu graduated from the Central Saint Martins college of the University of the Arts London [1] on July 18, 2007. She is commuting between the United Kingdom and Japan for recording and promoting her songs.

From 1992 to 1995, Rie fu lived in Maryland with her family. It was during this time that she began playing the piano and acquired the majority of her musical inspirations, being greatly influenced by Sheryl Crow, Michelle Branch and 1970s pop musicians such as The Carpenters. After returning to Japan, from 1995 to 2003, Rie finished her primary and secondary education in Tokyo. In 2002 she learned guitar, and almost immediately began coming up with songs and recording them with a small tape recorder. She sent the demo tape off to a record company (Sony) and they signed her. Her first single was released in March 2004. Later that year, her song "Life is Like a Boat" was chosen as the Bleach ending theme, garnering her widespread recognition and demand. In 2005, a year after her debut, another song, I Wanna Go To A Place... was used as the Gundam Seed Destiny third ending song, and in 2006 her song Until I Say was used as the theme to the Japanese release of the 2005 British movie Heidi. In 2007, she performed the ending theme, Tsukiakari, to the anime series Darker than Black. She graduated from the University of the Arts London in 2007, after studying fine art painting (after shifts in interest ranging from fashion to graphic design). She states in her website that she would like to become a student again. Rie often designs much of her own album and single booklets, and Rie's own paintings are often featured in them. She cites Carole King, Joni Mitchell, The Carpenters, and Yumi Matsutoya as influences. Rie fu's songs are often bilingual, since she is fluent in both English and Japanese. Although most of her songs are primarily sung in Japanese, many feature entire verses written in English. Of her songs written entirely in Japanese, several have later been released as English language versions. On March 3, 2008, Rie fu released an album in the U.K. on a label called Tired & Lonesome. The album, a compilation of earlier songs with one never-before-released Joni Mitchell cover, is entitled "Who is Rie fu?" Though the label is based in England, her album will be released in other European countries marking it her European debut.

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