Momoe Yamaguchi

Despite a relatively short career spanning a period of only eight years, Japanese pop star Momoe Yamaguchi remains one of Japan's most highly regarded singers, leaving behind a string of hits and a successful acting career when she retired in 1980, as well as an enduring image untainted by the ravages of age and dubious mid-life career decisions. Coming from an unconventional family background, she was born to unmarried parents and abandoned by her father at a young age, she was raised by her mother in the naval town of Yokosuka and got her first break at the age of 13 on the...