Ayumi Hamasaki was born in Fukuoka Prefecture. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, because her father left the family when she was three years old.

Hamasaki started modeling for a local bank when she was seven years old to earn some money for her family.

When she was around fourteen years old, she traveled to Tokyo regularly to model and act. However, she was deemed too short to be a model and could not find much success with the movies she was cast in. She was eventually dropped by her talent agency.

Hamasaki wore short skirts, dyed her hair, fought with the teachers, and skipped school. She then proceeded to drop out of high school at the age of fifteen.

Despite an unsuccessful attempt at an album (now out of print) a few years later, she was discovered by chance at a nightclub.

Since her debut in 1998, she has sold around 45 million records worldwide, with the releases of her nine full-length studio albums, one mini-album, four compilation albums, over forty singles, and numerous non-studio albums.
Grew up in a single parent home with mother and grandmother. Is currently the highest earning entertainer in Japan (2002). Spokesmodel of AUBE cosmetics. Spokesmodel of HONDA. Spokesmodel of KOSE cosmetics. Spokesmodel of Lycos Japan. Spokesmodel of MORIGANA (food company). Spokesmodel of Takano Yuri Beauty Clinic. Spokesmodel of TU-KA handsets. Started modeling since age 7. Was the first artist to have 4 singles on the Japan top 10 charts simultaneously. Won MTV Asia's Best Female Artist Award (2002). Female artist in Japan with the most units of singles sold: 17.4 million copies to date. Big fan of Madonna. She can write with left and right hands. On January 4, 2008, according to her entry of her TeamAyu blog, Hamasaki revealed that she became completely deaf in her left ear and that is no longer operable. She decided to continue singing despite Avex experiencing a 13 Yen decrease in their stock prices.