The past couples years has brought a lot of attention to veteran singer Mariya Takeuchi, especially with overseas fans. It all started when her 1985 hit “PLASTIC LOVE” started to gain traction on YouTube, effectly becoming a viral hit.

Recently, Mariya made her very first appearance on the annual year end show Kohaku Uta Gassen where she performed “Inochi no Uta”

This week Mariya has made another milestone in her career, which just so happened to set a brand new record in Japan. At 64 years and 10 months old, Mariya is the oldest singer to ever hit #1 on the weekly Oricon charts!

A special edition of her single “Inochi no Uta” was released on January 1st, 2020. This single helped Mariya break another record, as 21 years ago the song was able to reach the top of the charts. “Inochi no Uta” is now the song with the longest interval to ever top the charts again.

Mariya broke the record that was held by Keisuke Kuwata, the famed front man of SOUTHERN ALL STARS. He achieved the record one year ago on January 2019, at 62 years old.

When asked to comment on the success of the song, she shared that “I am very happy that (the song) has reached the hearts of many people,”

Congratulations to Mariya!

(Mainichi)