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Famed Japanese singer Peggy Hayama, best known for creating and performing the Japanese version of “Do-Re-Mi” from the Broadway musical “The Sound of Music,” died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital on Wednesday. She was 83.
Hayama, whose real name was Shigeko Mori, began as a jazz singer at U.S. military bases while she was still in high school. She made her professional debut in 1952, quickly becoming one of the most famous female singers in the Japanese music industry.
Her 1959 hit “Nangoku Tosa o Atonishite” (“Having Left Tosa”) and “Do-Re-Mi” in 1961, became bestselling hits, putting her on par with the hugely popular singer Hibari Misora and other icons in postwar Japan.
Hayama continued her singing career throughout her life, with her last public performance being held only less than a month ago at a memorial ceremony dedicated to the late singer and Takarazuka actress Fubuki Koshiji.
Hayama received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1995 and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2004, in addition to a number of other awards, the most recent one of which was the NHK Broadcast Cultural Award in 2015.
Hayama was married to actor Jun Negami, who passed away in 2005 at the age of 82. Hayama nursed her husband for seven years and appeared in a number of symposia on the topic of caring for ill family members based on her experience. The two were married for 40 years.
Hayama is survived by one son.
© Japan Today
5 Comments
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edojin
Saw Peggy singing at the U.S. Navy's off-base Club Alliance in Yokosuka way back when. It was the first Japanese I saw singing in English ... and she was perfect in her delivery. She was also still young and very pretty. She had a nice long life ... and she continued to sing nicely up until the end.
Kurobune
Rest in Peace, Miss Hayama.
globalwatcher
She was a legend in Showa Era in Japan. Please Rest in Peace.
noirgaijin
Sad to hear about another legend that had some relation to the US military here in Japan back then. I know a gentlemen who was the Officer's Club manager of Far East Exchange back in the late 40's to early 60's. He tells some great stories of how it was back then. I'm sure Ms. Hayama could do the same. Rest in Peace.