You’ve heard of J-Pop—but have you heard of Ado? In a world where pop stars plaster their faces on everything from billboards to bento boxes, this Japanese singer has taken the opposite approach: pure silhouette, zero reveal, all voice. And somehow, that mystery only makes her more magnetic. With a style that shape-shifts between feral screams and velvet runs, Ado has amassed a massive following while remaining, quite literally, faceless—proving that sometimes the most commanding presence in the room is the one you can’t fully see.
Fresh off her debut at Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 2nd—where she tore through a 10-song set on the Airbnb Stage in Grant Park—we caught up with the enigma herself to talk about the Hollywood Reporter crowning her one of Japan’s biggest stars, what it means to kick open doors for the next wave of Japanese artists, and why she’s having the time of her (anonymous) life doing it.
You once said you locked away a song you wrote at 16 because you didn’t think it was good enough. How has your relationship with your own voice, literally and creatively, changed since then?
I was only 16 at the time, so compared to who I am now, I was really immature in a lot of ways. It also took me much longer to process and understand things. I’d never been particularly good at academics, and I wasn’t very good at sorting information and making sense of it in my mind. So I have a lot of memories of struggling with songwriting back then. Thankfully, since things took off for me, I’ve come to think more seriously about who I want to be as an artist, who my audience is, and all the people who support me. Over time, I’ve grown more comfortable in my own skin. In the past, there were times when negative emotions that I couldn’t fully control would come to the surface, and I would end up opening up about those feelings to my fans on social media. But now, I feel like I’m able to stay close and connected with my fans in a different way. Through those experiences and as I’ve gotten older, the way I face and deal with myself has also changed for the better.
‘Usseewa’ came from a very specific feeling of frustration and being fed up. What emotions are driving your creative expression now that you’re in a completely different place in your life and career?
I think sadness and anger are the emotions that move me the most, not just in my vocal expression. Of course, the happiness, smiles, and courage that I’ve received have given me strength, but the moments when I feel most moved are still driven by the emotion of anger. Anger has a flame-like power that other emotions can’t replace. I often use my sadness to feed that fire, with anger as the fuel to move me forward. Maybe it’s because of those sad experiences that I’m able to use that anger as the driving force to keep going.
Performing songs for one of the world’s biggest anime franchises has introduced your music to an even larger global audience. Does it feel different performing songs that represent someone else’s fictional world compared to performing songs that represent you as Ado?
When it comes to performing live, a variety of genres come together in one unified space, and I’m singing for about two hours straight. So I don’t really make a clear distinction between “songs set in fictional worlds” and “songs that express who I am.” Whether it’s a song from a fictional world or one that expresses who I am, in that moment, I’m the main character in all of them. It’s more like I’m showing the audience different worlds from my perspective. Sometimes I sing as Ado, and sometimes Ado, as an actor, becomes someone else and sings. There are also moments when that actor returns to being herself and sings. That’s how it feels when I’m performing.
At your shows, you don’t reveal your face on stage, and there is no social media presence in the traditional sense, but a voice, your presence, a band, and extravagant staging. How do you build a connection with an audience in a city where most people have never seen you before?
We don’t really have a setup for people to share footage from my shows on social media, so what’s available is officially released live footage, DVDs, Blu-rays, and live photos for the most part. But I don’t necessarily think my traditional presence on social media is important for my fans. I’ve always built my career around keeping my identity private, and my fans come to my shows knowing that’s my approach. That in itself feels like a gift of connection from them. Because of that, I can perform with a sense of trust.
At Lollapalooza, because there are so many stages, attendees are constantly walking around the festival grounds, and people often stop at a stage because they hear something interesting, even if they weren’t familiar with the artist. What do you want someone who’s never heard of you to walk away feeling?
It’s still quite rare for a Japanese artist to perform at Lollapalooza. So just that alone, I’d be happy if people walked away thinking, “Who is this person?” “All I can see is her shadow, but she’s Japanese!?” “Japan is interesting.” Those kinds of reactions would make me smile. If they’ve grown to love Japanese music a little more? Even better.
You performed at sold-out arenas in L.A. and Newark on the Hibana tour. Does a festival set require a completely different version of you versus an arena headline show?
At festivals, you must anticipate that people who don’t know anything about you will come to see your set. So I’m essentially performing in front of an unfamiliar crowd, and I’m always thinking about how I can get them interested in me in that kind of environment.
You’re being called Japan’s biggest star by outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, you’re the most-streamed Japanese artist overseas, and yet most people couldn’t identify your face in a crowd. What does it mean to you to have built all of that without your image attached to it? Is there ever a tension between the growing scale of what you’re doing and wanting to protect that anonymity? How does pressure affect you as you grow bigger as an artist?
It does feel a little strange. But my day-to-day life itself hasn’t changed that dramatically. Of course, a lot about my life has changed substantially, but I don’t think everything about the way I lived before, when I wasn’t an artist, has changed all that much. I can still walk around town normally. I can still go buy eggs after realizing I forgot to buy them. I can take out the trash when I think, “I need to take out the cardboard!” like anyone else.
It’s not like I’m such a huge star that I have to disguise myself every time I go out. If anything, the more simply I dress, the more naturally I can blend into my surroundings. I’m still able to see things from the same perspective as my fans and everyone else, and that’s one of the greatest advantages for me. As long as I’m taking on the challenge of going global, I have moments of anxiety and pressure about how far I can make it and how I’ll be perceived. But the support I receive gives me the motivation and determination to do my best. As for my anonymity, I want to keep going as I am, building a global career while staying true to what I believe in.
You’re clearly opening doors for Japanese artists internationally. Is that something you feel a sense of responsibility around, or is it more that you’re just doing what feels right for you and the doors happen to open?
I do feel a sense of responsibility. I’ve talked several times about wanting to spread Japanese culture more widely as a Japanese artist and wanting more people to become interested in Japanese music. When I say those things, those words carry the weight of representing Japan. That said, I didn’t choose my style of anonymity in order to pursue a career overseas. In fact, when it came to touring internationally, I had doubts about whether my style would even work. But as it turned out, many people overseas found it fresh and interesting. So in that sense, I think the path to reaching the world outside Japan opened up as a result of simply pursuing what I wanted to do.
After everything—the world tours, the streaming records, the anime history—what’s the challenge you haven’t cracked yet that you’re most hungry for?
I want to perform on more international stages where legendary artists have performed before me. And someday, I hope to win a major award overseas and use that as an opportunity for more people to discover and learn about Japanese culture.
Tell us about ‘Monstruo,’ which you recently announced. The song incorporates a strong Latin influence. How do you view your growing popularity across Latin America? Having had the opportunity to visit the region and perform in front of a massive audience there, what has that experience meant to you, and how has it shaped your perspective on the region?
It makes me so happy to know that my music is reaching people across Latin America. It’s on the other side of the world from Japan, and I never even knew whether I would have the chance to visit in my lifetime, so I feel incredibly fortunate that people there are listening to my music. When I toured Latin America last year, I felt so welcome, and it was incredibly inspiring. The experience was unforgettable and still holds such a special place in my heart to this day. The place is so far geographically from Japan, and with languages like Portuguese and Spanish, I hadn’t had much exposure in my life to the region’s cultures and languages. Because of that, I used to have somewhat stereotypical ideas about it…
For example, I thought of tacos when it comes to Mexico, or samba when I thought of Brazil. I’m not very knowledgeable about geography, and I was the kind of person who didn’t take studying seriously and spent most of my time daydreaming in school. But the experience made me feel if I had studied more about the region before visiting, I could have elevated my experience even more. What really struck me there was just how much people love music. For them, Japan must feel like it’s on the other side of the world as well, and our cultures are very different, yet they showed me so much love. The feeling was mutual, and because of that, it made me want to know more and learn more about their cultures and languages.
Did you catch Ado at Lollapalooza? Perhaps Summer Sonic? We’re dying to see all of your festival fits, fan cams, and favorite moments—don’t be shy. Come gush with us over on our socials: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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