Chiemi Eri

, was a Japanese popular singer and actress. Eri was born as on January 11, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. She started her singing career at the age of 14 with her version of "Tennessee Waltz." Her repertoire consisted largely of traditional Japanese songs as well as a few American songs such as "Jambalaya" and "Come on-a My House". Eri started her career as an actress similar to Hibari Misora. Eri, Misora and Izumi Yukimura formed a trio. In her concerts, she was supported by Nobuo Hara's jazz band. The actress was one of Japan's best-known singers in the mid-20th century and also appeared in numerous television shows from the early 1950s until just before her death. However, she is fairly unknown in many other parts of the world since her albums were rarely distributed in other markets, in which her music can almost only be accessed via the internet. Eri married Ken Takakura in 1959 and they divorced in 1971. She released the single in 1974. The song was later included in the omnibus album "Enka no Kokoro". Death On the afternoon of February 13, 1982, Eri was found prone and not breathing on the bed of her Minato Ward apartment in Tokyo, by her manager. Her cause of death was listed as a stroke with asphyxiation due to vomit in the trachea. A further report indicated that while she had a cold and had already been drinking, a combination of whiskey mixed with milk, as well as cold medicine that she had heated up may have had a role in her death.