<b>A Special Live by "New Wave Maki Nomiya" before she was known as the "Queen of Shibuya-kei"!</b>

At Billboard Live’s 12th anniversary in 2025, a birthday concert themed around Nomiya’s musical roots in 1980s New Wave has been decided.

As is clear from her 1981 debut album Pink no Kokoro being a New Wave album that drew passionate support from fans, Maki Nomiya was among those most influenced by the New Wave & Technopop that swept the world at the time, shaping music, fashion, and style. On her 44th birthday, she will return to her origins and perform New Wave songs. For guests, Hajime Tachibana, formerly of The Plastics and a leading figure in Japan’s New Wave scene and someone Maki Nomiya has long admired, will appear. Their connection runs deep: in Pizzicato Five’s 1995 album Romantique 96, they covered Plastics’ "Good," with Hajime Tachibana contributing guitar and vocals, marking their first-stage collaboration. The band for this show features Hirohisa Horii (also of Cornelius’ band), Seiichi Nagai (of TESTSET and QUBIT), Kenichi Shirane (of GREAT3), and Kei Takakuwa (of Curly Giraffe)—the latest, strongest New Wave lineup for 2025. Please enjoy Maki Nomiya’s performance of the New Wave era before she earned the title “Queen of Shibuya-kei.”

〈Maki Nomiya’s Comment〉
The previous birthday show welcomed Dress Codes’ Ryōhei Shima as a guest and, with rock-leaning selections, fulfilled one of the dreams I had as a teenage rock girl. This time, I want to reveal to you all the me who was a “Ton-Gari Kid” (New Wave girl) long before being called the “Queen of Shibuya-kei.” I think this will be a show that lets you unravel how the current Maki Nomiya was formed. And this time, I’ll be welcoming as a guest Hajime Tachibana of The Plastics—the New Wave band that most influenced me in the 1980s in terms of music, fashion, and style—for a stylish performance. I’d be happy if you come and witness another dream coming true on my birthday.