She rose to prominence as a teen idol, and transitioned into a leading pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentation.

Despite early sales disappointments, Amuro's rising popularity helped to score a major hit with the 1995 Eurobeat single "Try Me (Watashi o Shinjite)".

[9][10][11] Signing to Avex Trax for her solo career, Amuro catapulted to fame with a string of number one singles including "Chase the Chance" and "Don't Wanna Cry".

[12][13][14] In the early 2000s, "Never End" became Amuro's last successful single before a decline in sales, and her music began evolving from pop to R&B as she reined in creative control of her career.

[21][22] Having divorced when Amuro was only 4 years old, Taira raised her children solely in Okinawa – she worked as a nursery school employee and a bar hostess to support her family.

[27] Despite the beginning success as a group, the other four members of the Super Monkey's formed their own sub-group, MAX, under the Japanese record label Avex Trax.

[29] During a press conference on October 22 of that year, Amuro confirmed her marriage to Japanese musician and TRF band member Masaharu "Sam" Maruyama.

[73] It was commissioned by late Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi, who asked Tetsuya Komuro to write a song conveying "a vision of harmony and interaction in the world in the 21st century".

"[88] Amuro started work on her sixth studio and third collaboration album with Dallas Austin, releasing Diane Warren-written single "Wishing on the Same Star" on September 11, 2002.

[18] In December 2002, Amuro was part of the musical project Suite Chic, involving several Japanese artists like Verbal, Zeebra, Dabo and DJ Muro.

[18] Amuro released the third single from her upcoming eight studio album, "Baby Don't Cry" on January 24, 2007; it was used as the theme song for the Japanese television series Himitsu no Hanazono.

[152] In early 2008, Amuro confirmed that she would promote Japanese hair company Vidal Sassoon through their new marketing campaign Fashion x Music x VS, with a new single.

[154] The songs feature samples from The Supremes's "Baby Love" (1964), Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady" (1971) and Irene Cara's "What A Feeling" (1983), respectively.

[209] After debuting her first digital single "Damage" on October 31,[210] Amuro finished the year by conducting her 5 Major Domes Tour 2012 in Japan, spanning between November 24 and December 21, 2012, attended by around 340,000 people.

[18] Amuro returned to sole-digital releases with her single "Contrail", which was used as the theme song for the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) series Flying Public Relations Office, and sold over 250,000 digital copies in Japan.

Amuro—who knew the group during the singer's sessions with producer Dallas Austin, and whose fellow Okinawa Actors School alumni Speed had been huge fans of TLC—accepted the role, and re-recorded the rap segment as a homage to previous member Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, who had died in a car accident in La Ceiba, Honduras in 2002.

[224] However, TLC defended Amuro's involvement as neither member had access to Lopes' master recording rights and they "were forced to use creative ways to honor Lisa's memory and celebrate this milestone with the fans".

[254] Despite reaching number four on the region's single chart,[255] the digital sales skyrocketed with the music video of the song, and achieved platinum status months later.

[256] The same year in June, Amuro accepted an offer by NHK to record the theme song for the Japanese broadcast of 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

[278] Taking place in Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, Hong Kong Coliseum and Taipei Arena,[278] Final Tour 2018 ~Finally~ In Asia began on March 17 and concluded on May 20, 2018.

On June 16, 2019, Amuro released her entire music collection onto the iTunes store (most of which was previously restricted to Japan), through her label Dimension Point.

[289] Her final three studio albums, Uncontrolled, Feel and Genic, had multiple full-length English tracks and, although it received positive remarks for experimentation, she was frequently lambasted for her incomprehensible deliveries in most songs.

[40] From Genius 2000, she worked with American producer Dallas Austin, resulting in a fully adapted hip hop record with elements of J-pop.

[296] Unlike her previous records, Uncontrolled ventured into Western practitioners to helm the collection, including the likes of The Nervo Twins, Henrik Nordenback, Christian Fast and Peter Mansson.

[294][297] In an opined article published by The Japan Times, writer Ian Martin encompassed the singer alongside superlatives Yumi Matsutoya, Hikaru Utada, Seiko Matsuda and Hibari Misora as the leading female figures in Japanese music history.

"[297] Additionally, Amuro's career has been constantly compared to the likes of Matsuda's, both whom grew up in the idol routine and having achieved commercial resilience ever since; music author Motti Regev regarded the musicians as part of the "golden age of J-Pop", before records declined due to the rise of the digital market in the mid-2000s.

[18] According to a report by Entertainment Weekly announcing her retirement, she has sold more albums in Japan than Lady Gaga, Katy Perry or Kesha have in the United States combined.

[301] She is one of the only female solo artists to achieve the most accumulations of million-certified physical singles, with a total of five ("Chase the Chance", "Don't Wanna Cry", "You're My Sunshine", "A Walk in the Park" and "Can You Celebrate?"

[294] She eventually became the most prominent figure in fashion magazines and the general press for changing the typical Japanese idol image and styles of women in Japan, in favour of "dyeing their hair brown, plucking their eyebrows... thick-soled/long boots, a miniskirt, tanned-skin and tattoos".

[305] Nichi-Bei Josei Jānaru, writing for the U.S.-Japan Women's Journal, believed the success of Sweet 19 Blues was the reason many people emulated her as a role model between 1996 and 1997.