Yuri Masuda (益田 祐里, Masuda Yuri, born February 22, 1977), better known by her stage name yuri, is a Japanese singer, best known as a vocalist of the Japanese band m.o.v.e. She began her musical career at 19 years old in 1996, and released her first song as a solo artist in 1997, the Eurobeat song "PARADISE", which she released before joining m.o.v.e.[1]
Yuri began her musical career at 19 years old when she appeared on the idol talent program Asayan. She advanced to the finals, signed to Avex's Cutting Edge label, and released her first single, "PARADISE", in early 1997. Soon after releasing the single, she met record producer t-kimura (Takashi Kimura) and rapper motsu (Mototaka Segawa), and together, the trio formed the band m.o.v.e in the summer of 1997. The trio are best known for the opening and closing themes of anime Initial D.[2]
Largely distancing herself from the public eye after m.o.v.e disbanded, she began working on solo work in 2018, and released her first solo album, "Eternity", in July 2019.
Yuri is the voice provider of Vocaloid 2 vocal Lily, which was released on 25 August 2010,
[5] as well as her Vocaloid 3 update, released on 19 April, 2012. She was developed and distributed by Internet Co., Ltd. in collaboration with Avex Management Inc.. Lily represents Yuri's anime-persona or avatar for the releases of anim.o.v.e., the fictionalized equivalent of m.o.v.e., of which Yuri was a member of.