Actress-singer Lily passes away due to lung cancer

Actress-singer Lily passed away in the morning of 11 November due to lung cancer as announced by her agency. She was 64 years old. Her funeral will be attended by family members and close acquaintances only in accordance to her wishes.

Lily whose real name was Kamata Saeko, made her debut as a singer in 1972 with the album "Tamanegi" and had released hit singles such as 1974's "Watashi wa naiteimasu" and 1976's Orenji mura kara haru e". As an actress, she had appeared in movies such as "Natsu no Imouto" in 1972 and "Shoukei Yuugi" in 1979. She took a break from 1983 to 1995 due to marriage and childbirth. Lily's latest appearance in a movie was in "Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai" starring Miyazawa Rie which is currently showing in cinemas. Her son JUON is the vocalist of band FUZZY CONTROL and the husband of DREAMS COME TRUE's Yoshida Miwa. Prior to her death, Lily was resting due to her lung cancer condition.

JUON wrote on his Twitter page that his mother passed away at a ROCK time of 6.09am today (the digits 6 and 9 rhyme with rock in Japanese) and referred to her as the person who taught him what it means to love. From now on, his mother will continue living in his heart and he will work hard to make music which can reach out to everyone's hearts. He also thanked Lily for giving him his name Juon (means the sound of trees in Japanese Kanji).

Sources: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2 / Oricon 3