🎤 Mina Aoe (青江三奈, 1941–2000) --- 🌟 Career Snapshot Born May 7, 1941, in Tokyo; stage name gifted by lyricist Kawachi Kōhan based on the heroine from a serialized novel . Debuted in 1966 with “恍惚のブルース” (Kōkotsu no Blues) — a sultry blues-enka fusion that sold ~800,000 copies . Nicknamed “Queen of the Blues” thanks to her deep, husky tone and repeated hits like “伊勢佐木町ブルース”, “長崎ブルース”, and “池袋の夜”, each achieving million-plus sales . Read more on Last.fm