Kylee Saunders, better known mononymously as Kylee, is a Japanese American singer who is signed with Sony Music Japan's DefStar Records label.
Early life and career
Kylee was born in Chandler, Arizona, to a Japanese mother and British American father. Her father inspired her to become a singer. She has a younger sister and a younger brother. When she was eleven years old, she passed an audition to perform the national anthem at the opening of an NBA game, earning a standing ovation. This performance earned her the interest of music producers, and she was signed onto the independent label RX-Records. Kylee attended Stoller Middle School in Portland, Oregon, until 2007, when she returned to Arizona. She then attended Hamilton High School and in 2016 graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree. Kylee is a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On October 17, 2008, her first single, "Vacancy", was released by RX-Records in the United States as a digital single. "Vacancy" was featured as the ending theme to the Sony Computer Entertainmentanime series . On March 24, 2010, Kylee released her first major-label single under Sony Music Japan's label DefStar Records, titled, which was featured as the theme song to the 2010 film Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, a Japan-America co-production in which she also gave a cameo performance. Her second major-label single, "Missing/It's You", was slated for release on July 7, 2010, with "Missing" being the second opening theme song to the Bones and Stan Lee anime Heroman. She also performed as one of the opening acts for the 2010 Summer Sonic Festival, playing on the Urban/Dance Stage. This was followed by her single "Everlasting", which was used as the theme song for the second episode of the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OVA series. Kylee appeared on NBC's Today in the United States on May 13, 2011, where she was interviewed by Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, before she performed her fourth major single "Never Give Up". Kylee performed at Otakon 2011 on July 31, 2011, in Baltimore, Maryland, her US concert debut. Her fifth major single, "Crazy for You", was released on October 5, 2011; the song was used in Japanese online clothing retailer Nissen's 2011 fall collection television commercial. Kylee released her debut album, 17, on November 23, 2011. She also did a duet with Sam Tsui in May 2013. She was married August 2017.
