Singer Anri (43) announced to fans after a concert on Friday that she is engaged to legendary LA jazz fusion guitarist Lee Ritenour (52). Anri made the shock announcement during the encore of her show at Yokosuka Arts Theater. Ritenour worked with the singer as a producer on her 2000 album “Smooth Jam – Quiet Storm” and they have been collaborating since. Anri made her debut in 1979 and has had hits such as “Olivia wo Kikinagara” and “Cat’s Eye.” She also sang the theme song for the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. She married the president of an apparel company in 1989, but bankruptcy and heavy debts led to divorce in 1993. Ritenour is also a divorcee.
• Sayaka (18), daughter of J-pop legend Matsuda Seiko (43), announced to fans on Saturday that she is taking an extended break from showbusiness. She said in a letter to her fan club that she wants to separate herself from her mother, who is in rehearsal for a tour to celebrate her 25th anniversary in the business, and dedicate herself to her singing career in a more disciplined way. The pair have appeared together in several TV commercials, but cracks started to appear in their relationship late last year. Seiko controls the money as her daughter is still a juvenile and this is said to have led to trouble. Sayaka moved out of her mother’s Tokyo home last autumn, and these days seems to rely more on boyfriend Kitano Masato (30), guitarist with the band Day After Tomorrow. Sayaka had a success with her debut single in 2002, but her fourth single, released in January, only sold about 30,000 copies. She recently graduated from an international high school in Tokyo.
• On Saturday, actor Oguri Shun (22) made his first public appearance since his relationship with former Morning Musume leader Yaguchi Mari (22) caused her to have to quit the group. After doing a voice-over recording for an upcoming anime movie, he acknowledged the relationship to the media and aplologized to fans for any “inconvenience.”