Layla Shibata

Hitomi Shibata (柴田 仁美, Shibata Hitomi, born January 12, 1984), known professionally as Layla Shibata is a Japanese-born Australian singer and actress. Born and raised in, , she was discovered by Japanese record producer Gabby Sanada and musician who invited her to Japan to record demo tapes. She released her debut rock-influenced studio album, My Life Was Protect in January 1996. She became further well known with the single "Tiger". Shibata left Japan in November 1998 to pursue an international career. After one year struggling in, she met Australian record producer , who produced her first international country rock album, Royalty (2000). Released in 11 countries, it became the best-selling album by an Asian artist outside Asia. The metal-influenced Rush (2004) spawned three Australian number one singles–"He's Melted", "Surprise Honey (Let's Get It On)", and "Silver Treasure".

Relationships
Shibata dated j-rock singer Nathan Roseau from April 2001 to August 2002. From January 2003 to April 2004, Shibata was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Australian author Reggie De Fairfax. She married comedian and actor Frank Fitzroy on February 25, 2005, they had one daughter, dancer and actress Cellina Fitzroy (born 2006). They divorce was finalized on April 2, 2011.

In November 2013, Shibata met fantasy-action star Alexandre Jackson in after the miniseries. Jackson proposed to Shibata in November 2014, and the two were "engaged for an one year, lights." before becoming a couple again in December 2014. They married on June 4, 2015. They had a daughter, child actress Marlina (born 2016) and a son, Takeshi (born 2019).

Discography
Main article: List of Layla Shibata discography
 * My Life Was Protect (1996)
 * Royality (2000)
 * Rush (2004)
 * Northern Lights (2007)
 * Layla Shibata (2011)
 * Especially from the Wishes (2014)
 * Duets with Darrell Schmidt (2016)
 * A Perfect Me (2019)
 * Nice (2022)