Aya Hirano is a Japanese actress, voice actor, and singer born on October 8, 1987, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. She began her entertainment career as a child actor in 1998, joining a Tokyo children's theater group and appearing in television commercials. Her voice acting debut came in 2001 with a role in the anime series Angel Tales.

Hirano's breakthrough role arrived in 2006 when she was cast as the title character Haruhi Suzumiya in the immensely popular anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This role propelled her to stardom and established her as one of the first widely recognized "idol voice actors" who successfully crossed over into mainstream entertainment. Her performance earned her the Best Newcomer Award at the first Seiyu Awards in 2007 and the Best Lead Actress Award at the second Seiyu Awards in 2008, where she also won the Best Singing Award with fellow cast members for the Lucky Star opening theme. She also received the Voice Acting Award at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair for her role as Haruhi Suzumiya.

Following this success, Hirano secured several other iconic roles that defined her career. She voiced Misa Amane in Death Note (2006), Konata Izumi in Lucky Star (2007), and began her long-running role as Lucy Heartfilia in the Fairy Tail franchise in 2009. Her work in Fairy Tail extended to numerous sequels, including Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry and Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. Another recurring collaboration was with the Jewelpet series, where she provided the voice of Garnet across multiple installments such as Jewelpet, Jewelpet Twinkle, Jewelpet Kira☆Deco—!, and Lady Jewelpet.

Throughout her career, Hirano has demonstrated versatility across a wide spectrum of characters. Notable roles include Nobume Imai in the long-running Gintama series, Popuko in Pop Team Epic, Nanael in the Queen's Blade franchise, Kaoru Akashi in Psychic Squad and Unlimited Psychic Squad, and Kurumi Ume in Kimi ni Todoke. She also voiced Migi in Parasyte -the maxim- and Dende in the Dragon Ball series. Her film roles include Maiko Shirahato in Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet and Haruhi Suzumiya in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Beyond voice acting, Hirano has pursued a concurrent music career, releasing her debut single "Breakthrough" in 2006 under the Lantis label. She has performed numerous theme songs for the anime series in which she starred, including multiple opening and ending themes for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Her single "Super Driver" reached number three on the Oricon weekly charts in 2009. She signed with Universal Sigma in 2012 and has continued releasing music.

In 2011, Hirano left her longtime agency Space Craft Entertainment and transferred to Grick, later announcing she had resumed accepting new voice acting roles. She transitioned to freelance work in 2022. In 2019, she was appointed as a Cool Japan Ambassador by the Japanese Cabinet Office, a government program promoting modern Japanese culture abroad. Her career has also expanded to include live-action television and stage performances, notably starring in the 2012 drama Muse no Kagami.