Yoshiki (musician)
Yoshiki Hayashi (Japanese: 林 佳樹, Hepburn: Hayashi Yoshiki, born November 20, 1965), known as Yoshiki[5], is a Japanese musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, film director, and fashion designer. He is best known as the leader of the visual kei rock bands X Japan and the Last Rockstars, for which he is the drummer, pianist, and main songwriter.[6] He has been described by Billboard as a "musical innovator"[7] and named "one of the most influential composers in Japanese history" by Consequence.[8] Yoshiki's solo career includes several classical studio albums and collaborations with artists such as George Martin, Bono, will.i.am, St. Vincent, the Chainsmokers, Skrillex, Ellie Goulding, Stan Lee, Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen, Gene Simmons and KISS, Nicole Scherzinger, and Sarah Brightman.
Yoshiki
- Musician
- songwriter
- composer
- record producer
- entrepreneur
- fashion designer
- film director
1982–present
- Drums
- piano
林 佳樹
はやし よしき
Hayashi Yoshiki
Hayashi Yoshiki
In 1999, at the request of the Japanese royal family, he composed and performed a classical song at a celebration in honor of the tenth anniversary of Emperor Akihito's enthronement. Yoshiki also composed the theme for the 69th Golden Globe Awards[9][10] as well as for several anime and film soundtracks including Attack on Titan and Saw IV. In 2023, he made his directorial debut with the feature documentary film Yoshiki: Under the Sky.
In 2023, Yoshiki was selected as the first Japanese artist to be honored with a hand and footprint ceremony at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in nearly 100 years.[11] In 2024, Variety selected Yoshiki as the International Achievement in Music honoree.[12]
Life and career[edit]
1965–1982: early years and Dynamite/Noise[edit]
Yoshiki was born on November 20, 1965, in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, as the elder of two brothers in a musically oriented family. His father was a tap dancer and jazz pianist, his mother played the shamisen, while his aunt played the koto.[13] He began taking piano lessons and music theory at age four.[14] He then became interested in classical works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert.[14] In elementary school, he played the trumpet in the brass band, and around age ten started composing songs for piano.[14] This period was a decisive point in his life. He was 10 years old when his father committed suicide; he found relief in rock music.[15][16] After discovering the music of American hard rock band Kiss, he started learning to play drums and guitar. Yoshiki was also influenced by works from Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Queen, the Beatles, Charged GBH and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.[17] Yoshiki formed the band Dynamite with his childhood friend Toshi in 1977. Dynamite changed its name to Noise a year later.
Influences[edit]
When asked what the albums were the most influential for him, Yoshiki named Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin, Alive! by Kiss and Killers by Iron Maiden.[193] Yoshiki stated he loved "the punkish elements" of the albums by Iron Maiden[194] and that their work got him into punk rock.[195][196] He was into punk rock bands from the United Kingdom and Japan such as the Exploited, Chaos UK, Discharge, GISM, and Gauze around 1984.[195] He also cited the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and G.B.H. as his favorite bands.[194]
Yoshiki has also named Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony and Beethoven's 5th Symphony as influences.[197] His favorite classical composers also include J. S. Bach, Schoenberg, Berg,[198] Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin.[197]
He named John Bonham as his biggest drumming inspiration and cited Cozy Powell as the reason he started to play double bass drums.[199] He also likes Peter Criss,[200] Shuichi Murakami, Jun Aoyama from T-Square,[201] and Minato Masafumi from Dead End.[202] He picked George Winston, Keith Jarrett, Vladimir Horowitz, and Mishiba Satoshi from Kinniku Shōjo Tai as his favorite pianists.[14][203] The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett inspired him to learn jazz theory and improvisation.[14] He also studied jazz piano under Dick Marx and Shelly Berg.[198]
Songwriting and composition[edit]
Yoshiki composes his songs by hand, writing the score on paper before sharing with band members or collaborators.[204] In the 1990s, he experimented with various aliases on songwriting credits, including fictitious names such as Hitomi Shiratori (X Japan's "Tears"), Rei Shiratori (L.O.X.'s "Shake Hand"), and Tomomi Tachibana (Shizuka Kudō's "Shinku no Hana"), in order to separate his rock image from his "softer" works.[205]
He has composed lyrics and music for numerous artists including Glay ("Rain"), Dir en grey, and Seiko Matsuda.
Fashion[edit]
Yoshikimono[edit]
In 2011, Yoshiki debuted Yoshikimono, a line of rock-inspired kimono, at the Asia Girls Explosion fashion event in collaboration with Tokyo Girls Collection.[252][253] Yoshiki created the fashion brand to pay tribute to his parents who ran a kimono shop when he was growing up.[254] The collection debuted at Tokyo Fashion Week with its first fashion show during the finale of the 2015 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Tokyo,[255] and was invited to open Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo 2017.[256][257] Yoshikimono opened Tokyo Fashion Week 2020 S/S with the brand's third collection, which featured kimono designed around characters from the anime series Attack on Titan and the comic book series Blood Red Dragon, co-created by Stan Lee.[258][259]
In February 2020, Yoshikimono was announced as part of the Victoria and Albert Museum's "Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk" exhibition in London.[260] In June 2020, Yoshikimono was featured in the Tokyo National Museum's "Kimono" historical retrospective.[261] In November 2022, Yoshikimono was featured in the touring version of the V&A's exhibition presented at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in Paris.[262]
Maison Yoshiki Paris[edit]
On July 4, 2023, Yoshiki announced the establishment of his high-fashion brand Maison Yoshiki Paris.[263][264] The brand will also produce wine and champagne glasses in collaboration with Baccarat.[265] In February 2024, Maison Yoshiki Paris debuted at Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2024/25 at Bocconi University as part of the official calendar.[266] The runway show featured an onstage musical performance by Yoshiki (including new songs and a collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara)[267] and the production team included fashion stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, casting director Maida Gregori Boina, hair stylist Odile Gilbert, and makeup artist Kabuki.[268]
Modeling[edit]
In August 2017, Yoshiki was chosen for the cover of Vogue Japan, as the first Japanese male to do so.[269]
In October 2018, Yoshiki was the featured model for the Yves Saint Laurent YSL Beauty Hotel opening event in Tokyo, participating in a female makeup demonstration applied by Yves Saint Laurent's beauty director Tom Pecheux.[270][271]
In September 2020, Yoshiki was featured on the cover of fashion magazine Numero Tokyo,[272] and in October 2020, Kodansha announced Yoshiki's fashion photo book XY, shot at the Paramour Estate in Los Angeles.[273]
Business ventures[edit]
Yoshiki has launched several business ventures, including music recording, entertainment, wine, energy drinks, fashion, finance, and lifestyle products.[275]
In 1986 Yoshiki founded Extasy Records in Japan with money he received from his mother when she sold her business,[276] later established Extasy Japan and Extasy Records International, around 2000.[277] He also founded Japanese record label Platinum Records in April 1992 as an affiliate of PolyGram.[26]
In 1992, Yoshiki purchased One On One Recording, a recording studio complex in North Hollywood from Jim David, renaming it Extasy Recording Studios after his own record label in 1999.[26] He sold the studio in 2012, and it later became 17 Hertz Studio.[278] In April 1998, he bought Brooklyn Recording Studios, which housed the Los Angeles offices of Maverick Records, from owners Madonna and Freddy DeMann. He renamed it One On One South[26] before using it as the headquarters of Extasy Records International.[279] In 2013, Yoshiki bought The Pass, a Los Angeles recording studio previously known as Larrabee East.[280][281]
On May 15, 2000, Yoshiki invented a method for reproducing mp3 music and holds a patent for compressed music data playback technology.[282][283]
In 2009, with California winemaker Michael Mondavi, Yoshiki launched a wine brand titled "Y by Yoshiki", which consists of a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon from a 2008 vintage.[284][285]
In 2015, the Yoshiki Channel was launched on Niconico Video, a Japanese video platform. The channel streams exclusive live shows and distributes links for movies and magazines.[286]
Yoshiki also has his own Hello Kitty product line, named Yoshikitty.[287][288]
Yoshiki has partnered with researchers to investigate music as therapy.[289] Yoshiki also has branded MasterCard and Visa credit cards,[290][291] and is an investor in Green Lord Motors.[292][293]
In May 2022, Yoshiki formed a business partnership with Coca-Cola Japan to create the energy drinks "Real Gold X" and "Real Gold Y", themed after Yoshiki's connection to rock music and classical music, respectively.[294][295]
In August 2022, French Champagne house Pommery announced a collaboration with Yoshiki as the brand's first co-release with a celebrity artist.[296][297] In July 2023, Pommery expanded the distribution to Germany after the Champagne set sales records in Japan.[298]