When we talk about Japanese pop culture, rock music is a very unique existence, especially the Japanese visual rock band is also unique in the world music scene, has a place. X-Japan, the originator of the Japanese visual band, is active on the world stage as a representative of Japanese music.
The success of any rock band, in addition to their music, has a great relationship with the personal charm of the members, today is the 53rd birthday of X-Japan captain Yoshiki, Andeya Jun will tell you about this "father of Marvel" Stan Lee is a Japanese musician who has created manga, and the legendary band he leads.
▲ Stan Lee's YOSHIKI
He led Asia's top rock band
When Yoshiki was in the 5th grade of elementary school, she watched a concert by the famous American band KISS at the Nippon Budokan and had the idea of rock 'n' roll. In junior high school, I found a classmate toshi who had known him since he was 5 years old and formed a band, and the two had been classmates from elementary school to high school.
Because of academic problems, after several personnel changes, YOSHIKI formed "X" in 1982, and X was used as a name because the letter X had the meaning of "infinite possibilities".
After that, they went to Tokyo to develop, and after several years of ups and downs as an underground band, X accumulated a certain popularity, was favored by the large record label Sony Records, signed a contract, and officially entered the mainstream music scene.
At the time, however, such a bizarrely shaped band was not accepted by the mainstream, and before Sony, many record labels and X signed on the condition that they should dye their black hair back. On the other hand, at that time, Japanese rock and roll tv shows were ashamed, but X disdained and ridiculed, and later wrote these feelings in "Red".
Later, YOSHIKI appeared in many Mainstream Japanese music programs such as "Music Station" with X, and the dressing up of the visual department and the very impactful performance brought a great shock to the audience, and also made X popular in Japan, launched a national tour, and also appeared on the "Japanese Spring Festival Gala" "Red and White Song Club".
Later, the whirlwind of X-Japan swept across Asia, and during the performance in South Korea, some fans shouted "X is not only a Japanese band, you are the leader of Asians." Please also carry out activities in Korea in the future. A very prestigious monk in the Korean Buddhist community said to him when he met YOSHIKI: "Your music brings people's hearts together, you can bring this Asia together, after listening to your music, I think so." ”
At that time, what X did was unprecedented, they set all the indicators, to a certain extent changed the style of mainstream Japanese music, affected the entire Japanese culture, they were the pioneers of the visual band, the heavy metal was recognized by the mainstream, influenced the later development of Japanese heavy metal rock, and had a great influence on other Asian bands.
Takuro, the captain of the Japanese national band GLAI
Mayday had the honor of participating in an issue of MUSIC STATION with YOSHIKI in 2013, and when they met the characters who influenced them, they excitedly said: "I met Yoshiki, the leader of X Japan, who shocked our youth, and he grew wings on his back..."
And the bassist of kiss, an American band that influenced YOSHIKI, even said, "If they were born in the UK or the US and sang in English, they might be the greatest orchestra in the world." ”
In the 1990s, in addition to leading Asian heavy metal rock music, X-Japan also had many crazy fans around the world, and the world tour opened in Madison Gardens in New York and Wembley Stadium in London.
From former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, to Marvel masters Stan Lee, Eason Chan, Mayday, Siu Kyung Teng and a bunch of fans with very different painting styles.
He said: "The pain will never go away"
Behind the success of X-Japan, it has experienced the replacement, dissolution and reorganization of members, and YOSHIKI as the captain has come under great pressure.
Under the influence of his father, Yoshiki studied piano at the age of 4 and began to contact classical music, but at the age of 10, he saw his father commit suicide at home, which gave him a huge blow and tried to commit suicide many times.
Yoshiki, who was not optimistic as a child, was saved by music, and he put the pain and anger brought about by his father's suicide in music. But in 1997, when the band was in its heyday, TOSHI, who had come all the way, suddenly announced his resignation from the band because he was brainwashed by a cult. X-Japan, which lost its lead vocals, also announced its liberation.
Just as YOSHIKI was planning to find a new lead singer and start the X reorganization, an even bigger bad news came, and the member with whom he was very close, guitarist HIDE, died suddenly, leaving YOSHIKI in despair.
HIDE's death made YOSHIKI feel that it was all his own problem, and he blamed himself: "It was I who changed HIDE's life." If I hadn't invited him at the time, maybe he would still be alive. Coupled with the departure of TOSHI, he feels that he has changed the normal life of others.
In this state, YOSHIKI is surrounded by the fear that sweeps in, and the empty feelings are constantly getting closer. Later, he underwent psychotherapy, was prescribed a hypnotic agent to treat the symptoms of fear and insomnia, and his body was so weak that he was advised to go to the hospital and had to resort to medicine to fall asleep.
To this day, YOSHIKI, who talks about HIDE, also has tears in his eyes, and although he has returned to normal now, after his father committed suicide, his best friend defected, the band disbanded, and two teammates died (in 2011, TAIJIye also committed suicide), Yoshiki said: In fact, he is just pretending to be strong, and the pain will never disappear.
For music, he did "a lifetime of suspense"
It was music that pulled YOSHIKI back from the abyss again.
In 1999, he was commissioned to compose songs for the national festival event marking the 10th anniversary of Emperor Akihito's accession to the throne, which was a great honor for musicians and an affirmation of YOSHIKI.
The "Anniversary" he composed and played live was a great success, and YOSHIKI was like waking up from a long slumber, like a lost child, and the soul returned to the original place. After that, he returned to the creation of music.
Later, he played for the Aichi World Expo, formed the band "S.K.I.N." with Gackt, SUGIZO, and Ya-miyavi, composed the theme song for the Golden Globe Awards, and many Hollywood films asked him to write the theme song, and also served as a producer for many singers.
As a rock musician, he is a strong drummer with a pair of 13 seconds, but he also has a completely different side, he has accumulated a deep classical music literacy since childhood, he is also a classical musician, released many classical music albums, held concerts, and quietly played the iconic crystal piano Yoshiki is equally obsessive.
In addition to his musical activities, the reborn YOSHIKI founded a recording studio, a jewelry brand, multiple villas and luxury cars in Los Angeles, and even a private jet.
Personal activities have also been a great success, but in YOSHIKI's mind, X lingers. Later, in the reunion with TOSHI after many years, the other party was moved to tears by the old song "WITHOUT YOU" he played, and thought of the happy time together from childhood to adulthood.
YOSHIKI used music to save TOSHI from the cult, leaving him lost, eventually contributing to the resurrection of X-Japan in 2007. Let the fans see the stage again, focusing on the crazy YOSHIKI who lost control of the instrument.
For stage performances, YOSHIKI achieved the so-called "lifelong suspense", at the end of each performance he would fall on the stage without oxygen, perhaps some audiences thought that he was acting for the performance effect, but when the staff lifted him to the stage, he was dying
Years of intense performances have made YOSHIKI already full of injuries, ligament tears, neck bone deformation, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and so on. If the cervical spine problem is told by the doctor that the cervical spine cannot withstand strenuous activity, there has been a considerable degree of damage, but YOSHIKI has taken conservative treatment for the performance.
There are also serious injuries to the waist, requiring multiple surgical implantation of artificial bones, and if the surgery fails, it can die at any time.
During her recovery, Yoshiki was at one point confined to a wheelchair and unable to walk. However, after a slight recovery, he will return to the stage: "With the dissolution of the orchestra and the death of HIDE, this pain is only one percent. Because I have the 'X' home, I can survive it. ”
Although YOSHIKI has always maintained a passion for music, he is over 50 years old after all, and teammate PATA laments that he can't resist aging, but he is not worried about whether YOSHIKI will fall, "he is more than so fragile."
He cares very little about his fans
Although a superstar, YOSHIKI is incredibly kind to her fans.
Four days before the start of the 2007 "J-Rock Revolution Festival" performance in the United States, YOSHIKI saw fans outside the venue with mats and sleeping bags, and was greatly distressed to learn that these fans had lined up here a week before the performance. Yoshiki couldn't sleep that night, and when she closed her eyes, she remembered the fans who spent the night outside the venue.
So at 3 a.m., he went to the café to buy more than 20 cups of coffee and hot cocoa, and gave it to the fans who were sleeping outside the venue, and the fans excitedly said", "It's really YOSHIKI!" Meet you at this place! It's okay to wait a few days for you! YOSHIKI replied without hesitation, "We're here to cheer you on, thank you."
2016 Hong Kong performance, because the organizer did not do a good license, there was a temporary cancellation of the performance on the same day, the uninformed Yoshiki personally went to the entrance of the venue to bow to the gathered fans to apologize, and announced that in addition to the refund, the next day will also be in the name of the individual to charter the venue, make up a concert, bought this performance ticket fans can enter for free, you can also bring a number of friends to enjoy together, won a piece of praise, he is really too good to the fans!
The "no one concert" in September this year reflects his persistence as a musician and makes fans extremely moved.
The day's performance was temporarily cancelled due to weather conditions, and YOSHIKI made a surprising decision to conduct the concert as originally planned in the venue without audiences, and broadcast it live for free on the internet
Although there was no audience, from the rehearsal to the live lighting and sound setting, there was no sloppiness at all, of course, there was a hard performance of the X members, and as usual, the performance was performed wholeheartedly, and the interaction was not less
At the same time, YOSHIKI is also a person who is enthusiastic about public welfare, and set up his own foundation "YOSHIKI FOUNDATION" many years ago. When the 2011 earthquake hit Japan, he auctioned off his crystal piano on Yahoo, and all the proceeds would go to the disaster area. During the torrential rains this summer, he donated another 10 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross.
How could such an artist, regardless of his achievements or personality, but a man of merit, not be liked by fans around the world? Motoya Jun wants to say that he hopes YOSHIKI can take care of his body, after all, he is 53 years old, but he says that he is willing to die for X, and he is ready to die on the stage at any time.
Maybe he thinks it's his mission to dedicate everything to music and X, as he himself said, "Whenever you perform, you perform it as if it were the last, even if you die." "No matter how much pain the body is suffering, it is the same as when I was young, trying to present a perfect performance to the fans.
Today' YOSHIKI still has not stopped her pace, and cooperated with HYDE on the theme song "Red Swan" of "Attack on Titan 3", which will be performed at the red and white song conference at the end of the year, looking forward to YOSHIKI's better work
Finally let's shout: "WE ARE X"!