Yoshiki (musician)

Yoshiki (musician)

Yoshiki Hayashi (林 佳樹, Hayashi Yoshiki?, born November 20, 1965) is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. Referred to by his stage name Yoshiki, he is best known as leader and co-founder of the band X Japan, for which he is the drummer, pianist and principal songwriter. The band achieved breakthrough success in the late 1980s, and besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, Extasy Records which he founded, the group is widely credited as one of the pioneers of the visual kei movement. Though the band disbanded in 1997, they reunited in 2007 after ten years and are currently touring worldwide. In 2000 and 2007, formed the musical project Violet UK, and Japanese rock supergroup S.K.I.N.

Yoshiki's solo career includes two classical studio albums: Eternal Melody (1993), produced by George Martin, and Eternal Melody II (2005). He has collaborated and played with Tetsuya Komuro and Roger Taylor. In 1999, at the request of the Japanese government, he composed and performed a classical song at a celebration in honor of the tenth anniversary of Emperor Akihito's enthronement. He also composed the theme songs for the world's fair Expo 2005, which was held in Japan, and the 69th Golden Globe Awards in 2012.