X Japan leader, Yoshiki has made a charitable donation of 10 million yen to the Taiwanese Red Cross organization, to support victims of the Taiwan earthquake that occurred on April 03rd. The donation was made to the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China, through his 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Yoshiki Foundation America. Read more about the Yoshiki Foundation America below.
Legendary Japanese musician and first-time music doc director Yoshiki’s cement handprints and footprints were unveiled at a special ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on January 9th. Yoshiki is the first Japanese artist to receive the rare honor from the Chinese Theatre since the tradition began nearly 100 years ago.Continue reading
Hiroshi Morie (森江 博) a.k.a. Heath, the longtime bassist of X-Japan, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 55. The news was confirmed in an article by Yahoo Japan today, November 7th, 2023. Heath joined X-Japan in1992 and remained a vital meme we of the band until their breakup in 1997. He reunited with the group in 2007, performed at Coachella in 2018, and participated in their comeback single “Angel’ last July. Rest in peace, Heath.
Japanese supergroup, The Last Rockstars, has landed in the U.S. The band’s shining roster includes Yoshiki (X-Japan) on piano and drums, vocalist HYDE (L’arc-en-ciel), and expert guitarists Sugizo (X-Japan and Luna Sea) and Miyavi. Following an explosive live debut in Tokyo, the band trekked stateside.
One of the best things about reviewing music, in my opinion, is having a music-savvy senior editor that encourages me to review music that is not in my wheelhouse. I have realized that if I was left to my own devices, I would likely stay in my little Heavy Metal utopia, reviewing only what I picked. I received the promo email from my editor about doing a review of Japanese act HYDE. Full disclosure, the only musical act I was familiar with from Japan was Babymetal. So, when I got the promo of HYDE’s new album, Anti, (UMG), I felt a tiny twinge of trepidation. After all, what do I know about Japanese music? Absolutely nada. How was I going to do a fair an accurate review of this music was my query. As soon as the first track off of Anti, started playing, all my fears of doing an inadequate review dissipated. The music that came pouring into my earbuds was the kind of music that bridges all humanity. HYDE’s music possesses a universal sound that almost any person can enjoy or relate to. On a personal note, I broke out in goosebumps from about 5 seconds into listening to the album, an involuntary reaction my body reserves for only the best soul touching music.Continue reading
Cast your mind back thirty years to the late 80s where hard rock was in full swing. Def Leppard in the UK at the peak of their career after the release of their seminal release Hysteria and over in the states, Guns N Roses were selling out stadiums across the globe. However, in the western world, there’s one band from that era that go somewhat underlooked compared to their peers: X Japan. On April 21st, 1989 the band released Blue Blood (originally titled, X) (CBS/Sony), the album that led them to become one of Japan’s biggest bands.Continue reading
Celebrated composer and musician Yoshiki (X Japan)will compose music for the soundtrack to the next installment of the xXx movie franchise, xXx 4, contributing the films’ main theme song. xXx 4 is in pre-production with casting currently underway, and principal photography set to commence this year. In addition, The H Collective has invested in its first animated feature, Spycies, an action spy comedy produced by Chinese entertainment giant iQiyi. Yoshiki will be working on the theme song and music for the feature which has been animated in France by Lux Populi Production. Spycies will be released in theatres across China on August 8th, 2019.Continue reading
This fall X Japan was to play three sold-out nights in their homeland. Sadly, the third night was abruptly canceled due to the impending weather effects of Typhoon Trami. With concern for the safety of fans as their top priority, X Japan performed an unprecedented large-scale “closed-door concert” with complete stage effects and crew which was broadcast to an audience of over 1 million viewers. The No Audience concert is now being released and you can watch the teaser trailer, shared by Yoshiki on his YouTube channel right now and order it below!
Yoshiki (X Japan) will stream one of his sold-out his upcoming concert this week on November 15th live on YouTube. The sold-out Yoshiki Classical 2018 concert features special guests Sarah Brightman and HYDE. There is a show tomorrow on the 12th as well. Continue reading
As previously reported, Marilyn Manson was a guest on stage at X-Japan’s second-weekend headline appearance at Coachella 2018. Joining X-Japan frontman Yoshiki at the piano, the duo performed Manson’s legendary version of 1980s classic ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’, by Eurythmics. Watch it below! Continue reading