YOSHIKI has collapsed in the United States from excessive fatigue and is receiving treatment there, his PR office announced on September 19th. His planned appearances and performances in Japan have been called off, as has the September 21st live broadcast of YOSHIKI CHANNEL.
According to the statement, his physician Dr Tomizawa, who practises at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, attributed his symptoms to a prolonged, excessively packed schedule and excessive fatigue. YOSHIKI is receiving intravenous treatment and resting under medical supervision, with his doctor expecting him to recover within several days.
Posting on X, YOSHIKI said his doctor had warned him not to “take overwork lightly”. He added that he is resting while on a drip and asked fans not to push themselves too hard.
医師から「過労を甘く見てはいけない」と言われました。
— Yoshiki (@YoshikiOfficial) September 19, 2026
今は点滴治療を受けながら、安静にしています。
みんなも無理しすぎないでください。🙏 https://t.co/PAxL6vYgOS
The statement says he collapsed after attending the Japan America Society of Southern California’s 117th Anniversary Dinner & Gala Celebration the previous night. The gala took place at The Biltmore Los Angeles on September 17th, where YOSHIKI received the International Citizens Award.
Two days before the announcement, his own site was promoting an itinerary taking him from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Japan, and New York. It included what his team described as an emergency “one-day return” to Japan on September 21st, with YOSHIKI due to appear on another live broadcast while travelling within the country. His scheduled appearances, performances, and broadcast in Japan have now been cancelled.
RELATED: YOSHIKI completes US comeback with two sold-out LA shows, joined by Josh Groban, Perry Farrell, and Korn’s Jonathan Davis
In the weeks before he collapsed, YOSHIKI completed seven sold-out dinner shows across four days at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, while also appearing in six YOSHIKI CHANNEL livestreams during the run. He then travelled to Seoul for events surrounding Frieze Seoul, including CJ Night at the Leeum Museum of Art, returned temporarily to Tokyo for another live broadcast on September 7th, appeared at Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco on the 15th, and travelled to Los Angeles for the gala two days later.
The Tokyo dinner shows took his career total past 100, reaching 105 performances since the series began in 2014. His official site says the six livestreams held during the four-day run drew a combined 430,000 viewers.
All of this comes less than two years after his third cervical spine operation. YOSHIKI underwent artificial disc replacement at Cedars-Sinai on October 8th 2024, after suffering chronic neck pain and nerve problems in his left hand, and underwent long-term rehabilitation throughout 2025. His first drum performance following the operation came during his August 2025 dinner shows, while he described performing a full drum solo during his April 2026 Tokyo concerts as a “huge step” in his return.
This is also his third publicly disclosed collapse in just over three years. His office announced on August 31st 2023 that he had collapsed from overwork in Los Angeles the previous day and was being treated by Dr Tomizawa. His planned MAISON YOSHIKI PARIS appearance at Paris Fashion Week was subsequently postponed.
YOSHIKI was then hospitalised in Tokyo after collapsing from overwork on April 26th 2024. After returning to work the following month, he said doctors had diagnosed him with general malaise and a sleep disorder caused by extreme fatigue and stress. At a press conference on May 17th, he also said hospital tests had found that he was malnourished and that he had reached the point where he could no longer sleep without assistance. He said doctors considered taking a break from his career the preferable option, but ultimately allowed him to resume activities gradually as long as he got sufficient rest.
As of September 19th, Global Citizen still lists YOSHIKI among the performers for its festival on Central Park’s Great Lawn on September 26th. YOSHIKI’s team says the appearance would make him the first Japanese artist to perform at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. His PR office says he is currently prioritising his recovery with the New York performance in mind.
About YOSHIKI
YOSHIKI is a Japanese composer, classically trained pianist, rock drummer, and producer best known as the leader and principal songwriter of X JAPAN. He grew up in Tateyama, Chiba, and began playing music with childhood friend Toshl while still at school. After their earlier band Noise ended, the pair formed X in 1982. YOSHIKI established Extasy Records in 1986 to release the band's music, with independent album 'Vanishing Vision' following in 1988 before X made its major-label breakthrough with 'Blue Blood' in 1989. X's combination of speed and heavy metal, elaborate visual presentation, and long-form orchestral ballads helped establish the movement later known as visual kei. With YOSHIKI on drums and piano, the band became an arena-scale act in Japan, broke up in 1997, and reunited in 2007. Their later international appearances included Lollapalooza in 2010, Madison Square Garden in 2014, Wembley Arena in 2017, and Coachella in 2018. YOSHIKI wrote or co-wrote much of the catalogue, including 'Kurenai', 'Endless Rain', 'Art of Life', 'Tears', and 'Forever Love'. His solo work has long run in parallel with X JAPAN. The orchestral album 'Eternal Melody' arrived in 1993, produced by George Martin and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by 'Eternal Melody II' in 2005 and 'YOSHIKI CLASSICAL' in 2013. He composed 'Anniversary' for the 1999 national tenth anniversary celebration of Emperor Akihito's enthronement, wrote music for Expo 2005 Aichi, and created the official Golden Globe Awards theme introduced in 2012. His catalogue also spans film and television work, production for other artists, and collaborations with performers including Sarah Brightman, St. Vincent, HYDE, and Nicole Scherzinger. YOSHIKI expanded his group work again in 2022 by forming THE LAST ROCKSTARS with HYDE, SUGIZO, and MIYAVI, followed by an international debut tour in 2023. The same year he made his feature-film directorial debut with YOSHIKI: Under the Sky and took his classical show to Tokyo Garden Theater, Royal Albert Hall, the Dolby Theatre, and Carnegie Hall. TIME included him on its TIME100 list in 2025. After a third cervical-spine operation in October 2024, YOSHIKI returned to full-scale concert activity with sold-out YOSHIKI CLASSICAL dates at Tokyo Garden Theater in April 2026 and two sold-out nights at Walt Disney Concert Hall in July. A live version of 'Forever Love' with Josh Groban followed in August, his first release under the YOSHIKI name since 'Red Swan' in 2018. In September 2026, his label Melodee signed a global distribution and publishing-administration agreement with BMG covering new solo releases and parts of his existing catalogue.
