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.