is a former Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He was lead vocalist of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Boøwy Boøwy ( ; stylized as BOØWY) was a Japanese rock band formed in Takasaki, Gunma in 1981. The classic lineup of vocalist Kyosuke Himuro, guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei, bassist Tsunematsu Matsui, and drummer Makoto Takahashi reached legendary status ...

from 1981 to 1988. After the band disbanded he started a successful solo career, becoming one of Japan's best-selling artists. In 2003,

HMV Japan Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

ranked Himuro at number 76 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. He currently lives in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Life and career

He was born , pronounced the same but written with different characters, before adopting his stage name at the end of 1984. Himuro has frequently played music with

Steve Stevens Steve Stevens (born Steven Bruce Schneider; May 5, 1959) is an American guitarist. He is best known as Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and for his lead guitar work on the theme to ''Top Gun'' – "Top Gun Anthem" – for w ...

, best known as the backing guitarist for

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

. For example, Stevens participated in Himuro's album as a guitarist and his

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

after his album ''I·De·A''. On August 22, 2004, he held a concert, entitled "21st Century Boøwys VS Himuro", at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

. He sang many

songs, the first time in sixteen years. "Wild Romance" was used as the ending

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the Japanese dubbed version of ''

Van Helsing A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

'' and for the Japanese releases of

Yakuza 5 is an action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The game is the fifth main entry in the ''Yakuza'' series. The game was released in December 2012 in Japan, and localized for North ...

Himuro's song "Calling", from his 1989 album ''Neo Fascio'', was used in the ending credits to the highly anticipated 2005 CG Film ''

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is a 2005 Japanese List of computer-animated films, computer-animated film directed by Tetsuya Nomura, written by Kazushige Nojima, and produced by Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto. Developed by Visual Works and Square Enix, ''Advent Child ...

''. The film's director,

Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director working for Square Enix (formerly Square). He designed characters for the ''Final Fantasy'' series, debuting with ''Final Fantasy VI'' and continuing with various later installments. Addit ...

, has noted that Himuro's music has been highly influential in his own work, and when asked about his contribution to the film, Himuro said that he was happy his work would be used in "the best CG movie ever made in Japan". On August 5 and 6, 2006, he held a concert called "Kyosuke Himuro + Glay 2006 at Ajonomoto-Stadium "Swing Addition"" with Japanese band

Glay Glay (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese rock band, formed in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, in 1988. Glay primarily composes songs in the rock and pop genres, but they have also arranged songs using elements from a wide variety of genres, includi ...

Ajinomoto Stadium , also known as Tokyo Stadium in AFC Champions League, is a multi-purpose stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium was founded at Kantō Mura, the redevelopment area formerly used by United States Forces Japan, in March 2001. It was the fi ...

. In addition, Himuro released first collaborated single with Glay called "Answer" on August 2, 2006. The Japanese release of ''

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete is a 2005 Japanese computer-animated film directed by Tetsuya Nomura, written by Kazushige Nojima, and produced by Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto. Developed by Visual Works and Square Enix, ''Advent Children'' is part of the ''Compila ...

'' features a new ending song by Himuro, replacing the original use of "Calling". "Safe and Sound" is the title and it features

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...

lead singer

Gerard Way Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He released his debut solo album, ''Hesitant Alien'', i ...

. "Safe and Sound" was released on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on April 29, 2009. However, the North American release does not contain "Safe and Sound", but instead continues to feature "Calling". Himuro held two consecutive sold-out charity concerts at the

on June 20, 2011, attracting over 104,000 people making them the biggest charity live event ever held in Japan. The raised sum of 669,220,940 yen (around US$8.7 million) was donated to Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate prefectures, for recovery after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

. In 2016, he had a retirement tour in Japan and officially retired from music activities due to his

hearing impairment Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

. He currently lives in

, where he purchased a 12,500 square feet palatial residence in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

in 2004 for $6.4 million, which was previously owned by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Flowers for Algernon ''Flowers for Algernon'' is a short story by American author Daniel Keyes, later expanded by him into a novel and subsequently adapted for film and other media. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of ''T ...

'' (September 1, 1988),

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

Weekly Albums Chart Peak Position: No. 1 * ''

Neo Fascio ''Neo Fascio'' is the second album by Japanese singer Kyosuke Himuro. The album explores the theme of fascism through music, emphasizing the dangers associated with it. Musicality and Themes The concept work for the album was inspired by the so ...

'' (September 27, 1989) No. 1 * ''

Higher Self Higher self is a term associated with multiple belief systems, but its basic premise describes an eternal, omnipotent, conscious, and intelligent being, who is one's real self. Blavatsky formally defined the higher self as " Atma the inseparable ra ...

'' (April 6, 1991) No. 1 * ''

Memories of Blue Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is Encoding (memory), encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If Foresight (psycholo ...

'' (January 7, 1993) No. 1 * ''

Shake the Fake Shake may refer to: * Handshake * Milkshake * Tremor * Shakes (wood), cracks in timber * Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle made from split logs Shake, The Shakes, Shaking, or Shakin' may refer to: Geography * Shake, Zimbabwe * Shake, anothe ...

'' (September 26, 1994) No. 1 * ''Missing Piece'' (September 30, 1996) No. 1 * '' I·De·A'' (December 10, 1997) No. 1 * '' Mellow'' (February 23, 2000) No. 5 * '' Beat Haze Odyssey'' (October 18, 2000) No. 3 * ''Follow the Wind'' (August 20, 2003) No. 2 * ''

In the Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition "Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was released by E ...

'' (December 20, 2006) No. 3 * '' "B"orderless'' (September 8, 2010) No. 3

Singles

* "Angel" (July 21, 1988), Oricon Weekly Singles Chart Peak Position: No. 1 * "Dear Algernon" (October 7, 1988) No. 2 * "Summer Game" (July 26, 1989) No. 1 * No. 2 * No. 1 * "Crime of Love" (February 27, 1991) No. 2 * "Urban Dance" (February 26, 1992) No. 2 * "Good Luck My Love" (November 7, 1992) No. 5 * "Kiss Me" (December 7, 1992) No. 1 * "Virgin Beat" (August 29, 1994) No. 1 * No. 2 * "Stay" (June 24, 1996) No. 1 * "Squall" (August 15, 1996) No. 1 * "Waltz" (January 15, 1997) No. 4 * "Native Stranger" (June 4, 1997) No. 2 * "Heat" (October 29, 1997) No. 5 * No. 6 * No. 3 * No. 13 * No. 81 * "Girls Be Glamorous" (January 1, 2001) No. 10 * "Claudia" (July 20, 2003) No. 10 * "Wild Romance" (September 8, 2004) No. 6 * "Easy Love/Bitch as Witch" (February 8, 2006) No. 6 * "Answer" (August 2, 2006) :

feat. Kyosuke Himuro * "Sweet Revolution/In the Nude ~Even Not in the Mood~" (October 4, 2006) No. 3 * "Safe and Sound" (April 29, 2009) : Kyosuke Himuro feat.

* "Bang the Beat/Safe and Sound" (July 14, 2010) No. 3 * "If You Want" (March 14, 2012) No. 4 * "Warriors" (September 26, 2012) No. 5 * "North of Eden" (May 1, 2013) No. 6 * "One Life" (July 16, 2014) No. 6

Compilations

* ''Singles'' (July 19, 1995) No. 1 * ''Collective Souls ~The Best of Best~'' (June 24, 1998) No. 4 * ''Ballad ~ La Pluie'' (September 27, 2001) No. 7 * ''Case of Himuro'' (March 19, 2003) No. 7 * ''20th Anniversary All Singles Complete Best "Just Movin' On" ~All The-S-Hit~'' (June 11, 2008) No. 1 * ''Kyosuke Himuro 25th Anniversary Best Album Greatest Anthology'' (August 21, 2013) No. 1 * ''L'épilogue'' (April 13, 2016) No. 1

Live albums

* ''The One Night Stands ~Tour "Collective Souls" 1998~'' (December 9, 1998) No. 6 * ''21st Century Boøwys Vs Himuro'' (December 24, 2004) No. 8

Others

* ''Lover's Day Double Happiness'' (August 21, 1991) * ''Masterpiece #12'' (April 25, 1992) No. 1 * ''Lover's Day II'' (January 27, 1999) * ''Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Original Soundtrack'' (September 28, 2005) *''Tour 2010-11 Borderless "50x50 Rock' N' Roll Suicide" -Official Pirates Mix 20101231--Official Pirates Mix 20101230-'' (February 7, 2011) *''Official Pirates Mix'' (February 3, 2012) *''「Crossover 12-13 Day 1 20121230」'' (January 15, 2013) *''「Crossover 12-13 Day 2 20121231」'' (January 15, 2013)

Home videos

* ''King of Rock Show of 88's-89's Turning Process'' (June 28, 1989 / dvd 2009), Oricon DVDs Chart Peak Position: No. 20 * ''Neo Fascio Turning Point'' (July 25, 1990 / dvd 2009) No. 26 * ''Birth of Lovers'' (December 1990) * ''Over Soul Matrix'' (November 27, 1991 / dvd 2009) No. 30 * ''Captured Clips'' (April 28, 1993) * ''Live at the Tokyo Dome Shake the Fake Tour'' (December 25, 1995 / dvd 2009) No. 23 * ''Missing Piece'' (May 14, 1997) * ''The One Night Stands - Tour "Collective Souls" 1998'' (December 24, 1998 / dvd 2009) No. 18 * ''100152'' (December 24, 1999 / dvd 2000) No. 14 * ''Digital BeatNix Tower'' (October 18, 2000) No. 2 * ''Case of Himuro 15th Anniversary Special Live'' (November 25, 2003) No. 10 * ''Higher Than Heaven ~ At Yoyogi National Stadium"'' (August 18, 2004) No. 5 * ''21st Century Boøwys VS Himuro'' (December 24, 2004) * ''Soul Standing By〜'' (2005) * ''Kyosuke Himuro/Captured Clips 1988-2006'' (2006) No. 8 * ''Kyosuke Himuro Tour 2007 "In the Mood"'' (2008) No. 2 * ''20th Anniversary Tour 2008 Just Movin' On -Moral~Present-'' (2009) No. 3 * ''L’egoiste'' (2009) No. 8 * ''Kyosuke Himuro Countdown Live Crossover 05-06 1st Stage/2nd Stage'' (2009) No. 7 * ''20th Anniversary Tour 2008 Just Movin' On -Moral~Present- Special Live at Budokan'' (2009) * No. 2 * ''Kyosuke Himuro Tour 2010-11 Borderless 50x50 Rock' N' Roll Suicide'' (2012) No. 6 * ''21st Century Boøwys Vs Himuro "An Attempt to Discover New Truths"'' (2012) No. 8 * ''Special Gigs The Borderless From Boøwy to Himuro'' (2012) * ''KYOSUKE HIMURO TOUR2010-11 BORDERLESS 50×50 ROCK'N'ROLL SUICIDE'' (2012) * ''KYOSUKE HIMURO 25th Anniversary TOUR GREATEST ANTHOLOGY-NAKED- FINAL DESTINATION DAY-01'' (2015) * ''KYOSUKE HIMURO LAST GIGS'' (2017)

Cover songs

Himuro has covered several songs. Although "

Keep the Faith ''Keep the Faith'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi, released on November 3, 1992, by Mercury Records. It is Bon Jovi's last studio album to feature all five original band members as bass guitarist Alec John Such was dism ...

" was composed by Himuro himself. * "

Suffragette City "Suffragette City" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally released in April 1972 as the B-side of the single "Starman" and subsequently appeared on his fifth studio album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and ...

" by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

on B-side of his 1988 single ''Dear Algernon''. * "

Accidents Will Happen "Accidents Will Happen" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It first appeared on the 1979 album '' Armed Forces''. Costello wrote the song about his many infidelities during this period of h ...

" by

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

on B-side of his 1989 single ''Misty''. * " Miss Murder" by

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

on his 2006 album ''

''. * "

Pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

" by

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They h ...

on his 2006 album ''In the Mood''. * "

" by

KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, ...

on his 2008 compilation album ''20th Anniversary All Singles Complete Best Just Movin' on ~All The-S-Hit~'' * "

Time for Miracles "Time for Miracles" is a power ballad by Adam Lambert. It was released on October 16, 2009, via Amazon.com. Although the song was his first release since ''American Idol'', it was not his official debut single, which was the title track to his deb ...

" by

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

on his 2010 album ''"B"orderless''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Himuro, Kyosuke 1960 births Living people People from Takasaki, Gunma Japanese-language singers Japanese male pop singers Japanese male rock singers Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese expatriates in the United States Video game musicians Musicians from Gunma Prefecture 20th-century Japanese male singers 21st-century Japanese male singers

Life and career

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Compilations

Live albums

Others

Home videos

Cover songs

See also

References

External links