Albums: Jealousy, Dahlia, BLUE BLOOD

X Japan is the most successful rock band in Japanese history, and that is not a statement made lightly. The band has sold more than 30-million albums, singles and videos, sold out Japan’s 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome 18 times – so far – and has started playing to tens of thousands of fans outside of Japan. In the band’s early days, their look and sound sparked a global interest in Japanese entertainment, especially with the Japanese cultural rock phenomenon, “Visual-Kei,” a movement X Japan pioneered that went on to become a catalyst for today’s worldwide Anime craze.

X Japan (current line up is Yoshiki/drums, piano, Toshi/vocals, Pata/guitars, Heath/bass, and Sugizo/guitars, violin) was formed in 1982 (calling themselves X) by Yoshiki and Toshi while still teenagers. Over the next 13 years, the band released five studio albums – Vanishing Vision (1988), Blue Blood (1989), Jealousy (1991), Art of Life (1993) and Dahlia (1996), as well as six live albums, ten compilation albums and 15 video albums. X Japan was one of the first Japanese bands to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label.

The band was so popular, they became a cultural phenomenon, as evidenced by the X Japan Formula One racing team and a SEGA-produced X Japan video game. In the fall of 1997, at the height of their success, the band broke up. Four months later, hide, X Japan’s original lead guitarist, was found dead in his Tokyo apartment.

At his funeral, more than 50,000 fans came to mourn his passing, and in May 2010, even more fans stood in line at a memorial service to pay their respects and mark the anniversary of his tragic death. In early 2007, Yoshiki and Toshi started working together again, and later that year, X Japan officially reformed. In 2008, the band launched its reunion tour, being bigger than ever, and sold out everywhere it played.

In January 2010, X Japan filmed a music video on the rooftop of Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre, with a throng of some 8,000 U.S. fans taking part in the shoot on Hollywood Blvd. But it was on August 8, 2010 that X Japan’s dream to come to America came true with the band’s performance at Lollapalooza. Immediately following Lollapalooza, X Japan played the biggest concert in its history, selling out two consecutive shows at Japan’s Nissan Stadium, filling 140,000 seats.

The band’s first North American tour, that included a sold-out date at New York’s Roseland Ballroom. X Japan plans to do more touring and release its first English album in 2011.

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