【X JAPAN 】Leader YOSHIKI always has a big question. “What’s the meaning of my life? “ |

X JAPAN drummer Yoshiki says “ head banging is dangerous after undergoing urgent surgery.

By the way, X JAPAN is a Japanese heavy metal band, from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi.

Yoshiki, who is known for such intense drumming that he sometimes collapses on stage, shocked fans when he announced he would need an urgent operation to implant an artificial cervical disc (2017).

The performer, whose full name is Yoshiki Hayashi, had previously suffered bone fractures, but that did not stop him from pursuing an aggressive brand of heavy metal drumming that often saw him writhing in pain by the end of shows.

However, Yoshiki, who is also a classical pianist. He might play only piano instead of drums in the future.

We Are X ☆

“Heavy music began in the west”

“We took a lot of influence from there and tried to combine it with our influences from the east. Me and our singer Toshi started this band a long time ago in 1982, and it was always our dream to go overseas.”

“I will continue for our deceased members [guitarist] Hide and [bassist] Taiji – they both had a strong ambition to see the world and all I want to do is keep their dream alive and celebrate their legacy. I want them to become even more famous, because they were such amazing musicians…”

“But back then, the walls were much higher for a group like us to break outside of Japan and into the world market. But those walls have come down or gotten lower thanks to the internet”

“people can listen to pretty much anything from anywhere. There’s also been a change in our mentalities; people have become more versatile in their tastes.”

Members & Discography

【 Members 】

🔴 Current members

・Yoshiki (drums, piano) (Birthday; Nov 20, 1965)
・Toshi (lead vocals, acoustic guitar)
・Pata (rhythm guitar)
・Heath (bass )
・Sugizo (lead guitar, violin)

🔵 Former members

・hide (lead guitar) (He killed himself in 1998)
・Taiji (bass) (He killed himself in 2011)

hide

Although hide and Taiji are deceased, the band still considers them members and introduces them at every concert, with the group going as far as to play audio/video clips of their voice/guitar for some songs.

【 Discography 】

🔴 Studio albums

・Vanishing Vision (1988)
・Blue Blood (1989)
・Jealousy (1991)
・Art of Life (1993)
・Dahlia (1996)

What’s the meaning of my life?

Japanese rock star Yoshiki sometimes needs a cortisone shot in his shoulder to handle the damage he does to his body with his frenzied drumming in concert.

“I’ve tried to make the actual sound as close as possible to what I composed in my head for my music,”

“But no song I’ve ever done sounds perfect to me. If I’m trying (for perfection), I would never even finish one song before I die.

“Probably if I finish one song that is perfect, maybe I don’t have to live anymore. Maybe instead I am going to be suffering until the end of my life.”

By the late ’90s, X Japan imploded when lead singer Toshi, a childhood friend of Yoshiki’s, left for a cult and guitarist hide committed suicide.

Original bassist Taiji also took his own life in 2011, two decades after he was kicked out of the band over an undisclosed feud.

His bandmates’ deaths hit Yoshiki particularly hard. As a child, his own father, a musician who steered his son to the piano, committed suicide.

“I always had big questions, why do I exist, what’s the meaning of my life, so in order for me to pursue that kind of question, I had to do this thing,” said Yoshiki. “I was very, very suicidal.

History of X JAPAN (with YouTube)

Originally named X (エックス Ekkusu), they released their debut album Vanishing Vision (1988) a year after finalizing their line-up including bassist Taiji, lead guitarist hide and rhythm guitarist Pata.

They achieved breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second and major debut album Blue Blood.

♪　Kurenai (紅) ♪

♪　ENDLESS RAIN ♪

Following 1991’s Jealousy, Taiji left the band in early 1992. He was replaced by Heath and the group changed their name to X Japan before producing the mini album Art of Life (1993), which is composed solely of the 29-minute title track.

♪ Silent Jealousy ♪

In 1995 the group dropped most of its original visual kei aesthetics in favor of a more casual look and released Dahlia (1996), which like their two previous albums debuted at number one.

♪ Rusty Nail ♪

♪ Tears ♪

♪　Forever Love　♪

X Japan performed their last concert at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, 1997, making it the last of five consecutive sold-out New Year’s Eve concerts the group held at the stadium.