Tomoyasu Hotei

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Tomoyasu Hotei (born in Takasaki, Gunma) is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, arranger, and actor.

Hotei has sold more than 40 million copies and has collaborated with celebrated artists from around the world for more than 35 years.

Hotei first rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist for Bowy, one of Japan's most popular rock bands, before embarking on a solo career. On HMV Japan's list of the 100 most influential Japanese pop artists, he ranked 70th in 2003.

In a 2011 poll of who the Japanese people believed was the best guitarist to represent Japan, he came in second.

In Japan, an iconic performer in his homeland, he moved to London in 2012 and continues to perform and sell music worldwide.

Hotei is a global celebrity for his song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity," which has appeared in numerous films, commercials, video games, and performances, most notably Quentin Tarantino's feature film Kill Bill.

Early life

Hotei was born to a Korean father and a Russian-born Japanese mother. In junior high school, he first started playing the guitar. He stole money from his mother's purse and purchased a Stratocaster at fourteen years old, inspired by a poster of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. In a school competition to Death Penalty, led by Kyosuke Himuro, his first band, Blue Film, came in runners up. Hotei was kicked out shortly before graduating because of his long hair. He said, "Jesus had long hair!"

Personal life

Hotei has been married twice. In January 1986, he married singer Kumiko Yamashita; they divorced in December 1997. Miki Imai, a singer and actress, has been married to him since June 1999. They have a daughter (born July 26, 2002).

Although headquartered in London, Hotei flies between Japan and the United Kingdom on concert tours, recording, and event appearances. Hotei and his recent life in London was covered in BBC World News in February 2013.

Hotei was accused of assaulting his friend and punk rock artist K. Machida on June 14, 2007. The two guys became embroiled in an argument over a band that had been planning on merging together. On the 18th, Machida released a police report, and Hotei was fined 300,000 yen.

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Career

Hotei returned to Tokyo after being kicked out of high school. He became more familiar with Kyosuke Himuro, and the two boys decided to audition for a new band, which in 1981 became the six-member Bi (lit. (Tyranny) was the narrator of "Tyranny" in the film. They released their first album Moral in 1982 after changing their name to Bowy. They then became a quartet and went on to become major stars in Japan, releasing six studio albums in six years and also appearing at the Marquee Club in London in 1985. Beat Emotion, 1986, the band's first million-selling album. They became the first male artists to have three number-one albums in a single year on the Oricon chart in 1988. HMV Japan ranked Bojy at number 22 on their list of the "100 Most Important Japanese Pop Acts" in 2003.

Hotei's debut solo album Guitarhythm was released in 1988 by EMI Records and established himself as a solo artist after Boundy's demise in Body. Hotei's reputation in Japan continued to rise in the 1990s, with regular album launches and with Hotei's writing and producing for other artists, as well as collaborations with both Japanese and international artists. As Complex, Hotei also made two albums with Koji Kikkawa, both of which reached number one in the national charts. Guitarhythm is his only album that is entirely in English. Hotei has released the majority of his albums outside of Japan, including in London, Berlin, and Montreux.

Hotei has performed on stage with many international artists, including on stage with David Bowie at the Nippon Budokan in 1996 and Michael Kamen's 1996 Summer Olympics. He later performed Guitar Concerto with Kamen. He has collaborated with Roxy Music's Andy Mackay, guitarist Chris Spedding, and Jesus Jones' Mike Edwards. Hotei also visits Europe, including at a variety of major festivals. Zachary Alford, his regular drummer in recent years, has appeared with Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie. In 14 European countries, Hotei's 1998 album Supersonic Generation, which was released in collaboration with Apollo 440 and Ofra Haza, was released.

Hotei wrote and performed the score for Hiroyuki Nakano's Samurai Fiction, as well as acting in the film, in addition to many of the best-selling solo albums. He and Ray Cooper co-produced three tracks for the cult American film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In Quentin Tarantino's feature film Kill Bill, the PlayStation 2 version of Dance Dance Revolution Supernova, and Michael Bay's feature film Transformers, Hotei's best known song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" was used. Hotei recorded a remix of John Lennon's "War Is Over) for Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas, an instrumental guitar Christmas album containing tracks from guitarists including Richie Sambora, Jeff Beck, Joe Perry, Steve Valiant, Steve Morse, and Steve Morse.

"Stepcaster," Hotei produced with Char, co-produced by Char for the 2006 film "Stepcaster." Char and Brian Setzer's short joint tour appeared in the next year.

Hotei and Kikkawa reunited as Complex for two nights at the Tokyo Dome on July 30 and 31 2011. The 2011 Thoku earthquake and tsunami survivors were given the funds to benefit the victims.

Hotei held a concert at the Saitama Super Arena on February 1, 2012 to commemorate his 50th birthday. Makoto Takahashi, a former Bowy drummer, appeared as a special guest and the pair performed "Justy" and "No." "New York" is the capital of New York. Hotei made his directorial debut in April 2012 with the stage play Psychedelic Pain for which he also wrote the lyrics. Hotei would move to London in June, with the intention of embarking on an international career, it was revealed on May 8.

Hotei and his family immigrated to London in June 2012, mainly for Hotei to pursue his dream of an international career after years of spending a great deal of time in the United Kingdom. In December 2012, Hotei appeared in his first major show in the United Kingdom at The Roundhouse in London. Hotei performed two headline shows in November 2013, first at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London and then at the Highline Ballroom in New York. Hotei wrote in a financial Times interview, "I turned 50 last year, and now is my last chance to try and reach my dream." "I want to play all over the world."

Hotei appeared on stage with The Rolling Stones on March 6, 2014, the last show of their tour in Japan. He appeared at their Tokyo Dome concert as a surprise guest, performing the song "Respectable" before a audience of 53,000 people. The most popular song in the United Kingdom, "Battle Without Honor or Humanity," was selected for a national TV commercial for Buxton Water's "Naturally Pumped Up" campaign. The campaign was announced in June 2014, with plans to run for six months.

Hotei was joined by band members Zachary Alford (drums), Tony Grey (bass), and Toshiyuki Kishi (keyboard/programming). This included appearances at the Cornbury Festival in England, Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and the UK's Y Not Festival. Hotei performed as a special guest of Lord March at the Goodwood Festival of Speed at The Lexington in London, a previous warm-up gig, and Hotei was also invited to appear solo as a special guest of Lord March. Hotei was arguably the coolest guy on site during his afternoon set on the main stage, with musical sections fitting for several people in his ability to switch between technically stunning solos and crunching guitar chords whilst bouncing about the stage like an insatisfie Duracell rabbit," Live4Ever reported on the Y Not Festival.

Hotei performed four sold-out shows at the Blue Note Tokyo in late August and also attended a private party for the introduction of the new Lamborghini Huracán automobile on a short trip back to Japan. To the 2014 live-action film adaptation of Lupin III's "Theme of Lupin The Third), Hotei wrote and performed the theme song "Trick Attack (Theme of Lupin The Third)". The album New Beginnings was released in Japan on October 1, 2014, a preview of the forthcoming chapter in Hotei's career after moving to London after spending much of the year writing and recording with a number of collaborators. Iggy Pop contributed lyrics and vocals to two songs on the album, as well as Vula Malinga's vocals to one.

In June, Hotei unveiled "How The Cookie Crumbles," a single containing Iggy Pop on vocals, was the first single to be unveiled from his forthcoming second English-language solo album Strangers, which was released by Spinefarm Records/Universal Music on October 16, 2015. It was his first album to be released outside of Japan. It includes many songs from New Beginnings. It also stars Richard Kruspe from Rammstein, Matthew Tuck from Bullet for My Valentine, Noko, and Shea Seger, in addition to Pop. The album's launch was followed by a performance at Islington Assembly Hall in London, which included special guests Seger and Gary Stringer from British rock band Reef.

In 2016, Hotei held his 35th anniversary of music in Japan, which included 57 live shows in Japan, from small clubs to major arenas, and finished with a 35-song appearance at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on December 30. Hotei continued to tour the world to promote his Strangers album, as well as his anniversary. Hotei performed showcases at Paradiso/Amsterdam, La Boule Noir/Paris, and Cassiopeia/Berlin in February 2016, with Noko on bass and Cliff Hewitt on drums. He appeared live in Los Angeles for the first time in July 2016, selling Out The Troubadour and then returning to Highline Ballroom in New York. In April 2016, Richard Kruspe's third single "Move It" was released, and Iggy Pop's fourth, "Walking Through The Night," was released in November.

Hotei contributed guitar to Zucchero Fornaciari's album "Ti voglio sposare" on the Italian Embassy's website in Tokyo in May 2016 and Hotei's first live appearance in Italy at Zucchero's record-breaking Verona Arena run of dates in September.

Hotei appeared at Fornaciari in February 2017 and then returned to Arena di Verona in May for two more shows. Hotei completed his first tour of Europe in April 2017, playing in 8 cities in Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as the Paospop Festival in the Netherlands. Hotei, the founding member of his own band, appeared at Zucchero's first ever headline show in Tokyo in May 2017. In Taipei and Hong Kong, Hotei also performed his first headline live shows in Asia outside of Japan.

Hotei recorded his 17th solo album Paradox in London in July, 2017 after finishing the album in July and rehearsing in London. It's his first Japanese-language album since Come Rain Come Shine, which happened almost five years ago. The album was released with three lyric videos for the songs "Dreamers Are Lonely," "Amplifire," and "Hitokoto." In December 2017, Hotei finished the Paradox tour in Japan. Matthew Tuck of British heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine was featured in the UK trailers for Russian action film Attraction in December 2017 and January 2018.

On March 24, Hotei performed exclusively live streaming from British Grove Studios in London for a NTT phone version. At 10 p.m., the one-hour performance at 1 p.m. was able to be seen live in Japan and then available for a few weeks. Hotei continued his live performances with Zucchero Fornaciari in Turin and Milan in January 2018, and then in Venice in July for the Wanted - Un'altra storia Tour. Hotei collaborated with Hokuto no Ken in September for their 35th anniversary, along with a new single named "202X," an animated video, and a second song titled "Boombastic."

Hotei performed his first headline show in London for three years at a special concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire on October 20, 2018 featuring a horn section, backing vocalists, and special guest Zucchero. NTT in Japan had the concert filmed for streaming. Hotei also toured in Europe, with a return to Brussels and Zurich as the first headline show in Milan, which also featured Zucchero as a special guest. Hotei's first tour of Japan in 2018 marked the end of an album debut. The Tonight I'm Yours Tour featured a repertoire from Hotei's entire career as well as visits 18 Japanese cities. On December 31, he appeared live on Kohaku Uta Gassen, his second appearance on the major New Year's Eve TV show.

Hotei's 18th solo studio album, Guitarhythm VI, was released in May 2019, ten years after Guitarhythm V was released, as well as former Bosei bandmates Tsunematsu Matsui and Makoto Takahashi. The album was preceded by three singles in the month before its debut, with lead single "Give It To The Universe" becoming the fastest streamed track to that point. Hotei used a UK rhythm section for the first time on a Japanese tour, with Steve Barney (drums) and Mark Neary (bass). Hotei was a special guest at two shows for the all-star SAS band in Portsmouth and London in September, including Roger Taylor, Spike Edney, and Justin Hawkins among others. In December, Hotei's GuitarRhythm Tour in Japan returned.

Hotei unveiled the collaborative album Soul to Soul, which includes collaborations with Japanese Kazuya and Glim Spanky, as well as international artists such as Carlinhos Brown, Marc Lavoine, Calogero, and Yang Kun.

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