Miyavi

Takamasa Ishihara (石原 崇雅), better known by his stage name Miyavi (雅, Miyabi, stylized in all caps), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger-slapping style of playing a guitar.

In August a small, free, fan-club-only event was organized in Tokyo Dome, and on the 31st he held his last indie concert at the Nippon Budokan.

In October, he signed a major contract with Universal Music Group, but was still co-managed by PS Company.

This was followed by the release of his first major (double) single, "Rock no Gyakushuu"/"21sekikei Koushinkyoku", which entered the top ten on the charts.

He has been active since 1999, first as guitarist for the visual kei rock band Dué le Quartz and then as a solo artist starting in 2002.

In 1999, at the age of 17, Miyavi moved to Tokyo, and joined the visual kei rock band Dué le Quartz, where he went by the stage name "Miyabi".

Besides being a guitarist, he wrote lyrics, composed, and arranged.

When the band split up in 2002, he started his solo career and changed his name to Miyavi. He signed a contract with the independent record label PS Company, and on October 31, his debut studio album Gagaku was released.

Before the end of the year three more singles were released: "Shindemo Boogie-Woogie", "Pop Is Dead" and "Jingle Bell", of which only the third managed to enter the top forty on the Oricon charts.

Miyavi also starred alongside his former bandmate Sakito in a movie, Ryōma no Tsuma to Sono Otto to Aijin.

On April 23, 2003, his first solo concert was held at the Shibuya Public Hall.

Three singles were released: "Jibun Kakumei", "Tariraritarara", and "Coo quack cluck (Ku. Ku. Ru)", which charted as numbers forty, thirty, and forty-two respectively on Oricon.

On December 2, his second studio album, Galyuu, was released; it charted forty-fourth.

In 2004, he starred as himself in the film Oresama.

In February he went on his first solo tour, Tokyo Dassou, and in July additional dates were added in Korea and Taiwan.

In June his seventh single, "Ashita, Genki Ni Naare", was released, which charted twenty-second, and number one on the indies chart.

During May 2005 another single, "Freedom Fighters -Icecream wo Motta Hadashi no Megami to, Kikanjuu wo Motta Hadaka no Ousama-", was released, which charted tenth, and on June 1, his first major album, Miyavizm, was released.

It was his first album to enter the top ten in the charts.

In late 2005 and for most of 2006, Miyavi shifted to an acoustic/pop sound reflected in his second and third major albums, MYV Pops and Miyaviuta: Dokusō, released on August 2 and September 13 respectively.

They charted at fifteenth and twenty-fifth.

The first album singles, "Señor Señora Señorita"/"Gigpig Boogie" and "Kimi ni Negai o", are not different in style.

They charted as tenth and twenty-sixth respectively.

It was followed by the third major single, "Kekkon Shiki Uta"/"Are You Ready to Rock?", which is his best charting single, along with "Dear My Friend"/"Itoshii Hito", released in 2006; both reached number six.

In December he performed at the first Peace & Smile Carnival organized by PS Company.

In 2007, he became a member of the rock supergroup S.K.I.N. and in 2009 founded his own company, J-glam.

He toured worldwide several times.

In 2022, he became a member of the rock supergroup The Last Rockstars.

Since 2013, Miyavi has been a volunteer at UNHCR, visiting refugee camps around the world.

In 2014, Miyavi appeared in the motion picture Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie, and went on to undertake smaller roles in American productions such as Kong: Skull Island and Stray.

In November 2017, he was appointed an official Goodwill Ambassador.

Miyavi was born in the Nishikujō district in Konohana-ku ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, to a Japanese mother and a Korean-Japanese father.

After the first grade, he moved to Kawanishi.

His father's family, surnamed Lee, came from Jeju Island.

Miyavi says that as a child he was a good student and enjoyed playing football.

He was accepted into the junior team of Cerezo Osaka, a J-League team.

In the second year of junior high school, a sports injury prevented him from pursuing a professional career in sports.

Instead, at the age of fifteen, he learned to play the guitar.

He bought a guitar and began covering songs by Ray Charles.

He was particularly fond of visual kei acts such as X Japan and Luna Sea but also listened to the blues, Motown, hard rock such as Metallica and L.A. Guns, and industrial music such as Nine Inch Nails.

In his third year of junior high school, he started playing with his first band, a visual kei group named Loop.