Hyde (singer)

HYDE (Pronounced in Japanese: Hai-do, or in English as "Hide", b. January 29 1969, in Wakayama, Japan, real name rumored to be Hideto Takarai) is the lead singer for the Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel. Since hyde keeps his personal information secret, much about him is either unknown or unofficial. His height is said to be 5'2", or about 156cm. He joined L'Arc~en~Ciel in 1992 after having been a part of another band, Jerusalem's Rod.

hyde; photoshoot for pati pati magazine vol.227

In addition to being lead singer and main lyricist of L'Arc~en~Ciel, hyde has worked on a self-titled solo project as well, and has his own record label under Sony Japan, Haunted Records.

On December 25, 2000, he departed from Japan's most eligible bachelors list and married Megumi Oishi. They have one child together, a boy, but because hyde is a very private celebrity, speculations about his personal life and family are discouraged out of respect.

History

Solo history

After L'Arc~en~Ciel released the single 'Spirit Dreams Inside' in 2000, the band went on an unofficial hiatus as each of the members began work on solo careers. This was HYDE's debut as a solo artist. In October of 2001, HYDE released his first solo single, 'EVERGREEN'. After two more singles, 'Angel's Tale' and 'Shallow Sleep', HYDE released his first solo album, 'Roentgen', on March 27, 2002. An overseas edition featuring English lyrics was released in July of the same year as HYDE began reaching out to his international fans.

After the expressive, artistic ballads of Roentgen, HYDE's next two singles, 'HELLO' and 'HORIZON', released June and November of 2003 respectively returned to his rock roots. HYDE's second solo album, '666', was released on December 3, 2003. It provided a dramatic contrast to 'Roentgen' and the two albums became viewed as counterparts.

In 2003, HYDE starred alongside Gackt (another popular figure in Japanese music), in the Japanese film Moon Child. In a duet as part of the project, HYDE and Gackt sang ("Orenji no Taiyou", or "Orange Sun"). The song was also released on Gackt's fourth full-length album, Crescent. In December of 2003, Hyde's song "Shining Over You" from his 666 album was used as the commercial song for Namco's Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.

hyde; in the role of Adam (2004)

2004; HYDE took on the role of the guitarist Adam in the movie Kagen no tsuki/下弦の月, a movie based on the popular manga by Ai Yazawa. The movie's theme song, THE CAPE OF STORMS, came from his first album Roentgen...

L'Arc~en~Ciel revival

In June and July 2003 after a three year hiatus, L'Arc~en~Ciel astonished their fans with a series of seven concerts titled, Shibuya Seven Days. At the conclusion, they announced a new album, 'Smile', scheduled to be released March of 2004. hyde returned to his position of vocalist as part of L'Arc~en~Ciel and the band released another two albums together, 'Smile' in March of 2004, and 'Awake' in June 2005.

In the summer of 2004, L'Arc~en~Ciel held their North American debut concert at Otakon anime convention in Baltimore, Maryland as part of their 'Smile' tour. The concert was viewed as a triumphant success, with crowds of 12,000 fans.

L'Arc~en~Ciel's 'AWAKE' album was released in June of 2005. It was accompanied by a Japanese AWAKE tour in August of the same year during which hyde created controversy with his costumes, which were obvious social commentaries. A second, larger tour titled 'Asia Live 2005' was held shortly thereafter and the band held groundbreaking concerts in Korea and China, reaching out to their fans outside of Japan.

The band's newest single, 'Link', was released in July of 2005.

Return to solo work

In the summer of 2005, hyde composed the music for the song GLAMOROUS SKY, used in the movie NANA, another film based on a popular manga by Ai Yazawa. The song was sung by fellow Japanese artist Mika Nakashima and the lyrics were written by Ai Yazawa. In August, hyde (and his solo band) performed the song on Music Station with Mika Nakashima, hyde being on guitar.

The continued work with L'Arc~en~Ciel prompted doubts as to whether hyde would be continuing as a solo artist. Hyde responded to these doubts with a vigorous return to his solo career. The single COUNTDOWN was released on October 5th 2005, with a tracklisting including Japanese & English versions of the song COUNTDOWN made for the Japanese release of the movie Stealth and also a special rock version of EVERGREEN (originally from Roentgen).

Later that month, hyde hosted HALLOWEEN OF THE LIVING DEAD, a three-night event held at CLUB CITTA on October 29th, 30th & 31st. Each night featured performances by hyde himself, a guest artist/band and JACK-O-LANTERN. Artists/bands who took part in the Halloween performances are Monoral, UVERworld, OLIVIA, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, & Mika Nakashima. The group JACK-O-LANTERN consisted of HYDE and the group Monoral playing many Halloween favorites such as ghostbusters.

Starting in January 2006, HYDE's single SEASON'S CALL was used as the opening theme to the anime show Blood+. This single was released on February 2, 2006.

His new album, "FAITH", was released on April 26th, 2006.

International career

"FAITH" will be accompanied by a five-month tour with many locations in Japan, some exclusively open to members of his fanclub.

After signing on with Tofu Records as a solo artist, a US debut concert was scheduled as part of the Faith tour, to be held at Slim's in San Francisco, California on July 5, 2006. Tickets for the event went on sale online at 1 p.m. EST on April 2, 2006 and sold out in an astonishing three minutes. The second round of sales was held April 9, also online, and also sold out quickly.

Soon afterward, rumors began circulating in the fan community of a second concert, to be held at House of Blues in Anaheim, California, on July 2. The rumors remained unconfirmed for a week before the event was announced officially. Like the San Francisco venue, the second concert also sold out immediately, attesting to hyde's international appeal. Two more shows were added on shortly after.

Hyde performed a total of four times in California: House of Blues in Anaheim, California on July 2, 2006; House of Blues on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, Calfornia on July 3, 2006; Slim's in San Francisco on July 5, 2006; and The Fillmore in San Francisco on July 6, 2006.The Black List Club opened for Hyde at all four locations.

The overseas version of "FAITH" was released on June 27, 2006 and includes a bonus DVD featuring music videos for both "COUNTDOWN" and "SEASON'S CALL".

HYDE also made a brief appearance at Tofu Record's booth at Anime Expo 2006 on July 1. He (and Tofu Records) held a Q & A panel.

"Facts" about Hyde

NOTE: Most of these facts are compiled by fans and may or may not be true as hyde is very "hush-hush" about his personal life and traits. A good amount of his fans agree that these are not rumors, but are facts. The only fact that can be said for certain is the first one.
*hyde keeps much of his personal information secret, including his real name and birth date.
*It is said that his real name is Hideto Takarai.
*When hyde was a child, he used to wear feminine colors because his mother wanted a daughter. He wore a red backpack, which in Japan is classified as feminine as opposed to blue backpacks.
*He is the only child in his family.
*When he was younger, his father made him learn martial arts because he was rather weak and shy.
*He once took breakdancing lessons.
*He was the guitarist in the band Jerusalem's Rod before joining L'Arc as the vocalist (he also originally wanted to be guitarist of L'Arc).
*He married Megumi Oishi on December 25 2000. He has stated that he had always admired Oishi and that she has a beautiful face. Hyde was introduced to Megumi on the Japanese music variety show Utaban. They have one child, who was recently revealed to be a boy.
*He originally wanted to become a cartoonist, but is colour blind (though only partially - he suffers from red/green colour-blindness, so he cannot distinguish subtle colors like pink and light blue)
*His favorite brand of cigarettes is PHILIP MORRIS SUPER LIGHT.
*He likes to collect blue glass products.
*One of his other trademark accessories is a barbed wire necklace. He often wore it during performances and photoshoots, though in recent years he seems to have abandoned it.
*His favourite animes are Nekojiru & Monster.
*His favorite book is Harry Potter and his favorite manga is Deathnote.
*On an interview with Pop Japan TV, Hyde's favorite food are hamburgers and is least favorite food is curry.
*When asked in an interview with Pop Japan TV if he cooks, he stated that he cooks curry once a year.

Discography

DVDs

*(2004.11.13) ROENTGEN STORIES

Albums

*(2002.03.27) Roentgen
*(2002.07.10) Roentgen Overseas Version (english)
*(2003.12.03) 666
*(2004.10.14) roentgen.ENGLISH
*(2006.04.26) FAITH
*(2006.06.27) FAITH, U.S. Debut

Singles

*(2001.10.17) Evergreen
*(2001.12.12) Angel's Tale
*(2002.02.27) Shallow Sleep
*(2003.06.04) Hello
*(2003.11.06) Horizon
*(2005.10.05) Countdown
*(2006.02.22) SEASON'S CALL (#1 {Japan}, #4 {World Singles Chart})

Hyde (singer): Encyclopedia BETA

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