YOSHIKI of X Japan: Honored with Historic “Asian Icon Award” at the Classic Rock Awards Show

Monday, November 14, 2016) X JAPAN leader YOSHIKIperformed at the “CLASSIC ROCK AWARDS” held at Ryogoku Kokugikan this past Friday, November 11. YOSHIKI opened the prestigious annual award show–hosted by the UK-based magazine Classic Rock–with a striking classical piano performance. Later that night, YOSHIKI made history by becoming the first-ever artist to be honored with the “ASIAN ICON AWARD.” Based at the venerable “Roundhouse” venue in London, the CLASSIC ROCK AWARDS are widely recognized by the world’s rock stars as the “annual must-attend event,” bringing together artists from rock’s global Hall of Fame. The show was held in Japan this year for the first time ever, and with this memorable timing YOSHIKI became the first Asian artist to accomplish this great achievement. Rock royalty including Jeff Beck, ELO, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Def Leppard, Richie Sambora, Cheap Trick attended the event and gave YOSHIKI rave reviews for his performance featuring classical renditions of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and X JAPAN’s masterpiece “Art Of Life.”

“So many artists in Asia are going overseas and Asian rock is growing worldwide. X Japan, is proud to be one of them and if there’s a wall between east and west, the wall is getting lower and thinner. I’m going to break this wall. It’s an honor to receive this award. I would like to dedicate this award to the members of X Japan, especially Hide and Taiji. Thank you very much.” –-YOSHIKI

On January 12 and 13^th 2017, YOSHIKI will make his Carnegie Hall debut with “YOSHIKI CLASSICAL: Featuring Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.” Although known as the founder, songwriter and drummer of X JAPAN, YOSHIKI is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, composer, and musician. Having composed the 2012 Golden Globe Awards theme song, he also composed and performed an orchestral piece and piano concerto to commemorate the Japanese Emperor’s 10th anniversary of his reign. His recent album Yoshiki Classical features collaborations between Yoshiki and legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, and Quartet San Francisco. At the Carnegie shows, YOSHIKI will perform his original compositions alongside the world-renowned Tokyo Philharmonic; he will also play several traditional Classical pieces. YOSHIKI has tapped Yuga Cohler of YEETHOVEN to conduct the concerts. For tickets (here) and for the Carnegie Hallwebsite, go: (here).

YOSHIKI is currently on a world tour greeting audiences for the X JAPANdocumentary ‘WE ARE X at film festivals in various countries, as well as promoting his forthcoming classical tour. WE ARE X is a transcendent and beautifully shot rock & roll story about the Japanese rock band X JAPAN, one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Under the enigmatic direction of YOSHIKI, composer, classically-trained pianist, drummer/percussionist, and the creative force behind the group, X JAPAN has sold over 30 million singles and albums combined–captivating such a wide range of admirers as Sir George Martin, KISS, Stan Lee, and the Japanese Emperor-while pioneering a spectacle-driven style of visual rock called Visual Kei, a one-of-a-kind cultural phenomenon.Directed by acclaimed documentarian Stephen Kijak (Stones in Exile, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man), and produced by the Oscar-winning production team  behind  Searching for Sugar Man, WE ARE X is an astonishingly intimate portrait of a deeply haunted–but truly unstoppable–virtuoso and the music that has enthralled legions of the world’s most devoted fans. The film continues to expand nationally in new cities every week; see the current list of playdates (here).

Following are all YOSHIKI Classical and X JAPAN current tour dates: