Miyavi

About

Japanese rock and visual kei musician Miyavi was born in Osaka as Takamasa Ishihara. Miyavi dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to join the band Due le Quartz, for which he wrote all the songs despite being the youngest member. When the band broke up in 2002, he began his solo career and released his debut album Gagaku shortly thereafter. With his new solo career came a new era of music and style for Miyavi. His use of makeup and flamboyant costumes, though not uncommon in Japan, is highly androgynous, and paired with his almost unrivaled skill with an acoustic guitar, Miyavi soon became a Japanese and international sensation. After signing with Universal Music Group in 2004, Miyavi experienced his first major leap of success with his album Rock No Gyakushuu, and his third solo album MYV POPS featured seven consecutive top 10 hits. In 2009, Miyavi left his managing company of ten years to start his own company, J-Glam Inc.