YOSHIKI Press Conference at The GRAMMY Museum, Los Angeles

It’s official: X JAPAN is not dead, and the band’s charismatic leader YOSHIKI shows no signs of slowing down on the classical front. The acclaimed composer and musician with a career spanning four decades walked on stage at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on the evening of May 15th to announce his classical world tour Requiem, a new classical single of the same name, and a new X JAPAN single, Angel. YOSHIKI was invited by the GRAMMY Museum to make the announcements at a performance and conversation event hosted by the museum's Chief Curator and VP of Curatorial Affairs Jasen Emmons.

Sitting at his iconic crystal piano, sans his signature sunglasses, YOSHIKI made it a point to announce the good news himself. Autumn 2023 shall see him travel the world once again to honour the tenth anniversary of his YOSHIKI CLASSICAL album. Titled Requiem, the tour will be supported by a live orchestra and several yet-to-be-announced special guests. A classical single of the same name will be released on July 21st, followed a week later by X JAPAN’s first single to be released in eight years, Angel, on July 28th.

YOSHIKI, who will be the first Japanese artist to headline a roster of historical venues in the United States and Europe, including London's Royal Albert Hall, Los Angeles' Dolby Theater and New York's Carnegie Hall, expanded on the significance of this tour: “Yesterday was Mother’s Day. Last year in May, I lost my mother. After she passed, I couldn’t do anything but cry for days. Then I started composing a song called Requiem. (I decided) that I should move forward and not give up at that point. I decided to do this tour for her, and to honour my fans who have been so supportive of me.”

When questioned about what can be expected of his classical tour, YOSHIKI promised to entertain his audience with a mix of new compositions, orchestral arrangements of X JAPAN songs, and a selection of opuses from classical composers, including Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. Requiem, his new single, was teased to the press with a short video showing the musician and his piano on a rain-soaked beach, playing a Chopin-inspired melody with a distinct Raindrop Prelude inspiration.

A multi-talented artist, YOSHIKI made his name as X JAPAN’s drummer, pianist, and leading composer in the early 1980s. Despite the band’s breakup in the late 1990s, he remained active as a solo artist throughout the following decades and released three classical albums of his original piano compositions and ballad covers. Among his many accomplishments, he was appointed by Emperor Akihito to compose a song to mark the tenth anniversary of his reign, and by the "Golden Globes" to compose the ceremony’s 2012 theme song - a testament to his flair as a classical artist.

Since X JAPAN’s reunion in 2007, YOSHIKI resumed his duties as band leader, drummer and pianist, but the band was believed to be inactive since 2018. Yesterday’s announcement came as a surprise to fans worldwide, who have been calling for the release of new music for several years. Angel was first played live by the band in 2015 and presents as an English ballad featuring YOSHIKI on piano.

YOSHIKI’s Requiem tour dates can be viewed further down the page. Ticket information is available here.

The teaser for Requiem can be viewed below.