1. Tomoyasu Hotei, known simply as Hotei, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor.
33 Facts About Tomoyasu Hotei
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Tomoyasu Hotei ranked second in a 2011 poll on who the Japanese people thought was the best guitarist to represent Japan.
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Tomoyasu Hotei was born to a Korean father and a Russian-born Japanese mother.
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Tomoyasu Hotei first began playing the guitar in junior high school.
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Tomoyasu Hotei made two albums with Koji Kikkawa as Complex, both of which went to number one in the national charts.
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Tomoyasu Hotei has recorded most of his albums outside of Japan, largely in Europe, including in London, Berlin, and Montreux.
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Tomoyasu Hotei has recorded with many foreign musicians, including playing on The Stranglers Hugh Cornwell's 1993 solo album, on stage with David Bowie at the Nippon Budokan in 1996, and at the closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics with Michael Kamen.
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Tomoyasu Hotei has worked with Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, guitarist Chris Spedding and Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones.
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Tomoyasu Hotei composed three tracks for the cult classic American film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas together with Ray Cooper.
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Tomoyasu Hotei's best known song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" was used in Quentin Tarantino's feature film Kill Bill, the PlayStation 2 version of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, and Michael Bay's feature film Transformers.
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Tomoyasu Hotei recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas " for Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas, an instrumental guitar Christmas album featuring tracks from guitarists including Richie Sambora, Jeff Beck, Joe Perry, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai and Steve Morse.
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On February 1,2012, Tomoyasu Hotei performed a concert at the Saitama Super Arena to celebrate his 50th birthday.
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Tomoyasu Hotei made his directorial debut in April 2012, with the stage play Psychedelic Pain, for which he wrote the music.
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Tomoyasu Hotei played his first major show in the UK in December 2012 at The Roundhouse in London.
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In November 2013 Tomoyasu Hotei played 2 headline shows, first at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, and then at the Highline Ballroom in New York.
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On March 6,2014, Tomoyasu Hotei joined The Rolling Stones on stage during the final show of their tour in Japan.
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Tomoyasu Hotei was a surprise guest at their Tokyo Dome concert, playing the song "Respectable" before a crowd of 53,000 fans.
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Tomoyasu Hotei wrote and performed the theme song, "Trick Attack ", to the 2014 live-action film adaptation of the Lupin III manga.
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Tomoyasu Hotei celebrated his 35th anniversary in music in 2016, which included 57 live shows in Japan in a variety of different venues, from small clubs to major arenas, and finishing with a 35-song performance at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on December 30.
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In February 2017 Tomoyasu Hotei joined Fornaciari on stage at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy and returned to Arena di Verona in May for two more performances.
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In May 2017 Tomoyasu Hotei was special guest at Zucchero's first ever headline show in Tokyo with his own band.
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Tomoyasu Hotei performed his first headline live shows in Asia outside of Japan, in Taipei and Hong Kong.
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Tomoyasu Hotei completed the Paradox tour in Japan in December 2017.
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Tomoyasu Hotei's song "Kill to Love You" featuring Matthew Tuck from British heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine was used in the UK trailers for Russian action movie Attraction in December 2017 and January 2018.
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Tomoyasu Hotei continued his live collaborations with Zucchero Fornaciari, joining him at two arena shows in Turin and Milan in January 2018, and then for two shows in Piazza San Marco, in Venice in July, for the Wanted - Un'altra storia Tour.
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On October 20,2018 Tomoyasu Hotei performed his first headline show in London for three years, at a special concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire, featuring his largest band presentation in the West, including a horn section, backing vocalists and featuring special guest Zucchero.
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Tomoyasu Hotei toured again in Europe, with a return to Brussels and Zurich and his first headline show in Milan, which featured Zucchero as special guest.
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Tomoyasu Hotei ended 2018 with his first tour of Japan that was not tied in with an album release.
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The album was preceded by three singles in the month before its release, with lead single "Give It To The Universe" becoming Tomoyasu Hotei's fastest streamed track up to that point.
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On November 25,2020, Tomoyasu Hotei released the collaborative album Soul to Soul, which features collaborations with his fellow Japanese Kazuya Yoshii and Glim Spanky, as well as international acts like Carlinhos Brown, Marc Lavoine, Calogero and Yang Kun.
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Tomoyasu Hotei married singer Kumiko Yamashita in January 1986; they divorced in November 1997.
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Tomoyasu Hotei has been married to singer and actress Miki Imai since June 1999.
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On June 14,2007, Tomoyasu Hotei allegedly assaulted his friend and punk rock singer Ko Machida.