Gackt

THIS IS A FAN SITE Bio taken from Wiki:
Click Here For International Gackt Fanclub Gackt Camui was born in Okinawa, Japan, on a July 4 (precise year not publicly known), as the second of three children (he has an older sister and a younger brother). His father was a music teacher who primarily played the trumpet. According to his autobiography, he was a mischievous child and enjoyed taking risks; at age seven he nearly drowned while swimming off the coast of Okinawa. After this near-death experience, he claimed to have the ability to see and speak with deceased family members, a notion which was dismissed by his parents. At the age of ten, Gackt was hospitalized with a gastrointestinal condition and had to remain at the hospital for a prolonged time. He made the acquaintance of several terminally ill children, some of whom died during his stay. Gackt's musical education began at age three, when his parents initiated his classical piano education, of which he grew tired four years later. It would take another four years until his parents allowed him to quit. Competition with a friend lead to Gackt taking back up the piano, and he was later encouraged to learn other various instruments, especially those used in a rock band, throughout the rest of his time in school. In 1995, Gackt joined Malice Mizer as the group's vocalist, lyricist and pianist. Fan base and record sales grew substantially over the following years and the band became known for its distinct visual kei theme, with elaborate costumes, on-stage scenery and theatrics. Malice Mizer released two albums with Gackt, Voyage ~Sans Retour~ and Merveilles. When Gackt began seeking further creative control over the group's compositions, as opposed to just writing the lyrics, he claims he was removed from the group. However, public statement is that he left for personal reasons. Gackt launched his solo career on May 12, 1999 with the release of the EP Mizerable. Several albums, singles and videos (on VHS and DVD) have since followed. Gackt's music has also been featured as theme songs for anime and video games multiple times, examples being New Fist of the North Star, Texhnolyze, Bujingai and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, amongst others. He has also provided voice acting, motion capturing and his likeness for such works on several occasions and co-wrote and co-starred in the 2003 movie Moon Child, which also features Hyde (vocalist of L'Arc~en~Ciel) and Taiwanese-American singer Wang Lee Hom. In the same year, Gackt published his autobiography, Jihaku. For Caparison Guitars, he has designed two guitars, named "Marcury" and "Venus". Since January 7, 2007, Gackt has been playing the warlord Uesugi Kenshin in the NHK drama F,,rinkazan. Gackt's most recent solo release is the single "Returner ~Yami no Shuen~", released on June 20, 2007, which is the first in the artist's career (both solo and in a band) to reach the number one spot on the Japanese Oricon charts. Gackt has recently provided the voice for Malthazar in the Japanese release of the film Arthur and the Minimoys and in October 2007, his back catalog became available in the iTunes Store. On December 19, Gackt released an album titled "0079-0088." It contains eight tracks, all of which are related to Mobile Suit Gundam. In addition to the five theme songs Gackt provided for the three Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam movies in 2005 and 2006, three cover songs from Gundam will be included in the album: "Suna no Juujika," "Ai Senshi," and "Meguriai." It was created as a tribute to the creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino, for his birthday. Gackt recently preformed on the 58th Kouhaku Uta Gassen ( 紅白歌合戦 ) singing Returner ~Yami no Shuuen~ Kieyuku Samurai e no Requiem for the annual New Year's special done by NHK. Skin On May 25, 2007, the formation of the supergroup Skin was announced, which besides Gackt consists of fellow pop/rock artist Miyavi, former Luna Sea guitarist Sugizo, and X Japan co-founder Yoshiki. The group gave its debut performance at the Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, California on June 29, 2007 and plans to release an album.