R.I.P. hide

[noxious.sunshine]

I don't know how many of you know hide or his music or his role as lead guitarist in X Japan.

The anniversary of his death is today.

I was going to paraphrase Wikipedia and do my own thing, but this is truly one amazing artist and I feel that his entire history should be known.

So, from Wikipedia: Matsumoto Hideto:

Biography

1964–87: Early years and Saver Tiger

hide was born in St. Joseph's Hospital in Midorigaoka, Japan, on December 13, 1964 and went on to attend Yokosuka Tokiwa Junior High School. He was first exposed to rock music at the age of fifteen, through the album Alive II by Kiss. That same year his grandmother bought him his first electric guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.

On March 11, 1980, hide graduated from Tokiwa Junior High School. He then entered Zushi Kaisei Senior High School in Zushi, Kanagawa, where he entered the school's brass band as a club activity. He quit the band after a short time because he was assigned the clarinet while he wanted to play the trumpet. After this, he concentrated on guitar and in 1981 formed the band Saber Tiger. A year after their founding, they started playing shows at live houses in Yokosuka, such as Rock City.

In April 1983 he started studying cosmetology and fashion at the Hollywood University of Beauty and Fashion in present-day Roppongi Hills, from which he graduated in 1984.[3] Later that year he took a nationwide examination and successfully obtained a beautician license. In July 1985 Saber Tiger released their self-titled EP, which included two songs, "Double Cross" and "Gold Digger". In November, the band contributed the song "Vampire" to the Heavy Metal Force III sampler, which also included songs by X and Jewel.[5] Years later, Jewel's guitarist Kiyoshi would join hide's solo band.

In 1986 the group changed its name to Saver Tiger to avoid confusion with a similarly named band from Sapporo (see Saber Tiger). Their first appearance with the new name was on the sampler Devil Must Be Driven out with Devil, with their songs "Dead Angle" and "Emergency Express". They continued to perform in live houses and night clubs such as Meguro Rokumeikan, Omiya Freaks and Meguro Live Station. Until January 28, 1987, when hide became tired of changing members and decided to end the band (vocalist Kyo and drummer Tetsu would both go on to D'erlanger). Around the same time hide was invited to join X. In 2001, Nippon Crown issued a three-volume release titled Origin of hide, with the band credited as "Yokosuka Saver Tiger". Volumes 1 and 2 were live CDs, with some rehearsal recordings, while volume 3 was a concert VHS.

1987–97: X Japan

hide joined X Japan (then called X) in February 1987, becoming the band's lead guitarist and occasional songwriter, going on to compose songs like "Celebration", "Joker" and the single "Scars". X released their first album Vanishing Vision, through drummer Yoshiki's own Extasy Records, on April 14, 1988 and toured extensively in support of the record. They would become one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label,[10] and later widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei.

X 's major label debut album, Blue Blood, was released on April 21, 1989 and debuted at number six on the Oricon chart. Its success earned the band the "Grand Prix New Artist of the Year" award at the 4th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1990. Their third album Jealousy was released on July 1, 1991 and debuted at number one, selling over 600,000 copies.[14] It was later certified million by the RIAJ.

Shortly after the release of Art of Life, which also topped the Oricon, the members of X Japan took a break, to start solo projects. Around that time, the group also dropped most of its original visual kei aesthetics, except hide who would still perform in wildly colorful outfits and with his trademark red, later pink, hair. Dahlia, which would become the band's last album, was released on November 4, 1996 and once again, it reached the number one spot. In September 1997 it was announced that X Japan would disband, they performed their farewell show, aptly titled The Last Live, at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, 1997.

1993–98: Solo Career:

In early 1993, hide recorded the song "Frozen Bug" with Inoran and J of Luna Sea, under the band name M*A*S*S, it was included on the sampler Dance 2 Noise 004. He also starred in an art film titled Seth et Holth, along with Tusk of Zi:Kill. In 1994, hide recorded and released his first solo album Hide Your Face, which reached number 9 on the Oricon chart. In addition to all vocals and songwriting, he played most of the guitars and bass on some of the tracks. The album's musical style differed significantly from the speed metal anthems and power ballads of X Japan, leaning more towards alternative rock. hide then went on the Hide Our Psychommunity Tour, for which a live band was hired that would later become his primary project, hide with Spread Beaver.

In 1996, hide oversaw the production of the first release on his own record label LEMONed, an album from the band Zeppet Store. His second solo album Psyence was released on September 2, it topped the Oricon and was followed by the Psyence a Go Go tour. After X Japan disbanded in 1997, hide formally titled his solo project hide with Spread Beaver. He also formed a new band named Zilch in 1996, which apart from him and Spread Beaver programmer and percussionist I.N.A., was composed of American and British artists, such as Joey Castillo (Queens of the Stone Age), Paul Raven (Killing Joke) and Ray McVeigh (ex:The Professionals).

May 2, 1998: Death:

hide died, at age 33, the morning of May 2, 1998. After a night out drinking, he was found hanged by a towel tied to a doorknob in his apartment in the Minami-Azabu district of Tokyo. He had returned to Japan just five days earlier, after a lengthy three month stay in Los Angeles. On May 1, hide and the members of Spread Beaver recorded for television shows and afterwords went out drinking, with his brother driving him home at roughly 6:30am the following day. When found unconscious, hide was taken to a hospital in Hiroo, where he was pronounced dead at 8:52am.

Authorities officially deemed hide's death a suicide, and this verdict was reported in the media. Within one week, three teenage fans had died in copycat suicides, and of the approximately 50,000 people who attended his funeral at Tsukiji Hongan-ji, nearly 60 were hospitalized and about 200 received medical treatment in first aid tents.

Later that month, the single "Pink Spider" was released, entering the Oricon charts at number one. The song would also receive that year's MTV Video Music Award in the category "Japan Viewers Choice". Sales were also strong for the follow-up single "Ever Free" which took its number one spot, while those of the single released prior to his death "Rocket Dive" would also see a substantial increase. American Journalist Neil Strauss commented on the trend saying that: "In just a few weeks, pop culture in Japan had gone from mourning hide's death to consuming it." Popular interpretation of the lyrics to hide's "Pink Spider", which he had performed on the day prior to his death, fueled speculation of a premeditated suicide, because of clear autobiographical elements, and the song's theme of escape from the vicissitudes of life.

Meanwhile, several of hide's friends and colleagues stated that they believed the auto-strangulation to have been an accident, among them X Japan co-founder Yoshiki and former X bassist Taiji. This notion is supported by the fact that no suicide note was left and Taiji theorizes in his autobiography, that at the night of his death, hide may have been practicing a technique to relieve upper back and neck pains which guitarists can suffer from continuous use of a shoulder strap. The technique involved was practiced by the X Japan members during their touring days and required the use of a towel and a door knob or handle. According to Taiji, hide may have fallen asleep in his intoxicated state, becoming caught and strangling himself.

Zilch bassist Paul Raven said "I saw him a few days before he passed away, and I had no indication from him that anything was wrong other than that he was exhausted", but commented that hide was "under a lot of stress", due to the recording schedule for the Ja, Zoo album. He went on to question the ultimate degree of hide's involvement in the finished record, stating that only three songs had been completed before he died. Zilch's debut album 3.2.1. was released in July and reached number 2 on the Oricon chart, the group would continue to perform and record for several years. While they never achieved mainstream success in the United States one of their songs was included on the soundtrack for Heavy Metal 2000. Ja, Zoo was released in November of that year with the artist listed as hide with Spread Beaver, also reached the number 2 position and sold over a million copies by the end of the following year.

Posthumous:


The hide museum.
On May 1, 1999, a tribute album was released, titled Tribute Spirits. It features covers of hide's songs by several bands (such as Buck-Tick, Luna Sea and Oblivion Dust) and solo artists. The album was released to coincide with the anniversary of hide's last live appearance, May 1, 1998.

A hide museum was opened in his hometown of Yokosuka on July 20, 2000.[28] It has been reported that Japan's former Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, was influential in getting it built as he was a big fan of X Japan.[29] The museum remained open, past its original three year plan, for five years, before closing its doors on September 25, 2005 with an estimated 400,000 people visiting.

The remaining members of X Japan reunited in 2007 and recorded a new song, "I.V.". It contains a previously unused guitar track by hide. Their first concert was held at the Tokyo Dome on March 28, 2008, during the performance of "Art of Life" a hologram of hide (taken from footage of an "Art of Life" performance at the Tokyo Dome in 1993) played alongside the band. X Japan still considers hide a member, and have introduced him at every concert they have performed since reuniting.

As far back as July 8, 2007, Yoshiki announced to be in talks with several musicians regarding a hide tribute concert set for 2008, in order to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his former band mate's passing. The hide memorial summit was held on May 3 and 4 2008 at Ajinomoto Stadium, with X Japan, Dir en grey, D'espairsRay, Versailles and many others performing, Luna Sea and Phantasmagoria even reunited for one day to perform. hide with Spread Beaver also performed, using studio and live recordings for hide's vocals. There are still tribute shows held every year, where bands perform on hide's birthday and on the anniversary of his passing.

As with many other deceased musicians, re-issues, remixes, compilations and previously unreleased portions of hide's work continue to be published. One of the most recent being "The Devolution Project", a release of his original eleven singles on picture disc vinyl, throughout 2010. At the 12th anniversary of his death, also in 2010, a memorial service was held at Tsukiji Hongan-ji with an estimated 35,000 people attending.

In August 2010, hide's management company Headwax Organization, which includes his brother Hiroshi, filed a lawsuit against Yoshiki's management Japan Music Agency, for using images of the former X Japan guitarist without a formal agreement in place. The claim states that in 2000 the two companies signed an agreement allowing Yoshiki and X Japan to use visual images of hide during concerts. However, images were used at X Japan's August 14 and 15 shows at Nissan Stadium, when apparently the contract had expired.

On March 8, 2011, a musical based on and featuring hide's music debuted, named Pink Spider after his song of the same name. The show stars both Nao Minamisawa and Hitomi Takahashi as Meru, a girl who likes rock music, struggling between the real world and a fictional one. Other cast members included Taka (defspiral) and J (Luna Sea), with the backing band being the rest of defspiral. The production ran from March 8 to the 27 at the Tokyo Globe Theater and was then brought to Fukuoka, Kobe, Nagoya, Niigata, Sendai, and Sapporo in April. A compilation album of the songs used in the musical (the original versions by hide) was released on March 2 and is titled "Musical Number" -Rock Musical Pink Spider-.

At the end of 2012, a special project titled hide Rocket Dive 2013~2014 ~20th Solo Works & 50th of Birth Anniversary was announced. It will include films shown in several locations on May 2, including some overseas, and plans to hold another hide memorial summit festival. Another big part of the celebration is the re-opening of the hide Museum in the summer of 2013, although in Tokyo and later Osaka instead of Yokosuka, as well as in 2014.

Personal Life:

hide had a younger brother named Hiroshi, who was his chauffeur and manager until his last days;[20][39] he took hide's ashes with him to throw in the Santa Monica Bay, along with a bottle of wine. Hiroshi had a son whom, during the Hide Our Psychommunity Tour, hide would bring onstage and sing to. Hiroshi is the president of hide's management company Headwax Organization, he also appears on Ja, Zoo reading an excerpt on "Pink Cloud Assembly".

During an interview for the television show Rocket Punch!, recorded on May 1, 1998 (one day before his death), hide said he had a girlfriend. Reports say that he was with a girl at the time of his death, who may or may not have been this girlfriend.

Equipment:

hide was a fan of Bow Wow guitarists Kyoji Yamamoto and Mitsuhiro Saito, and selected to use the Mockingbird style guitar, which Saito used. hide was rarely seen performing without a Fernandes guitar. He owned a repertoire of signature models as well as standard models. His signature models are still available for purchase today.
hide often utilized the sustainer feature that came equipped with his guitars, and is heard on many X Japan songs. He was often seen in the early 1990s using Peavey amplifiers on stage.

Songwriting and Influence:

In X Japan, hide is the second most credited songwriter and the only member other than Yoshiki to pen one of their singles. He appears to have been the most experimental as well, with the song "Xclamation" from 1989's Blue Blood, co-composed with Taiji, including traditional Indian percussion, and the aforementioned single, "Scars", being progressive metal. According to Alexey Eremenko of Allmusic, "Scars" and "Drain" from 1996's Dahlia were a glimpse into hide's future experiments in industrial rock. The Japan Times's Philip Brasor commented that when hide died, "Japanese metal lost its greatest practicing innovator."

At the outset of his solo career, hide experimented with instrumentations very different from what he usually had access to in X Japan. The Hide Your Face opening track "Psychommunity", for example, has four guitar tracks and employs a full string section. As another example, "Blue Sky Complex" features guitars in drop C tuning, a trumpet section, and an organ. His music is also of genres uncharacteristic of X, with the bulk of his catalog being considered alternative rock or hard rock. The title track of his second album Psyence is a big band/jazz composition with full brass, however, most songs on the record are clearly industrial rock with varying uses of guitar effects. Of note is that most bass guitar tracks on the album were played by hide himself. Instrumentation and songwriting are less experimental on Ja, Zoo, with most songs featuring a fairly conventional two guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. Traditional piano and violins, and a Hammond B-3 organ do, however, make an appearance. Due to his death, hide's level of involvement in the finished album is questioned, although his friend and longtime collaborator I.N.A is credited with additional arrangement on some tracks.

His lyrics were often dark, with one TV host saying "A lot of what hide did was grotesque. He's talked about suicide in his records for five years. But the fans who followed him always knew there was a hide behind that who was a very solid character. He was very outspoken about freedom and doing what you want". His compositions "often set the tone of alienation and frustration for which X Japan was revered." Radio and TV host Bryan Burton-Lewis explained "In Japan, the image that we have of the X audience is rural kids going through a rebellion phase", "they all talk about how [hide] gave them something to live for." Japanese DJ Maki Yanai believes fans saw in him the rebel society would not allow them to be.

hide is regarded as very influential to not only contemporary Japanese musicians, but also to his generation. X Japan is considered one of the founders of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam, and subsequently are influences to many newer bands. But when they disbanded, hide was the only member to carry on with the look and had the most successful solo career. As such acts that cite him specifically as an influence include Dir en grey vocalist Kyo, D'espairsRay, Miya of Mucc, Nightmare's Hitsugi, Syu of Galneryus, Hizaki and Teru of Versailles, members from heidi., Naoto of Deathgaze, DuelJewel's Shun, Kouichi of Laputa, Jui from Vidoll, each member of DaizyStripper, Reo of lynch., members of MarBell, Silver Ash leader Ling, and Chiemi Ishimoto from Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. Neil Strauss compared hide to Kurt Cobain and quotes him as having said "He despised the music business and wanted to change it" and that he felt "trapped in the image of a pop star." According to Strauss, he "represented a generation of fans who felt alienated, and his death represented the end of a genre." Billboard's Steve McClure concurred; his "death means the end of an era", adding "X were the first generation of visual kei bands... For the next generation of bands, it's like: That's it. The torch has been passed to us."

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hide has been a huge influence in my life and his music is some of my favorite.

I have been told that there was a little girl who had an extremely rare disease (I believe only 2 people had it at the time) & was a big fan of his.. He not only took her to his concerts and visited her in the hospital, but also donated bone marrow to her because they turned out to be a match.

It's also rumored that he was friends with Marilyn Manson and that MM colored his hair in reverse of hide's (Black with pink underneath as opposed to Pink with Black) in memorial of him - "The Dope Show" video shows his hair coloring to support this.

I also just read that some people went to his grave and ruined his headstone - using sharp objects to break it, and confiscating pictures and other things that had been left by other fans. Empty bottles of liquor had been left behind, and now his grave is completely off limits to the public. It was probably the number 1 place I wanted to visit before I die.

And so. In Memorial of hide, my favorite J-Rocker ever:





And finally (for now), X Japan's song for the movie SAW IV. Unused guitar riffs by hide were used and there are many references to him, including one of his guitars being on set:



There used to be a hide Tribute Concert every year, but I don't think it's been done since 2008. Either way, Matsumoto Hideto is one of the greatest musicians and his death is an extreme tragedy. R.I.P.