Hyde ~Profile

hyde (ハイド, Haido) is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as vocalist for the rock band L’Arc en Ciel as well as forVAMPS.

He joined L’Arc en Ciel in 1991 after leaving the band Jerusalem's Rod for which he was the guitarist. In addition to being the lead singer and main lyricist of L’Arc en Ciel, hyde has released 4 solo albums and 8 singles. In 2008 he formed VAMPS with K.A.Z, and started his own independent record label called VAMPROSE

Profile

Name: Takarai Hideto (宝井秀人)

Birthday: January 29, 1969

Birthplace: Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Blood Type: O

hyde keeps much of his personal information secret, including his real name and birth date.

He is the only child in his family. His parents owned a pub with a karaoke box and were married very young.

He was in the band Jerusalem's Rod before joining L'Arc~en~Ciel as vocalist.

He married Oishi Megumi on December 25, 2000. He had stated that he had always admired Oishi and that she has a beautiful face. hyde was introduced to Oishi on Utaban after a performance of DIVE TO BLUE. They have one child, who was  revealed by Oishi to be a boy. His name has not been released.

He originally wanted to become a cartoonist, but is color blind.

He has a big appetite and always tries the local cuisine of the countries he travels to.

History
Solo

After L'Arc~en~Ciel released the single, "Spirit dreams inside" in 2000, the band went on an unofficial hiatus as each of the members began work on solo careers. This was hyde's debut as a solo artist. In October 2001, hyde released his first solo single, "Evergreen." After two more singles, "Angel's Tale" and "Shallow Sleep," hyde released his first solo album, Roentgen, on March 27, 2002. An overseas edition featuring English lyrics was released in July the same year.

hyde's next two singles, "Hello" and "Horizon", were released June and November 2003 respectively, and second solo album, 666, was released on December 3, 2003. "Horizon" was used as the ending theme in Ryuhei Kitamura's film, Sky High

In 2003, hyde starred alongside Gackt in the Japanese film Moon Child. In a duet as part of the project, hyde and Gackt sang "Orenji no Taiyou", and when sang live, hyde could not be there because he was on tour. The song was also released on Gackt's fourth full-length album, Crescent. In December 2003, hyde's song "Shining Over You" from his 666 album was used as the commercial song for the video game, Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.

In 2004, hyde took on the role of the guitarist Adam in the movie Kagen no Tsuki ("Last Quarter"), a movie based on the manga by Ai Yazawa. The movie's theme song, "The Cape of Storms", came from Roentgen.

 L'Arc~en~Ciel revival

After a three-year hiatus, L’Arc en Ciel reunited for a series of seven concerts titled "Shibuya Seven Days" in June and July 2003. At the conclusion, they announced a new album, Smile, which was released in March 2004.

In the summer of 2004, L'Arc~en~Ciel had their North American debut (as part of their "Smile" tour) in Baltimore, Maryland at Otakon, the performance was later released on the Live in USA DVD.

L'Arc~en~Ciel's next album, Awake, was released in June 2005. It was accompanied by the "Awake" tour in August the same year. A second, larger tour titled "Asia Live 2005" was held shortly thereafter. The single "Link" was released in July 2005. It was then used as the opening theme for the anime movie Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa.

Return to solo work

In the summer of 2005, hyde composed the music for the song "Glamorous Sky”. The song was used in the movie Nana, another film based on a manga by Ai Yazawa. The song was sung by fellow Japanese artist Mika Nakashima and the lyrics were written by Ai Yazawa. In August, hyde and his solo band performed the song on Music Station with Mika Nakashima, hyde being on guitar.

The single "Countdown" was released on October 5, 2005, with a track list including Japanese and English versions of the song made for the Japanese release of the movie Stealth and also a special rock version of "Evergreen" (originally from Roentgen).

A cover of "Countdown" was used as the "semifinal" stage in the Nintendo DS rhythm game Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2.

Later that month, hyde hosted "Halloween of the Living Dead", a three-night event held at Club Citta on October 29, 30 and 31. Each night featured performances by hyde himself, a guest artist/band and Jack-O-Lantern. Artists/bands who took part in the Halloween performances are Monoral, UVERworld, Olivia Lufkin, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, Yasu (of Janne Da Arc) and Mika Nakashima. The group Jack-O-Lantern consisted of hyde and the group Monoral playing many Halloween favorites such as the Ghostbusters theme.

Starting in January 2006, hyde's single ‘Season's Call’ was used as the second opening theme to the anime show Blood+. This single was released on February 2, 2006. hyde's album,  Faith, was released on April 26, 2006.

International career

Faith was accompanied by a five-month tour with many locations in Japan, some exclusively open to members of his fan-club.

After signing on with Tofu Record as a solo artist, a US debut concert was scheduled as part of the Faith tour, which was held at Slim's in San Francisco, California on July 5, 2006. Tickets for the event went on sale online at 1 p.m. EST on April 2, 2006 and sold out in three minutes. The second round of sales was held April 9, also online, and also sold out.

A second concert, held at House of Blue in Anaheim, California, on July 2 was added and tickets were sold out, as were two more US concerts (the Fillmore, San Francisco and House of Blues, Hollywood).

The overseas version of Faith was released on June 27, 2006 and included a bonus DVD featuring music videos for both "Countdown" and “Season’s Call” In Faith, hyde uses a sunburst Fender Jaguar as his main guitar; contrary to his 666 album, where he used a Gretsch Duo Jet.

hyde also made a brief appearance at the Tofu Records booth at Anime Expo 2006 in Anaheim, California on July 1 for a question and answer panel.

Following the completion of the "Faith" tour, a DVD of the concerts was announced and was released November 8, 2006.

hyde returned to work with L'Arc~en~Ciel which on 31 May 2007 released their first single in two years, "Seventh Heaven".

VAMPS

In the spring of 2008, hyde rejoined with guitarist K.A.Z (Oblivion Dust) who had previously worked with him on his Faith album, to form the rock unit VAMPS on hyde's own record label VAMPROSE. The two released "Love Addict" their first single and began a 46-date tour, playing mostly songs from hyde's solo albums.

Following two more single releases, VAMPS' self-titled debut album dropped in May 2009. The album covers a range of rock territory, from metal to grunge to punk.

The band launched a ten-date tour in the United States, performing in New York, Hartford, Columbia, MD, Baltimore, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Their appearances in Hartford and Columbia were part of the "Vans Warped Tour", making them the only Japanese act on the lineup. Their final performance in the States, taking place at the historic Wiltern Theatre in L.A., was recorded and released on DVD.

The band performed on the USS Missouri in Hawaii in early September as a conclusion to the "VAMPS Live 2009 Tour".

After the band's successful live tour in the U.S.A. they have now been awarded in the category "Billboard Japan Ranking International 2009" in recognition of their success overseas and in appreciation for their efforts to go on a world tour in 2010. The award had been handed over on January 31 at the first "Billboard Japan Music Award".

Discography

Albums

#	Information	Sales
1	Roentgen Released: March 27, 2002 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak: #5 Weeks on Chart: 5 Oricon Daily Chart: #5	206,000 copies sold
2	666 Released: December 3, 2003 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak: #2 Weeks on Chart: 11 Oricon Daily Chart: #1	139,000 copies sold
3	Roentgen.English Released: October 14, 2004 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak:#5 Weeks on Chart:6 Oricon Daily Chart: #5	54,000 copies sold
4	Faith Released: April 26, 2006 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak:#2 Weeks on Chart:9 Oricon Daily Chart: #1	130,000 copies sold

Singles

#	Information	Sales
1	Evergreen Released: October 17, 2001 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak: #1 Weeks on Chart: 7 Oricon Daily Chart: #1	331,000 copies sold
2	Angel’s Tale Released: December 12, 2001 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak: #2 Weeks on Chart: 6 Oricon Daily Chart: #2	186,000 copies sold
3	Shallow Sleep Released: February 27, 2002 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak:#2 Weeks on Chart:4 Oricon Daily Chart: #2	134,000 copies sold
4	Hello Released: June 4, 2003 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak:#1 Weeks on Chart:8 Oricon Daily Chart: #1	146,000 copies sold
5	Horizon Released: November 6, 2003 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak:#6 Weeks on Chart:6 Oricon Daily Chart: #6	74,000 copies sold
6	Countdown Released: October 5, 2005 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak:#1 Weeks on Chart:8 Oricon Daily Chart: #1	92,000 copies sold
7	Season’s Call Released: February 22, 2006 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak:#1 Weeks on Chart:11 Oricon Daily Chart: #1	102,000 copies sold

DVDs / VHS

[2004.11.03] ROENTGEN STORIES

[2006.11.08] FAITH LIVE

Collaborations

[2004.08.31] GLAMOROUS SKY (composed for Nakashima Mika)

Compilation / Other

[2004.04.23] Our Last Days -Casshern OST- (#3 MASQUERADE)

Filmography

[2003] Moon Child (as Kei)

[2004] Kagen no Tsuki~Last Quarter (as Adam)

Photobooks

[2008.06.27] HYDE IS DEAD 2002-2008