Early lifeMiyavi was born in
Konohana-ku, Osaka,
Japan, to a
Japanese mother and second-generation
Zainichi Korean father. While young, he moved to
Kawanishi in
Hyōgo Prefecture.
Miyavi says that as a child, he was a good student and enjoyed playing soccer. At 15, Miyavi bought his first guitar (though he initially planned to buy a
bass guitar) and a
multi-effector from money he had saved up himself and began writing music after a soccer injury left him unable to play.
Dué le Quartz and Indies EraIn 1999, at the age of 17, Miyavi joined the
visual kei band
Dué le Quartz where he was credited under the name, Miya
bi. Upon Dué le Quartz's dissolution in 2002, he announced that his plan to initiate a solo career and changing his name to Miya
vi, releasing his debut album
Gagaku soon after. He later signed a contract with
PS Company, and eventually with
Universal Music Group, becoming a
major label artist. Miyavi's significant change in music and visual styles after leaving Dué le Quartz caused much of his original audience to disperse, but attracted a new audience.
Prior to starring as himself in the 2003 film
Oresama, Miyavi also starred alongside his former band mate Sakito, from
Dué le Quartz, in
Ryomano Tsumato Sono Ottoto Aijin.
Miyavi has been regularly featured in various
Japanese rock magazines every month, such as
Fools Mate,
Arena 37c, and
Shoxx. In the past he has also modeled in the
Gothic & Lolita Bible and for various brands such as the clothing line
Fotus.
In 2004 Miyavi was scheduled to perform at various conventions in the
United States, but was forced to cancel at the last minute due to staff issues. One of the planned events had been a show at
Pacific Media Expo, where the Japanese band
Psycho le Cému acted as a substitute, while another was at
Anime Central, where then-indies band
Sid was booked as a replacement. He was also scheduled for
Megacon, but no replacement was provided.
In 2004 the maxi-single "
Ashita, Genki ni Naare" hit the number one spot on the
Oricon indies chart.
Majors and pop/acoustic eraFollowing his signing with
Universal Music Group in October 2004, Miyavi released his first major single "
Rock no gyakushū -Superstar no jōken-/21 Seikigata Koushinkyoku" and began to credit himself in the song writing credits in his liner notes as
MYV. His first major album,
Miyavizm, was released in June 2005.
In late 2005 and for most of 2006, Miyavi shifted to an acoustic/pop sound reflected in his second and third albums,
MYV Pops and
Miyaviuta -Dokusou-, released in August and September 2006, respectively. Reflecting on
MYV Pops, he had stated "it's like putting all the songs that I created, presenting my own attitude towards "popularity", into one album." About
Miyaviuta: Dokusou Miyavi said "...for the album I wanted to fit in with the quality of the songs themselves and absorb myself into my performance, playing acoustic guitar alone."
Miyavi showcased his new acoustic stylings for the first time in his
25 Shūnen Kinen Koen Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijo 5 Days -Dokuso- concert series held at
Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijo for five days around his 25th birthday in September 2006.
Miyavi left for America for the next six months. During a 2009 interview, he revealed that he went there to study English at a usual language school among people who had come there on their job search from all over the world. Regarding his language school schedule, he said he went to language school "from seven in the morning till after noon, after which I went to dance class. Everyday, I had about eight hours of training, dancing, running. Then, I went home to do homework. On the weekends, my friends drove me to
Venice Beach, and I’d do street performances."
US debut, Neo Visualizm and S.K.I.N.On December 30, 2006 Miyavi put out a message that he would be joining a band. On May 25, 2007 at the
JRock Revolution concert organized by
Yoshiki at the
Wiltern Theatre in
Los Angeles, it was officially announced that Miyavi would be a part of a band named
S.K.I.N., which also consisted of solo artists
Yoshiki,
Gackt, and
Sugizo.
S.K.I.N. performed their debut live at the 2007
Anime Expo convention in
Long Beach, California on June 29, 2007.
On February 8, 2007, Miyavi announced via his online diary that he would be performing live in
Las Vegas. The performance took place on February 17, 2007 at the Tabu Ultra Lounge in the
MGM Grand.
In May 2007, Miyavi announced his fourth major album—as well as his first remix album—to be released in July. Remixed by
TeddyLoid, the album, titled
7 Samurai Sessions -We're Kavki Boiz-, features re-arrangements of his past songs and features a variety of instruments such as a turntable, various drums and tap dancing. The limited edition of the album included a DVD with bonus studio recording footage. Miyavi's seventh major single (and 14th overall), a double A-side entitled "
Sakihokoru Hana no you ni -Neo Visualizm- / Kabuki Danshi", was released on June 20, 2007, and debuted at number four on the
Oricon charts. The supporting tour, entitled
The Beginning of Neo Visualizm Tour, started on July 16, and was planned for twenty venues in Japan and a stop in Korea in six weeks.
On September 3, a new single "
Subarashikikana, kono sekai - What A Wonderful World" was announced, and it was released on November 14, 2007.
Shortly after this release, Miyavi announced a new single—a collaboration with fellow S.K.I.N. guitarist,
Sugizo—entitled "
Hi no hikari sae todokanai kono basho de", which was released on January 16, 2008.
2008A new album was released in March 2008, titled
This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock followed by two announcements at the last show of his 2007
Asia tour at Shibuya’s C.C. Lemon Hall December 25, 2007: that of the release of the
Official Bootleg Live at Shinkiba Coast live DVD and of
This Iz The Japanese Kabuki Rock Tour 2008, his first world tour with performances in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
The tour kicked off with a fan-club only event at the Shibuya AX in
Tokyo, in May 2008. The circuit was composed of 33 cities in 14 countries over a 3 month period—a first in J-rock scene—with the distance traveled approximately 48,385 miles, equivalent to a full trip around the world. Majority of the concerts were sold out and covered extensively by more than 200 different media organizations. It wrapped up with a performance in
Tokyo on August 17, 2008.
On December 24th of the same year, Miyavi released
This Iz The Original Samurai Style, his world tour DVD, a
remix album,
Room No. 382 (remixed by
TeddyLoid), and the
Peace&Smile Carnival Tour 2005 DVD (re-released after it initially sold out).
In a late 2008 interview, upon being asked where he wanted to go in the next ten years (personally or on tour), Miyavi expressed his desire to visit "
Russia,
Italy,
Macao,
Dubai,
Antarctica,
India,
Thailand,
Indonesia,
New Orleans,
Mexico,
Argentina,
Croatia,
Mt. Fuji."
2009–presentMiyavi started 2009 with the
10th Anniversary Commemorative Performance along with all artists signed under the
PS Company at the
Nippon Budokan on January 3, for which the 13,000+ tickets sold out within three minutes of going on sale on November 22, 2008. On the day of the live, fans were sprawled in a line stretching from the Budokan to
Kudanshita Station.
Near the end of the show, Miyavi famously revealed that a DVD of the event,
Peace&Smile Carnival 2009, would be released on April 5, 2008, by accident. Two books titled
PS Company 10th Anniversary Book Peace&Smile History 1998-2008 and
Peace&Smile Carnival at Nippon Budokan were released on January 23 and February 9, 2009 respectively. While the
PS Company 10th Anniversary Book Peace&Smile History 1998-2008 consisted of photo shoots and interviews with the participating artists (including Miyavi,
Kagrra,
Kra,
the GazettE,
Alice Nine,
SuG and SCREW), the
Peace&Smile Carnival at Nippon Budokan in addition included exclusive backstage images, live reports, as well as a company-wide questionnaire.
On February 16, 2009 Miyavi announced that following the April 5th live, he would be
graduating from
PS Company after 10 years with them. (PS Company managed him since before his solo debut, when he was still in his previous band
Dué le Quartz.) This was accompanied by a message from the president, Tomomi Ozaki. Following the live on April 7, Miyavi announced on his official website that he would be launching his own company, J-Glam, Inc., the next day (April 8), naming himself President Takamasa Ishihara. On the 1st of June, Miyavi released a new song named "SuperHero" through his official
Myspace.
In March, he announced a second world tour. On October 21, 2009, Miyavi announced on his official
Myspace that his USA tour for
Neo Tokyo Samurai Black was canceled (Seattle, New York, Atlanta, and Dallas) due to an injury.
On Jan. 1st 2010, Miyavi announced a new record deal with EMI and the release of the DVD “NEO TOKYO SAMURAI BLACK WORLD TOUR Vol.1” which is set for release on March 24th, and the changing of his artist name logo to 雅-MIYAVI-.
Recently on his 2010 Neo Tokyo Samurai Black World Tour, Miyavi announced there is a new single to be released September 15th titled
TORTURE and his new upcoming "WHAT'S MY NAME" album to be released in October.