Koshi Inaba – born in Tsuyama, Okayama, Japan on September 23, 1964 - is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist and solo artist best known as one half of popular Japanese rock duo B’z. Initially, he began a career as a mathematics teacher before his passion for music inspired him to leave his profession and pursue music as a career. In 1988, he met guitarist Tak Matsumoto and formed B’z. With Koshi Inaba handling lyrics and vocals and Matsumoto handling the music, B’z became an enormously popular duo, selling millions of records and winning many awards. In 1997, he released his first solo album, Magma, which hit Number 1 on the Japanese Albums chart. Later that year, he returned to B’z for another successful run of albums. In 2002, Koshi Inaba returned with his second solo album, Shian, which also hit the top of the Japanese Albums chart. His subsequent solo albums – Peace of Mind (2004), Hadou (2010), and Singing Bird (2014) – also reached the Number 1 position. During his solo career, he also hit the top of the Japanese Singles chart with hits such as "Tooku Made" (1998), "Ki" (2003), "Wonderland" (2004), "Okay" (2010), and “Hane” (2016). In 2017, he joined forces with Native American guitarist Stevie Salas for two albums: Chubby Groove (2017) and Maximum Huavo (2020). Koshi Inaba also collaborated with iconic rock guitarists Steve Vai and Slash. In 2023, Koshi Inaba released his 11th solo single, “BANTAM.”
