Kirito

A rock singer from Sapporo, Japan, Kirito originally performed with the visual kei band Pierrot before launching a solo career in 2005. He was born on February 24, 1972, and launched his career as a member of the short-lived band Crash and Noise in 1990. Two years later, he joined Dizy-Lizy. The group change its name to Pierrot following a shift in personnel and released its debut album, Mad Pierrot, in December 1994. The single "Clear Sky" reached Number 6 in 1998, giving the band its first Top 10 hit on the Japanese charts. Over the subsequent eight years, Pierrot cracked the Top 10 more than a dozen times, with Kirito serving as the group's vocalist and occasional songwriter. He began releasing solo material in 2005, kickstarting his solo career with "Door" and following its release with singles like "Tear," "Decide," and "Period," all of which appeared in 2006. Meanwhile, Pierrot disbanded in April 2006 and reformed as Angelo, with Kirito retaining his position as the band's frontman. Angelo's debut album, Rebirth of Newborn Baby, was released in 2007 and reached Number 19. A dozen albums followed, the majority of which charted within the Oricon Top 20, before Angelo announced an indefinite hiatus in 2022. Following the group's breakup, Kirito revived his solo career — which had lapsed following the release of his first two albums, Hameln (2005) and Negative (2007) — with the release of 2022's Neospiral.