About Toshi (musician)
Toshimitsu Deyama, known exclusively by his stage name Toshi, is a Japanese singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist and a co-founder of the rock band X Japan, who rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is credited as founders of the visual kei movement. Toshi began an extensive solo career in 1992 before leaving X Japan at the end of 1997. Toshi laments he was "brainwashed" by a group called Home of Heart, whose leader would control his musical output for the next 12 years. In 2007, X Japan reunited and began a world tour. Toshi severed ties with Home of Heart in January 2010 and renewed his solo career. In January 2018, he began to use the stage name Ryugen Toshi. In 2018, readers and professional musicians voted Toshi the best vocalist in the history of hard rock and heavy metal in We Rock magazine's "Metal General Election". His distinctive, impassioned tenor vocals have been compared to those of Steve Perry. In August 1997 Toshi first saw a concert of Tōru Kurabuchi, better known as Masaya, a musician and the leader of an organization called Home of Heart (formerly known as Lemuria Island, and later as Healing World). They released their first album, Vanishing Vision, in 1988 through Yoshiki's own Extasy Records and toured extensively in support of the record. Toshi was emotionally touched by Masaya's "healing music" or new-age music, which Kaori introduced him to, and the two became friends.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.