Yutaka Ozaki

Yutaka Ozaki
尾崎 豊

Yutaka Ozaki on the cover of his album Gairoju (1988)
Background information
Born 29 November 1965
Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Died 25 April 1992 (aged 26)
Tokyo, Japan
Genres Japanese Rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Piano, guitar, harmonica
Years active 1983–1992
Labels CBS Sony
(1983-1986, 1988-1992)
Mother & Children
(1987-1988)

Yutaka Ozaki (尾崎 豊 Ozaki Yutaka, November 29, 1965 – April 25, 1992) was a popular Japanese musician.

He is ranked at No. 23 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians by HMV.

Biography

He was born in Tokyo Setagaya Ward SDF Central Hospital to Kinue and Kenichi Ozaki. He has one older brother, Yasushi. Early in life, he was hospitalized with intestinal torsion and bronchitis which subsequently weakened his internal organs. In 1973 he began studying martial arts and continued training throughout his life. In January 1975 he began playing piano and in March of that year he wrote his first poem. His first live performance was in 1978 at his school's cultural festival. He was discovered by producer Akira Sudo and signed to Sony Records in 1983.

Death

Ozaki was found naked, drunk and unconscious in a Tokyo alleyway on April 25, 1992. He was taken by ambulance but was soon dismissed from the hospital. He died several hours later.[1][2] The cause of death was reported as pulmonary edema but many theories have arisen as to the actual cause of death, the most popular being homicide. He left behind a wife, Shigemi, and a son, Hiroya.[3]

Tribute covers

Thelma Aoyama, Mika Nakashima, Kazumasa Oda, Ryuichi Kawamura, Hikaru Utada, Ayaka, Kobukuro, Tsuyoshi Domoto and many other Japanese artists have covered Ozaki's song, "I Love You." American singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson recorded an English-language cover of "I Love You" in her 2010 album Ms. Vocalist. In addition, American guitarist Marty Friedman recorded an instrumental cover of "I Love You" in his 2011 album Tokyo Jukebox 2. Nanase Aikawa, Goto Maki, MINMI and Tomiko Van have covered "Oh My Little Girl." Shunsuke Kiyokiba also has covered two of his songs, 太陽の破片 taiyou no hahen ("Fragments of the Sun") and ふたつの心 futatsu no kokoro ("Two Hearts"). Shimizu Shota covered his song, Forget-Me-Not and Mr.Children has covered "僕が僕であるために-Boku ga boku de aru tame ni" (translated as "Me to being Me") on "ap' bank fes. 2010". In 2013, K-pop artist and main vocalist of BIGBANG, Daesung(known in Japan as "D-Lite") covered "I Love You" and it was used as the theme song for the drama I Love You.

Movie

A 2011 TV-Drama called "Kaze no Shounen" portrayed his life and in depth earlier career, from meeting his manager Sudo to his death.[4] He was played by Hiroki Narimiya.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Compilations

Live Albums

Notes

  1. ↑ Yutaka Ozaki GP Special Edition 1983-1992. Tokyo: Sony Magazines. 1992-08-05. p. 207.
  2. ↑ McClure, Steve. "Yutaka Ozaki Biography". nippop.com. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  3. ↑ Ozaki, Hiroya. "Concerned Genetation DJ: Ozaki Hiroya". interfm.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  4. ↑ http://www.imdb.de/title/tt1813410/

External links