Ryuichi Kawamura


Ryuichi Kawamura is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, actor, author and race car driver. He is best known as lead singer of the rock band Luna Sea. After the band disbanded in 2000, Kawamura continued his successful solo career. In 2005 he formed Tourbillon with fellow Luna Sea member Inoran and Hiroaki Hayama. He has recently rejoined Luna Sea, as they reunited in August 2010.
Kawamura's second album Love topped the Oricon chart with sales of around 1,021,000 copies, making him the only male solo artist ever to have an album sell over one million copies within its initial week in Oricon charts history. That same album sold over 2,788,000 copies by the end of the year, therefore it holds the record for best selling male solo album. In 1997 alone, with his mini and full-length albums and four singles, he sold over six million records.

Career

1986–2000: Luna Sea, Solo debut

Ryuichi Kawamura started his musical career as vocalist of the bands Cradle and Slaughter, while still in high school, under the name Rayla. On May 6, 1989, he was invited by Inoran to join their band Lunacy. In 1991, hide of X Japan found them on the indie circuit, he eventually got them signed to X Japan co-founder Yoshiki's Extasy Records. They went on to become very successful, having sold more than 10 million certified units in Japan, and are considered one of the most influential bands in the visual kei movement. Ryuichi provided vocals for the B-side version of hide's 1994 song "Scanner". During Luna Sea's temporary break in 1997, Ryuichi started his solo career. Going by his full name, Ryuichi Kawamura, he changed his vocals and music from the powerful rock sound to more of a pop idol sound. That year, he released four singles, one mini-album and his first full album, Love. The album includes his cover version of the song "Namida Iro," which was formerly sung by Japanese female singer Noriko Sakai with his songwriting. Love topped the Japanese Oricon charts with the sales of around 1,021,000 copies, making him the only solo male artist ever to have an album sold over one million copies within its initial week release in Oricon charts history. In total, Love sold over 2,788,000 copies on the Oricon charts. Kawamura later started his own production house titled "RK", and in 1999, he went on to produce many artists including Azumaya Toga, Hideki and Izam.
Following Luna Sea's disbandment in 2000, Kawamura started his first solo tour and created a subsidiary of "RK" intended for the production of film music. Shortly after, he composed music for the film So Faraway. In mid-2001, his fan-club "RKF" opened. Later, Ryuichi released the singles "Shizuka na Yoru wa Futari Iyou" and "Julia". Kawamura started appearing on popular music shows including Music Station and Hey x3. Following the release of the single "Kimi no Mae de Paino wo Hikou", he landed a role in the film Picaresque based on the life of Osamu Dazai.

2002–2006: International tour, Tourbillon

His first international solo tour came in 2002 when he performed an exclusive concert in Seoul. When he returned to Japan, there were several meet and greet events at Zepp Fukuoka and Zepp Osaka, where he sold special merchandise. Later, Kawamura starred as a lead role in the TV Asahi drama series Kowloon de Aimasho and also wrote the ending theme "Sugar Lady".
A special photobook was released in 2003 during his new tour. While putting his album and single releases on pause that year, he went on to produce artists such as Memory Cats and Kiyoshi. In 2004, Kawamura released the single "Spoon" and the album Vanilla, followed by a handful of tours. His fellow Luna Sea's bandmate Inoran was also a guest during his New Year's Eve live.
After taking a short vacation in Europe, Kawamura reunited with Inoran and Hiroaki Hayama to announce the formation of their band Tourbillon in 2005. Their first official concert was held at the Nippon Budokan on July 2 and it received good attendance and reviews. The band would release two albums, Heaven and A Tide of New Era in 2005 and 2006, respectively. In March 2008, Tourbillon's single "Break the Chain" was used as an opening theme of Kamen Rider Kiva.

2006–2008: 10th Anniversary, ''Chicago'' on Broadway

In 2006, Kawamura released his first cover album, titled Evergreen ~Anata no Wasuremono~. He covered songs by artists such as Yutaka Ozaki and Akiko Kobayashi, as well as Luna Sea's "I for You". A year later, he released a second cover album to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his solo career. The covered songs included his original solo works and songs by other classic Japanese artists, such as Dead End, Kenji Sawada, Tetsurō Oda, and Dreams Come True.
On December 24, 2007, Kawamura reunited with Luna Sea for the concert God Bless You ~One Night Dejavu~ at the Tokyo Dome. The band played again at the hide memorial summit on May 4, 2008 along with X Japan, T.M.Revolution, Versailles and others.
On February 3, 2008, Kawamura held a special concert at the Nippon Budokan titled Yuki no Budokan ~70 Stories~ sponsored by Sports Nippon. The show celebrated the 10th anniversary of his solo career where he performed half of every song recorded from each of his six original albums, amounting to a 70-song set. Inoran also appeared to perform with Kawamura during the concert, which lasted four and a half hours. Ryuichi also sang the Japanese National Anthem for the occasional sporting event, including the 7th Grand Prix D1 series and one of the J-League's Kashima Antlers soccer game in March 2008.
In October 2008, Kawamura co-starred in the Broadway musical Chicago, along with Takarazuka stars Yoka Wao and Ryoko Yonekura, in which he played the lawyer Billy Flynn. This event marked the first time ever that a Japanese production of a Broadway music has been performed on Broadway.

2009–2010: ''Sora'', Luna Sea reunion, Debut in Cambodia

Following an overseas performance in Hong Kong on March 2009, Kawamura released the single "Heroine" on February 4, which was a collaboration with Tetsurō Oda. He then released the album Piano on April 1, which included the environmental-conservation themed single "Midori no Uta".
In July, Kawamura released a photo book called Japanesque. He went on to perform an international tour in Taiwan in late August. On September 30, 2009, he released the single "Brilliant Stars", including a tie-up song with the jewellery brand GemCeree. With a new contract with Avex Group, Kawamura performed at the Hard na Yaon 2009 concert that same month along with many other artists from the company.
Following the single "Dakishimete" and the album Sora in February 2010, he would co-star in the second Broadway musical Chicago in June. Kawamura also performed the "No Mic, No Speakers Concert #003" tour from August through September, which, as the name suggests, was performed without a microphone or any type of electronic amplification. On August 13 he performed at the Jack in the Box 2010 Summer festival. Also in August, he appeared with the other members of Luna Sea at a press conference in Hong Kong, where they officially announced their reunion and their 20th Anniversary World Tour Reboot -to the New Moon-.
On October 17, Kawamura appeared in a television documentary, broadcast on BS Fuji, called Kawamura Ryuichi x Garyuu, in which he traveled to the famous Angkor Wat. He also participated in South Korean R&B singer Bobby Kim's album My Soul, writing Japanese lyrics for the song "Tsuioku no Kaze".

2011: Breaking the Guinness World Record, Thailand debut

On January 7, Kawamura announced that he would give a special solo concert at the Nippon Budokan on March 13, 2011. At the concert, titled Genkai no Sono Saki e: 100 no Monogatari ~Epilogue~, he would perform a total of 100 songs over a span of more than 6 hours. However, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, the concert was postponed. On May 3, he was successful, performing a total of 104 songs within 6 and a half hours and was awarded the Guinness World Record, beating the previous record of 100 songs within 8 hours.
Kawamura and his fellow Luna Sea member Sugizo collaborated with the musical group M.o.v.e to provide a theme song for the movie Gakudori. The song was called "Overtakers", was released on March 9, 2011, and featured Kawamura on vocals and Sugizo on guitar. He also released another cover album, The Voice, on March 9 covering hit songs by western artists, including "How Deep Is Your Love", "Ave Maria", "Amapola" and "Over The Rainbow".
On April 30, Kawamura held a charity concert in Thailand, titled Ryuichi Kawamura Exclusive One Night Only Charity Concert in Bangkok, in which he performed at the Royal Paragon Hall with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and special guest Pod. Part of the proceeds were donated to the victims of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
On May 29, Kawamura and the rest of Luna Sea gave an interview, at the premier of Luna Sea 3D in Los Angeles at Toho Cinema Roppongi Hills, which was broadcast live on Ustream.tv. They announced a concert at the 30,000-seat Saitama Super Arena titled Luna Sea for Japan A Promise to the Brave on October 22. The profits of the performance went to the Japanese Red Cross to support the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.
Kawamura covered "Beauty and the Beast" for the cover album V-Rock Disney, which was released on September 7, 2011 and features visual kei artists covering Disney songs. His own song "Beat" was covered by Zuck on the compilation Crush! 2 -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-, that was released on November 23, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.

2012: Musical Acts/ Tour "Close to You"/ The Voice II

In April, Kawamura starred in the Legend of Galactic Heroes stage play Chapter 2: Free Planets Alliance Arc as the character Yang Wenli. Between June–July, Ryuichi had been performing Tour 2012: Close to You to celebrate the 15th anniversary as a solo artist. In addition, on August 8, 2012, a fourth cover album "The Voice II" was released in Japan. The cover includes pop ballads originally sung by female singers which feature Masami Tsuchiya and Ryuichi's Tourbillon bandmate Hiroaki Hayama.

Musical style

Ryuichi Kawamura is best known for his vocal work during his work with Luna Sea. He was inspired both vocally and visually by Morrie, frontman of the influential Japanese metal band Dead End. From the early to mid-90s, his style often included screamed singing during their hard rock songs. It then changed to more traditional pop techniques after starting his solo career. Since 2007, Kawamura has been singing in a more operatic style.

Personal life

Kawamura was introduced to Kumi Sano by a mutual friend in early 2005, and several months later they began dating. Sano had been crowned Miss Nippon in 2002. Although the pair stated that they had no plans for a wedding ceremony or a reception, a representative visited the local city office to register their marriage on January 23, 2006. Kumi gave birth to their first child, a son, on June 18, 2009. On January 11, 2019, Kawamura underwent surgery to remove adenocarcinoma of the lung. The cancerous cells were completely removed and he could return to work the following month after a few weeks rest.
Kawamura is good friends with his Luna Sea bandmate Inoran. Together, they are avid car racers. Kawamura also likes boxing and surfing, and says that he plans to open a surfing store once he retires from his singing career.

Achievements and awards

Studio albums

Movies