Yutaka Ozaki


Yutaka Ozaki 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.
He debuted in December of 1983 while he was still in high school with his hit single "十五の夜（jp. Jugo no Yoru, en.A Fifteen's Night）" and his album "十七歳の地図　（jp. Ju-Nana-Sai no Chizu, en.The Map of a Seventeen Year Old）." He gained tremendous support from his younger fanbase with his destructive live performances along with his unique lyrics that expressed dreams and love or the meaning of life. He represented the angst of adolescence, and a lot of the times attacked what he felt was unfair in society or schools.
On April 25, 1992, Ozaki was found naked, drunk and unconscious in a Tokyo alleyway. He was taken by ambulance but was soon dismissed from the hospital. He died several hours later. 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 was survived by his wife, Shigemi, and his son, Hiroya Ozaki.

Tribute covers

, 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 and ふたつの心 futatsu no kokoro. 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" on "ap' bank fes. 2010". In 2013, K-pop artist and main vocalist of BIGBANG, Daesung covered "I Love You" and it was used as the theme song for the drama I Love You. In 2014, Tamai Shiori of Momoiro Clover Z, sang a cover of 'Graduation' for a special concert.

Discography

Singles

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