Ki-Yo
History. Early life. In 1982, Ki-Yo was born in Sendai, Miyagi. He was musically influenced by Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Akiko Yano, Elton John, Billy Joel, Noriyuki Makihara, Whitney Houston. 2000–2006: debut and career in Japan. In 2000, Ki-Yo sent a demo to EMI Music Japan when he visited Tokyo to see a concert by Mariah Carey, and was signed by the label for his debut. On October 22, 2000, his first single "No No No" was released. It was a success, charting No. 45 on the Oricon single weekly chart. On April 18 , 2001, "The Only One", his most commercially successful single to date, was released as a third single. It was used in a romantic drama, "Pure Soul ~Kimi ga boku wo wasuretemo~". Eventually, this single charted on the Oricon single yearly chart at No. 82 and Oricon single weekly chart at No. 12 with selling over 400,000 copies. He subsequently appeared in the Japanese music TV show "Music Station" twice. His debut album "I'll be there" was released on July 25, 2001. It charted No. 7 on the Oricon album weekly chart. In 2004, he sang a backing vocal part  in "Shiawase ni narou"（幸せになろう）, a song by Japanese popular singer Hiromi Iwasaki. This song was included in her 25th album, "Happiness" and it peaked at No. 99 on Oricon Weekly Album Chart. On December 8, 2004, he released an EP "Stop On By", which includes a cover of a Japanese popular children's song "", whose lyrics were written by Takashi Yanase, a Japanese cartoonist best known for "Anpanman". In 2006, he released "Ocean Blue" as an eighth single. It had been two years since he had released his last EP "Stop On By". The song did not enter any charts . This was the last single he released from major record companies to date. 2010–present: working in America and going back to Japan. In 2010, he moved to New York City and started working there. He participated in McDonald's Gospelfest, Gospel Night at Apollo Theater and a play called "Black Nativity" in Broadway. In 2011, he was invited to Annual Keepers of the Dream Award Ceremony as a guest choir. His musical talent was praised by Stevie Wonder. He was played at musical venues including the Bitter End, Canal Room and Whisky a Go Go. On November 19, 2014 , he covered "Let It Go" in the Japanese popular music competition program "". In 2015, he wrote a song called for a Japanese top singer, Misia. This song was included in her album, "Love Bebop", which was released on January 6, 2015 and this album charted at No. 4 on Oricon Daily Album Chart. Also, this song was used in a TV commercial of a Japanese famous drink manufacturer, Kirin beverage. On December 27, 2015, he performed on a live event, "Sing Mariah" with Japanese female singer Mao Denda. Her first album "Eternal Voice" has sold over 50,000 copies so far . In May 2016, he announced that he left his management team "Rhythmedia". On June 30, 2016, he started crowdfunding to release his fourth studio album . Personal life. Ki-Yo is openly gay. He came out in TOKYO RAINBOW PRIDE 2015. He took part in "OUT IN JAPAN", a LGBT project by Singaporean photographer .