Gackt
- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
Gackt was born Gakuto Oshiro in Okinawa, Japan. His father was a music
teacher, and his mother also a teacher. He is the second of three
children, with an older sister and younger brother.
His musical education began early, and he started learning classical
music theory and piano from the age of three. After exposure to rock
music during his teenage years, he practiced electric guitar and drums
intensely. In the early 1990s he was working as a sound technician and
studio drummer, but by the mid-'90s he had begun his career as a
singer. He spent a short time in the independent band Cains:Feel before
moving on to the visual kei rock band Malice Mizer. With Gackt as
vocalist, lyricist, and composer, they rose to fame within the visual
kei genre. In 1999 he parted ways with the band and launched his solo
career, debuting with the EP Mizérable. He has since released nine
studio albums, eight compilation albums, and forty-four singles. He has
toured extensively within Japan and also throughout Asia and Europe.
With an illustrious career spanning over 15 years, and forty-three
consecutive singles ranked in the top ten of the Oricon music charts,
he holds the title of the most successful male soloist in Japanese
music history. A hallmark of his productions has been the use of
all-encompassing, conceptual, and sometimes abstract themes, "Moon" and
"Requiem et Reminiscence", to develop a series of related songs,
concerts, movies, books or theatre play. To describe this idea he
combined the words visual, live (concert), and alive to form the term
"Visualive". It references the evocative and immersive experience he
strives to create for his audiences.
In addition to his music career, Gackt has undertaken various film and
television acting roles. He wrote and starred in his first cinematic
production Moon Child (2003), which
screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, and the Philadelphia Film
Festival in 2004. In 2007 he received a TV Navi award for best
supporting actor in a drama, for his portrayal of the powerful feudal
leader Kenshin Uesugi in NHK's
The Trusted Confidant (2007).
One of Gackt's most notable performances was as the samurai protagonist
Yoshi in the Guy Moshe film
Bunraku (2010), where he costarred
alongside Josh Hartnett,
Woody Harrelson,
Ron Perlman and
Demi Moore. His depiction of the unnerving
eunuch Jo Teigai in NHK's TV drama
Tempest (2011) was brought to
movie screens the following year in
Gekijouban Tenpesuto 3D (2012).
Recently he reprised his role as both Takashi Shiki and Yumeoji (dream
prince) from the television drama
Akumu chan (2012) in the cinematic
release,
Akumu Chan the Movie (2014).
Gackt's numerous voice acting credits include animated films, such as
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker (2012),
and video games, with two from the popular Final Fantasy VII series;
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006)and
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2007)
among others.
In his stage play debut Nemuri Kyoshiro Burahikae (2010), Gackt was
cast as the leading character. He later expanded his theater
credentials by resuming his "Moon" concept and writing, producing,
composing and starring in Moon Saga - Yoshitsune Hiden (2012). He has
since announced a sequel scheduled to begin in August 2014 entitled
Moon Saga - Yoshitsune Hiden - Chapter 2 (2014).
teacher, and his mother also a teacher. He is the second of three
children, with an older sister and younger brother.
His musical education began early, and he started learning classical
music theory and piano from the age of three. After exposure to rock
music during his teenage years, he practiced electric guitar and drums
intensely. In the early 1990s he was working as a sound technician and
studio drummer, but by the mid-'90s he had begun his career as a
singer. He spent a short time in the independent band Cains:Feel before
moving on to the visual kei rock band Malice Mizer. With Gackt as
vocalist, lyricist, and composer, they rose to fame within the visual
kei genre. In 1999 he parted ways with the band and launched his solo
career, debuting with the EP Mizérable. He has since released nine
studio albums, eight compilation albums, and forty-four singles. He has
toured extensively within Japan and also throughout Asia and Europe.
With an illustrious career spanning over 15 years, and forty-three
consecutive singles ranked in the top ten of the Oricon music charts,
he holds the title of the most successful male soloist in Japanese
music history. A hallmark of his productions has been the use of
all-encompassing, conceptual, and sometimes abstract themes, "Moon" and
"Requiem et Reminiscence", to develop a series of related songs,
concerts, movies, books or theatre play. To describe this idea he
combined the words visual, live (concert), and alive to form the term
"Visualive". It references the evocative and immersive experience he
strives to create for his audiences.
In addition to his music career, Gackt has undertaken various film and
television acting roles. He wrote and starred in his first cinematic
production Moon Child (2003), which
screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, and the Philadelphia Film
Festival in 2004. In 2007 he received a TV Navi award for best
supporting actor in a drama, for his portrayal of the powerful feudal
leader Kenshin Uesugi in NHK's
The Trusted Confidant (2007).
One of Gackt's most notable performances was as the samurai protagonist
Yoshi in the Guy Moshe film
Bunraku (2010), where he costarred
alongside Josh Hartnett,
Woody Harrelson,
Ron Perlman and
Demi Moore. His depiction of the unnerving
eunuch Jo Teigai in NHK's TV drama
Tempest (2011) was brought to
movie screens the following year in
Gekijouban Tenpesuto 3D (2012).
Recently he reprised his role as both Takashi Shiki and Yumeoji (dream
prince) from the television drama
Akumu chan (2012) in the cinematic
release,
Akumu Chan the Movie (2014).
Gackt's numerous voice acting credits include animated films, such as
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker (2012),
and video games, with two from the popular Final Fantasy VII series;
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006)and
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2007)
among others.
In his stage play debut Nemuri Kyoshiro Burahikae (2010), Gackt was
cast as the leading character. He later expanded his theater
credentials by resuming his "Moon" concept and writing, producing,
composing and starring in Moon Saga - Yoshitsune Hiden (2012). He has
since announced a sequel scheduled to begin in August 2014 entitled
Moon Saga - Yoshitsune Hiden - Chapter 2 (2014).