QUEEN‘s Brian May and Roger Taylor. Along with Sarah Brightman, will perform “Endless Rain”, a song composed by X JAPAN‘s Yoshiki, on the biggest TV show in Japan this New Year’s Eve. Yoshiki will appear from Los Angeles.
“Kohaku Uta Gassen”, broadcast on Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, is an annual music program in Japan for the past 70 years and continues to be the most popular TV program each year, with a viewership of over 40%. It has long been viewed as the true barometer of status for domestic artists with an unrivaled influence on an artist’s profile, status, and sales in Japan.
In light of the difficulties faced by people all over the world in 2020 and a pressing desire for togetherness, NHK intends to conclude this year’s broadcast with a special performance featuring the biggest artists from the show to perform the timeless hit song “Endless Rain”, composed by Yoshiki, one of the most influential composers in Japanese history.
In 1994, Taylor and Yoshiki co-wrote “Foreign Sand” (lyrics by Taylor, music by Yoshiki), which entered the U.K. chart, and have been friends ever since. Also, Yoshiki opened the Classic Rock Awards (2015, London) with QUEEN‘s greatest hit “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which was praised by May, who attended the event.
Brightman chose Yoshiki‘s composition “Miracle” to be a single and was featured in her 2018 album. They have joined each other on stage for selected dates during her world tour, Yoshiki‘s classical tour and at “Kohaku Uta Gassen” in 2018.
Yoshiki also confirmed to be on the upcoming TV show. Ever since the impact of COVID-19 in February, Yoshiki has remained in L.A., so he will join remotely for this year’s performance.
This year’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” marks Yoshiki‘s sixth consecutive performances and a total of eleven — eight performances as X JAPAN and three consecutive performances as a solo artist.
Yoshiki said: “I am very honored and grateful to be performing ‘Endless Rain’ at ‘Kohaku’ again this year. I wish I could go to Japan but with the global pandemic, I have remained in Los Angeles since February. Therefore, I will perform remotely this year. I feel honored and grateful to be performing with Brian May and Roger Taylor, and Sarah Brightman and all those Japanese superstars. I hope that through the music, we can give everyone courage.I look forward to the performance.”
