Koshi Inaba

Koshi Inaba
Inaba performing in 2012
Background information
Birth name Hiroshi Inaba
Born (1964-09-23) September 23, 1964
Tsuyama, Okayama, Japan
Genres Hard rock, blues rock, pop rock
Occupation(s) Musician, lyricist, composer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano, blues-harp, drums, maracas, mandolin
Years active 1985–present
Labels Rooms Records
Vermillion
Associated acts B'z, Stevie Salas, Steve Vai, Tak Matsumoto, Slash
Website B'z official web site

Koshi Inaba (稲葉浩志, Inaba Kōshi)(born September 23, 1964 in Tsuyama, Okayama) is a Japanese vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is best known as the singer and lyricist of the rock duo B'z.

On January 18th, 2017, Inaba released a collaborative album with Stevie Salas under the name "Inaba/Salas." The album, "Chubby Groove," went to #2 in the Japanese Music Charts. [1]

Early life

Koshi Inaba was born and raised in Tsuyama, Okayama, and enrolled in Yokohama National University's Faculty for Education in 1983 to become a qualified mathematics teacher. Inaba made his musical debut in 1985 whilst still a student, contributing vocals to Toshiya "Ran" Matsukawa's album Burning ~Tribute to Randy Rhoads~ under the stage name Mr. Crazy Tiger. He graduated in 1987.

B'z and solo career

Beginning with B'z in 1988, Inaba has, together with guitarist Tak Matsumoto, continued to release new material and tour as part of B'z almost every year since. He has also periodically released solo material, starting in 1997 with the album Magma, produced whilst B'z were on a brief hiatus. Unlike in B'z, where he contributes only lyrics, Inaba has composed all the music for his solo releases.

Inaba has also sung on other artists' releases, such as the Steve Vai song "Asian Sky" from the album The Ultra Zone in 1999. On September 29, 2009, it was announced that Inaba would be featured in Slash's 2010 solo album, Slash. Inaba sang on the first single, "Sahara", released on November 11, 2009 in Japan. The song Sahara was featured in the 15th track of the Japanese edition of the album.[2] On February 24, 2010, it was announced that single "Sahara" won the Western single of the year 2010 at Japan Gold Disc Award 2010 held by RIAJ.[3]

Vocal style and influences

Inaba has a wide vocal range, covering three and a half octaves.

Amongst Inaba's musical influences are Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Queen, and Guns N' Roses. He respects David Coverdale, Robert Plant, Axl Rose, and especially Steven Tyler as vocalists. He is also a fan of Elvis Presley.

Discography

Albums

  • Magma (January 29, 1997)
  • Shian (October 9, 2002)
  • Peace of Mind (September 22, 2004)
  • Hadou (August 18, 2010)
  • Singing Bird (May 21, 2014)

Singles

  • Tooku Made (December 16, 1998)
  • K I (June 11, 2003)
  • Wonderland (July 14, 2004)
  • Okay (June 23, 2010)
  • Hane (January 13, 2016)

Digital Exclusive Singles

  • Nensho (February 26, 2014)
  • Nakinagara (March 26, 2014)
  • Stay Free (April 23, 2014)
  • Saturday (July 30, 2014)
  • Yellow (August 24, 2016)

Inaba/Salas

Guest Appearances

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Chubby Groove (First Press Limited Edition)". Oricon News. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  2. ↑ スラッシュ9年ぶりソロ作！！ (in Japanese). HMV Japan. March 29, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  3. ↑ 嵐、ゴールドディスク大賞で10タイトル受賞の新記録 (in Japanese). Natalie. February 24, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  4. ↑ "オリコン週間 CDアルバムランキング 2017年01月09日～2017年01月15日". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
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