Koshi Inaba

Overview

Koshi Inaba (稲葉浩志, born September 23, 1964) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in Japan, and writes the lyrics for nearly all of their songs. He also has a successful solo career, with six studio albums and five singles topping the Japanese charts. He is signed to VERMILLION and releases on VERMILLION RECORDS.

Early life

Born and raised in Tsuyama, Okayama, Inaba received the first Tsuyama City Citizen Honor Award from his hometown. In 1983 he enrolled in the Faculty of Education at Yokohama National University to become a qualified mathematics teacher, graduating in 1987. He first sang in a band at high school after a classmate invited him, an experience that led him to keep making music. In 1985, while at university, he joined the Being Music Promotion Association (later Being Music School), and made his recording debut that year, singing on Toshiya "Ran" Matsukawa's album Burning Dedication to Randy Rhoads under the name Mr. Crazy Tiger. In 1987 he formed a short-lived band. Guitarist Tak Matsumoto then chose him as vocalist after hearing a demo tape passed on by Being president Daiko Nagato, and B'z debuted in 1988.

Career

B'z and the start of a solo career

After B'z debuted, the duo became his main activity, and he continued to release material and tour with them almost every year. He also took on outside work, writing lyrics for Yuiko Tsubokura in 1990 and hosting the radio program COME ON B'z WAVE-GYM on his own from October 1991 until it ended in 1994. In 1999 he wrote the Japanese lyrics for J-FRIENDS' "Next 100 Years" and sang on Steve Vai's "Asian Sky" from The Ultra Zone.

His first solo album, Magma, was released on January 29, 1997, while B'z were on a brief hiatus. It debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon chart and sold over a million copies, the first time an original album with no singles or tie-in songs had done so. It received the "Best Rock Album of the Year" award at the 12th Japan Gold Disc Awards. His first solo single, "Tooku Made," followed in 1998. His second album, Shian (2002), also debuted at No. 1, making him the first to achieve this with two consecutive albums without singles or tie-ins. In 2003 he gave his first solo live performance without advance notice, as the opening act for WAG at an Osaka live house, and released the single "Ki." After the single "Wonderland" in 2004, he launched his first solo tour, Koshi Inaba LIVE 2004 en, and released his third album, Peace Of Mind, on September 22, 2004.

2009 onward

In 2009 Inaba sang and wrote the lyrics for "Sahara," the first single from Slash's solo album Slash (released November 11, 2009 in Japan; No. 4 on the Oricon weekly singles chart). It won the Western "Single of the Year" award at the 2010 Japan Gold Disc Award. He released the single "Okay" in June 2010 and the album Hadou in August 2010. In 2014 came the album Singing Bird (May 21), certified Gold by RIAJ, and the single "Saturday" (July 30). In 2016 he released the singles "Hane" (January 13), which was certified Gold, and "YELLOW" (August 24).

In 2017 he released the collaborative album Chubby Groove with Stevie Salas as "Inaba/Salas." It reached No. 2 on the Japanese album chart and was certified Gold; the duo followed with Maximum Huavo in 2020. He also performed the Japanese dubbing voice of Clay Calloway in Sing 2.

More recent releases include the singles "Scratch" (February 2022) and "As long as I love / Scratch" (March 2022), "BANTAM" (January 2023), "Stray Hearts" (May 2023) and "NOW" (June 1, 2024). The album Tadamono followed on June 16, 2024, then the single "Action (VS. Koshi Inaba)" in September 2025 and "Touch" in March 2026. All his solo studio albums and singles up to the time of the sources topped the Oricon charts, and his cumulative sales were reported at over 3.4 million records.

Musical style

Songwriting

In B'z he contributes only lyrics, usually written over music Tak Matsumoto has already sketched. On solo releases he also composes, arranges and produces, working from either music first or lyrics first. His basic approach to lyric writing is to use any kind of words and methods freely and to create no taboos.

Voice and instruments

Guitarist Marty Friedman has named Inaba among the best vocalists in the world, praising a voice that has not faded after more than 20 years of singing hard rock and its ability to shift from quiet to explosive in an instant. Inaba plays blues harp, guitar, piano, percussion and mandolin, among other instruments; his blues harp playing makes full use of blue notes and bends. He protects his voice on tour by abstaining from alcohol and limiting air conditioning.

Influences

Through his older brother he grew up on The Beatles, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, and he also listened to punk such as The Clash. He has cited Rod Stewart as a voice he admires and LOUDNESS vocalist Minoru Niihara as a vocalist he respects.