Career Mizuki was born in
Setagaya,
Tokyo in January 1948. He signed to the
Nippon Columbia label and released his first single called "Kimi ni sasageru Boku no Uta", composed by Kanae Wada, in 1968. In 1971, Mizuki recorded the song which was used as the opening theme for
Genshi Shōnen Ryū. This began his foray into recording well over 1200 songs for various soundtracks as well as original singles and albums. Other early songs sung by Mizuki include the themes to
Chojin Barom 1,
Mazinger Z,
Babel II,
Robot Detective,
Kamen Rider X,
Great Mazinger,
Ganbare!! Robocon,
Kamen Rider Stronger,
Tekkaman,
Steel Jeeg,
Akumaizer 3,
Chōdenji Robo Combattler V,
Astroganger and
Space Pirate Captain Harlock. His extensive discography in the 1970s led to his dubbing as and the , with whom
Mitsuko Horie is the "Queen" and
Hironobu Kageyama is the "Prince". Mizuki was also part of the judging panel at the
Animax Anison Grand Prix, with Horie and
Yumi Matsuzawa. Mizuki performed theme songs throughout the 1980s and 1990s, for shows such as
Beast King GoLion,
Getter Robo Go, and
Jikuu Senshi Spielban, his work not as extensive until 2000. On July 17, 2000, with fellow
anison vocalists
Hironobu Kageyama (
Dragon Ball Z),
Masaaki Endoh (
The King of Braves GaoGaiGar),
Eizo Sakamoto (vocalist of
ANTHEM and
Animetal), and
Rica Matsumoto (
Pokémon), he formed the "supergroup"
JAM Project. He later reduced his membership in the group to "part-time", allowing for the entry of
Hiroshi Kitadani (
One Piece),
Masami Okui (
Revolutionary Girl Utena), and
Yoshiki Fukuyama (
Macross 7 as
Basara Nekki's in
Fire Bomber). He would return to recording in 2007 with his performances on the soundtrack of
Juken Sentai Gekiranger, singing its ending theme "Tao", an image song "Chikai", and on another image song "Burning up! ~Jōnetsu o Uketsui de~" performed as a duet with
Takayoshi Tanimoto who sang the series' opening theme. He also sang on JAM Project's single "STORMBRINGER", the opening theme for
Kotetsushin Jeeg, a sequel to
Steel Jeeg. In 2008, he released his 40th anniversary
Ichirou Mizuki: Newest Best album, the 5-CD box set including 216 songs from his discography, and the
TV Size Best album. Other recent releases by Mizuki include two singles for
Chōjin Neiger, a
local hero from
Akita Prefecture. His most recent work is a single for the OVA adaptation of
Katteni Kaizō, with its theme song "Katte ni Kaizō Shite mo Ii ze", and an insert song, called "Nuiguruma", featuring
Kenji Ohtsuki. In 2016, Mizuki was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the
Tokyo Anime Awards Festival. In 2017, Mizuki collaborated with Kang Vorakorn, they sang "Miraigar T1" as their final work for Mizuki. In 2020, he received the Tanita Health Award, which "honor[s] individuals or groups that have contributed to improving the health of Japanese people." On April 25, 2021, it was announced Mizuki was suffering from partial vocal cord paralysis and would focus on recovering from it. In July 2022, Mizuki's management revealed he had been diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes and brain. He said he had surgery in June and was undergoing physical therapy and speech therapy. He said he was planning to hold a belated celebration of his 50 years in the music industry, and did not plan to retire. Mizuki died from lung cancer on December 6, 2022, at the age of 74. ==Television==