Boøwy (1981–1988) After being expelled from high school, Hotei traveled to
Tokyo. He became better acquainted with
Kyosuke Himuro and they decided to hold auditions for a new band, which in 1981 became the six-member . After changing their name to
Boøwy, they released their first album
Moral in 1982. They then became a quartet and went on to become major stars in Japan, In 1986 they released their first million-selling album,
Beat Emotion. In 1988, the year they broke up, they became the first male artists to have three number-one albums within a single year on the
Oricon chart. In 2003,
HMV ranked Boøwy at number 22 on their list of the "100 Most Important Japanese Pop Acts".
Auto-Mod, solo career and Complex (1982–2012) While in Boøwy, Hotei and drummer Makoto Takahashi were also members of Auto-Mod from 1982 to 1984. They released their first album
Requiem in August 1983. Hotei also contributed significantly to their second album,
Deathtopia, but left the band before its January 1985 release. After the 1988 break up of Boøwy, Hotei released his debut solo album
Guitarhythm that year via
EMI Records, and established himself as a solo artist. Throughout the 1990s Hotei's profile continued to grow in Japan, with regular album releases supported by major tours and with Hotei writing songs and producing for other artists, including collaborations with both Japanese and international artists. Hotei also made two albums with
Koji Kikkawa as
Complex, Hotei's 1998 album
Supersonic Generation, recorded in part with
Apollo 440 and
Ofra Haza, was released in 14 European countries. In addition to many bestselling solo albums, Hotei composed and performed the score for
Hiroyuki Nakano's
Samurai Fiction, as well as starring in the film. He composed three tracks for the American film
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas together with
Ray Cooper. Hotei's best known song "
Battle Without Honor or Humanity" was used in
Quentin Tarantino's feature film
Kill Bill, the
PlayStation 2 version of
Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova and
Michael Bay's feature film
Transformers. Hotei recorded a cover of
John Lennon's "
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" for
Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas, an instrumental guitar Christmas album featuring tracks from guitarists including
Richie Sambora,
Jeff Beck,
Joe Perry,
Eric Johnson,
Steve Vai and
Steve Morse. On July 30 and 31, 2011, Hotei and Kikkawa reunited as Complex for two nights at the
Tokyo Dome. All proceeds were donated to aid the victims of the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On February 1, 2012, Hotei performed a concert at the
Saitama Super Arena to celebrate his 50th birthday. His Boøwy and Auto-Mod bandmate Makoto Takahashi appeared as a special guest and together they played Boøwy's "Justy" and "No. New York". Hotei made his directorial debut in April 2012, with the stage play
Psychedelic Pain, which was written by
Yukinojo Mori and for which Hotei wrote the music. On May 8, it was announced that Hotei would move to
London in June, in hopes of starting an international career.
Relocating to London and international focus 2012–2014 After years of spending a great deal of time in the UK, Hotei and his family relocated fully to
London in June 2012, On March 6, 2014, Hotei joined
The Rolling Stones on stage during the final show of their tour in Japan. He was a surprise guest at their
Tokyo Dome concert, playing the song "
Respectable" before a crowd of 53,000 fans. Hotei's most famous song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" was selected for a nationwide TV commercial in the UK for Buxton Water's "Naturally Pumped Up" campaign. The campaign launched in June 2014, with plans to run for six months. Joined by band members Zachary Alford (drums), During a brief trip back to Japan, Hotei played four sold-out shows at the
Blue Note Tokyo in late August, and also performed at a private party for the launch of the new
Lamborghini Huracán automobile. Hotei wrote and performed the theme song, "Trick Attack (Theme of
Lupin The Third)", to the
2014 live-action film adaptation of the
Lupin III manga. After spending much of the year writing and recording with a variety of collaborators, the album
New Beginnings was released in Japan on October 1, 2014, the title a reflection of the new chapter in Hotei's career, after relocating to London.
Iggy Pop contributed lyrics and vocals to two tracks on the album and
Vula Malinga vocals to one.
2015–2016 Hotei's released the single "How The Cookie Crumbles" featuring Iggy Pop on vocals in June, the first single to be released from his forthcoming second English-language solo album
Strangers, which was released by
Spinefarm Records/
Universal Music on October 16, 2015. It was his first album to be released globally outside Japan. It includes several songs released on
New Beginnings. In addition to Pop, it also features
Richard Kruspe from
Rammstein,
Matthew Tuck from
Bullet for My Valentine,
Noko and
Shea Seger. ==Personal life==