Kenji Sawada's liveshow
Kenji Sawada (沢田 研二, born June 25, 1948) is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor, best known for being the vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers. Nicknamed "Julie" because of his self professed adoration of Julie Andrews, he was born in Tsunoi, Iwami (now part of Tottori), Tottori Prefecture, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3.
As a singer (often he also worked as a songwriter) and actor, Sawada prospered greatly on Japanese popular culture in the last three decades of the Shōwa era. At the end of the 1960s, he had great success as the lead singer of the band The Tigers. After the breakup of The Tigers and another project Pyg, he began his own solo career.
Music career
Sawada was the lead singer of the best-known J-pop music act of the late 1960s Group Sounds era band The Tigers. A national teen idol, his nickname is Julie. Japanese pop stars of that era often adopted nicknames, particularly often English-language girls' names. His nickname is derived from the actress Julie Andrews as he is a fan of hers. The group was signed by Watanabe
Productions.
In 1968, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees was commissioned to compose two songs for the band in an attempt at international success. One of the songs was a hit in Japan, titled "Smile for Me" and sung by Sawada. In spite of his clear English pronunciation, the record did not make the pop charts in foreign markets as the Watanabe Productions management team had hoped. The band disbanded shortly after its release.
In 1970, after The Tigers broke up, Sawada formed the supergroup, Pyg. Kenichi Hagiwara, Sawada's main rival in the Group Sounds era, was a co-lead vocalist. When Pyg disbanded, Sawada went solo, but the acting was to be his main form of artistic expression after that. Sawada started to wear trendy clothes and make-up in the 1970s and became regarded as an influential fashion innovator.
In the 1980s he was in Co-Colo with Hideki Ishima.
Sawada also plays the shamisen. He appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in March 1969 (No. 28), and is the only Japanese as a cover person of this magazine other than Yoko Ono.
Film career
Sawada's best-known roles include playing in Paul Schrader's biopic movie about Yukio Mishima, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and playing in Takashi Miike's horror-comedy musical The Happiness of the Katakuris.
Personal life
He married Emi Ito, the member of 1960s pop duo The Peanuts, in 1975, but they divorced in 1987.[3] He is married to Oshin star Yūko Tanaka, whom he met on the set of Tora-san, the Expert.
Kenji Sawada (Sawada Kenji, June 25, 1948) is a Japanese singer, actor, songwriter, composer. Born in Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture, where his parents' home is, he grew up in Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. Real name, Kenji Sawada. Nickname is Julie (since Mr. Sawada himself was a fan of actress Julie Andrews). My wife is actress Yuko Tanaka. My ex-wife is the former Peanut's Ito Emi. Height: 171 cm. Currently lives in Naka-ku, Yokohama City.
Active as a super star since the late 1960's Group Sounds heyday, singles total sales as solo recorded 12.39 million copies (9 years of 1982-1991, it keeps the first place for nine years. Total including the album) Sales of about 15.7 million sheets). The Tigers, with the PYG era, will have 16.66 million copies.
June 25, 1948, born in Tsunoi-mura, Iwami-gun, Tottori Prefecture (now Tsunoi, Tottori City), where his parents' home is located. In the name on the family register, there is a point on the lower right of the letters "Ren" At that time, his father worked for a contractor in the Gunpowder Research Center in Maizuru, and was named "Kenji" because he was the second child. After graduating from Kyoto City Daisan Ebayashi Elementary School and Okazaki Junior High School, in April 1964, he entered Kyoto's prestigious school, Kyoto Prefectural High School, and later dropped out of the same school. The actress Reiko Oshinada is also from the same high school as Sawada. As a boy, he was admired by professional baseball players, who liked Tetsuji Kawakami and Shigeru Fujio. In junior high school, he served as the captain of the baseball club and has a first baseman position. He was ranked 4th in the Kyoto city tournament and advanced to the Kyoto prefecture tournament, but it is said that he lost his dream and gave up his dream. I belong to the karate club in high school.
When I was doing a part-time job for a doorboy at the Kyoto dance cafe "Denara", I was called to Sanders, and 17-year-old Sawada became a lode and vocalist. Sawada who saw the stage and Sally of Playboys (Shuzo Kishibe = present Kichibe Kazunori) Sawada was invited as a lead vocal, and joined Sally and Playboys officially on the first day of the following year, and the group name is "Funnys" It changed.
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