Masayoshi Yamazaki

Singer-songwriter Masayoshi Yamazaki is a Lightnin’ Hopkins-influenced guitarist who has brought a blues flavor to Japanese rock and pop since the mid-’90s. ∙ “One More Time, One More Chance,” his wistful breakthrough single from 1997, spent 24 weeks on the Japanese charts. ∙ Yamazaki was the subject of a documentary for Japanese public television in which he traveled to Mississippi in 1999 and played with blues guitar greats R.L. Burnside and Honeyboy Edwards. ∙ Beginning with his starring role in the 1996 romantic drama Tsuki to Kyabetsu, he has enjoyed success both scoring and starring in films. ∙ In 2002, a Japanese TV network arranged for him to perform his acoustic arrangement of “All My Loving” for Paul McCartney backstage in Boston, resulting in a video that has nearly 2 million views. ∙ Some of Asian music’s biggest stars, including vocalist Chitose Hajime and singer-songwriter Younha, covered his songs for the 2005 tribute album One More Time, One More Track. ∙ His 2012 single “Taiyo No Yakusoku” peaked at No. 7 on Billboard’s Japan 100 chart.