Hide (musician)

hide 松本 秀人
Hide performing with X Japan in 1997
Background information
Birth name	Hideto Matsumoto
Born	(1964-12-13)December 13, 1964 Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan
Died	May 2, 1998(1998-05-02) (aged 33) Minami-Azabu, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Alternative rock heavy metal industrial rock
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter record producer
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Discography	Hide discography
Years active	1981–1998
Labels	MCA Victor Universal LEMONed
Formerly of	X Japan Zilch M*A*S*S Saver Tiger
Website	www.hide-city.com
Japanese name
Kanji	松本 秀人
Hiragana	まつもと ひでと
Transcriptions Romanization Matsumoto Hideto

Hideto Matsumoto (Japanese: 松本 秀人, Hepburn: Matsumoto Hideto, December 13, 1964 – May 2, 1998), known professionally as hide,^[a] was a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 to 1997 and a solo artist from 1993 onward. He also formed the United States-based rock supergroup Zilch in 1996.

Hide sold millions of records, both solo and as a member of X Japan. X Japan rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, credited as founders of the Japanese visual kei movement. When they disbanded in 1997, he focused on his solo career which started four years prior and went on to enjoy significant popularity. At the height of his fame, while recording his third studio album and about to launch an international career with the newly formed Zilch, he died in 1998 of what was ruled a suicide by hanging. He was seen as an icon for Japanese youth rebelling against their country's conformist society, and his death was labeled "the end of an era".^[1][2]

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