name	Hideki Tōjō東條 英機東条 英機
order	Prime Minister of Japan
monarch	Shōwa
term start	18 October 1941
term end	22 July 1944
predecessor	Fumimaro Konoe
successor	Kuniaki Koiso
birth date	December 30, 1884
birth place	Kōjimachi district of Tokyo, Empire of Japan
death date	December 23, 1948 executed by hanging
death place	Tokyo, occupied Japan
party	Imperial Rule Assistance Association (1940–1945)
otherparty	Independent (before 1940)
spouse	Katsuko Ito
children
religion	Jōdo Shinshū
alma mater
signature	Hideki Tojo signature.svg }}

Hideki Tōjō (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: ; ) (30 December 1884 23 December 1948) was a Japanese general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 18 October 1941 to 22 July 1944. As Prime Minister, he was directly responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to the war between Japan and the United States. After the end of the war, Tōjō was arrested, sentenced to death for Japanese war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, and hanged on 23 December 1948.

Biography

Eiki Tōjō was born in the Kōjimachi district of Tokyo in 1884 as the third son of Hidenori Tōjō, a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He would later change his given name from the Chinese-inspired "Eiki" to the more traditionally-Japanese "Hideki." In 1899, Tojo entered the Army Cadet School. When he graduated from the Japanese Military Academy(10th of 363 cadets)in March 1905 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry of the IJA. In 1909, he married Katsuko Ito, with whom he had three sons and four daughters. By 1928, he had became the bureau chief of the Japanese Army, and was shortly thereafter promoted to colonel. He began to take an interest in militarist politics during his command of the 1st Infantry Regiment

As general

In 1933, Tōjō was promoted to major general and served as Chief of the Personnel Department within the Army Ministry. He was appointed commander of the IJA 24th Infantry Brigade in August 1934. In September 1935, Tōjō assumed top command of the Kempeitai of the Kwangtung Army in Manchuria. Politically, he was fascist, nationalist and militarist. His nickname was "Razor" (Kamisori), for his reputation for a sharp, legalistic mind capable of making quick decisions.

During the February 26 Incident of 1936, Tōjō and Shigeru Honjō, a noted supporter of Sadao Araki, came out against the coup attempt. Emperor Hirohito himself was outraged at the attacks on his close advisors, and after a brief political crisis and stalling on the part of a sympathetic military, the rebels were forced to surrender. In the aftermath, the Tōseiha faction was able to purge the Army of radical officers, and the coup leaders were tried and executed. Following the purge, Tōseiha and Kōdōha elements were unified in their nationalist but highly anti-political stance under the banner of the Kōdōha military clique, with Tōjō in the leadership position. Tōjō was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Kwangtung Army in 1937. As Chief of Staff, Tōjō was responsible for the military operations designed to increase Japanese penetration into the Mongolia and Inner Mongolia border regions with Manchukuo. In July 1937, he personally led the units of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade in Operation Chahar, his only real combat experience.

After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident marking the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Tōjō ordered his forces to attack Hopei and other targets in northern China. Tōjō received Jewish refugees in accordance with Japanese national policy and rejected the resulting Nazi German protests. Tōjō was recalled to Japan in May 1938 to serve as Vice-Minister of War under Army Minister Seishirō Itagaki. From December 1938 to 1940, Tōjō was Inspector-General of Army Aviation.

Rise to Prime Minister

On July 22, 1940, Tōjō was appointed Army Minister in the second Fumimaro Konoe regime, and remained in that post in the third Konoe cabinet. He was a strong supporter of the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. As the Army Minister, he continued to vastly expand the grueling war with China.

After negotiations with the Vichy government, Japan was given permission to place its troops in French Indochina in July 1941. In spite of its formal recognition of the Vichy government, the United States retaliated against Japan by imposing economic sanctions in August and a total embargo on oil and gasoline exports.

The prevailing opinion within the Japanese Army at that time was that continued negotiations could be dangerous. However, Hirohito thought that he might be able to control extreme opinions in the army by using the charismatic and well-connected Tōjō, who had expressed reservations regarding war with the West, although the emperor himself was skeptical that Tōjō would be able to avoid conflict. On October 13, he declared to Kōichi Kido, "There seems little hope in the present situation for the Japan-U. S. negotiations. This time, if hostilities erupt, I might have to issue a declaration of war."

On 16 October, Konoe, politically isolated and convinced that the emperor no longer trusted him, resigned. Later, he justified himself to his chief cabinet secretary, Kenji Tomita:

Of course His Majesty is a pacifist, and there is no doubt he wished to avoid war. When I told him that to initiate war is a mistake, he agreed. But the next day, he would tell me: "You were worried about it yesterday, but you do not have to worry so much." Thus, gradually, he began to lead toward war. And the next time I met him, he leaned even more toward war. In short, I felt the Emperor was telling me: "My prime minister does not understand military matters, I know much more." In short, the Emperor had absorbed the views of the army and navy high commands.

At the time, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko was said to be the only person who could control the Army and the Navy and was recommended by Konoe and Tōjō. Hirohito rejected this option, arguing that a member of the imperial family should not have to eventually carry the responsibility for a war against the West. Following the advice of Kōichi Kido, he chose instead Tōjō, who was known for his devotion to the imperial institution. The Emperor summoned Tōjō to the Imperial Palace one day before Tōjō took office.

Tōjō wrote in his diary, "I thought I was summoned because the Emperor was angry at my opinion." He was given one order from the Emperor: To make a policy review of what had been sanctioned by the Imperial conferences. Tōjō, who was on the side of the war, nevertheless accepted this order, and pledged to obey. According to Colonel Akiho Ishii, a member of the Army General Staff, the Prime Minister showed a true sense of loyalty to the emperor performing this duty. For example, when Ishii received from Hirohito a communication saying the Army should drop the idea of stationing troops in China to counter military operations of Western powers, he wrote a reply for the Prime Minister for his audience with the Emperor. Tōjō then replied to Ishii: "If the Emperor said it should be so, then that's it for me. One cannot recite arguments to the Emperor. You may keep your finely phrased memorandum."

On November 2, Tōjō and Chiefs of Staff Hajime Sugiyama and Osami Nagano reported to Hirohito that the review had been in vain. The Emperor then gave his consent to war.

On 3 November, Nagano explained in detail the Pearl Harbor attack to Hirohito. The eventual plan drawn up by Army and Navy Chiefs of Staff envisaged such a mauling of the Western powers that Japanese defense perimeter lines—operating on interior lines of communications and inflicting heavy Western casualties—could not be breached. In addition, the Japanese fleet which attacked Pearl Harbor was under orders from Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to be prepared to return to Japan on a moment's notice, should negotiations succeed.

On 5 November, Hirohito approved the operations plan for a war against the West and had many meetings with the military and Tōjō until the end of the month. On 1 December, another conference finally sanctioned the "war against the United States, England and Holland".

As Prime Minister

Tōjō continued to hold the position of Army Minister during his term as Prime Minister, from 18 October 1941 to 22 July 1944. He also served concurrently as Home Minister from 1941–1942, Foreign Minister in September 1942, Education Minister in 1943, and Commerce Minister in 1943.

As Education Minister, he continued militaristic and nationalist indoctrination in the national education system, and reaffirmed totalitarian policies in government. As Home Minister, he ordered various eugenics measures (including the sterilization of the "mentally unfit").

His popularity was sky-high in the early years of the war, as Japanese forces went from one great victory to another. However, after the Battle of Midway, with the tide of war turning against Japan, Tōjō faced increasing opposition from within the government and military. To strengthen his position, in February 1944, Tōjō assumed the post of Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. However, after the fall of Saipan, he was forced to resign on 18 July 1944.

Capture, trial, and execution

After Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945, U.S. general Douglas MacArthur issued orders for the arrest of the first forty alleged war criminals, including Tōjō. Soon, Tōjō's home in Setagaya was besieged with newsmen and photographers. Inside, a doctor named Suzuki had marked Tōjō's chest with charcoal to indicate the location of his heart. When American military police surrounded the house on 8 September 1945, they heard a muffled shot from inside. Major Paul Kraus and a group of military police burst in, followed by George Jones, a reporter for The New York Times. Tōjō had shot himself in the chest with a pistol, but despite shooting directly through the mark, the bullets missed his heart and penetrated his stomach. Now disarmed and with blood gushing out of his chest, Tōjō began to talk, and two Japanese reporters recorded his words. "I am very sorry it is taking me so long to die", he murmured. "The Greater East Asia War was justified and righteous. I am very sorry for the nation and all the races of the Greater Asiatic powers. I wait for the righteous judgment of history. I wished to commit suicide but sometimes that fails."

He was arrested and underwent emergency surgery in a U.S. Army hospital. After recovering from his injuries, Tōjō was moved to the Sugamo Prison. While there he received a new set of dentures made by an American dentist. Secretly the phrase Remember Pearl Harbor had been drilled into the teeth in Morse Code.

He was tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for war crimes and found guilty of the following crimes:

count 1 (waging wars of aggression, and war or wars in violation of international law)

count 27 (waging unprovoked war against the Republic of China)

count 29 (waging aggressive war against the United States of America)

count 31 (waging aggressive war against the British Commonwealth of Nations)

count 32 (waging aggressive war against the Kingdom of the Netherlands)

count 33 (waging aggressive war against the French Republic)

count 54 (ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) and others)

Hideki Tōjō accepted full responsibility in the end for his actions during the war. Here is a passage from his statement, which he made during his war crimes trial:

It is natural that I should bear entire responsibility for the war in general, and, needless to say, I am prepared to do so. Consequently, now that the war has been lost, it is presumably necessary that I be judged so that the circumstances of the time can be clarified and the future peace of the world be assured. Therefore, with respect to my trial, it is my intention to speak frankly, according to my recollection, even though when the vanquished stands before the victor, who has over him the power of life and death, he may be apt to toady and flatter. I mean to pay considerable attention to this in my actions, and say to the end that what is true is true and what is false is false. To shade one's words in flattery to the point of untruthfulness would falsify the trial and do incalculable harm to the nation, and great care must be taken to avoid this.

He was sentenced to death on 12 November 1948 and executed by hanging on 23 December 1948. In his final statements, he apologized for the atrocities committed by the Japanese military and urged the American military to show compassion toward the Japanese people, who had suffered devastating air attacks and the two atomic bombings.

Tōjō is often considered responsible for authorizing the murder of millions of civilians in China, the Philippines, Indochina, and other Pacific island nations, as well as tens of thousands of Allied prisoners of war (POW).

Many historians criticize the work done by General MacArthur and his staff to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and all members of the imperial family from criminal prosecutions. According to them, MacArthur and Brigadier General Bonner Fellers worked to protect the Emperor and shift ultimate responsibility to Tōjō.

According to the written report of Mizota Shūichi, interpreter for Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai, Fellers met the two men at his office on 6 March 1946 and told Yonai that "it would be most convenient if the Japanese side could prove to us that the Emperor is completely blameless. I think the forthcoming trials offer the best opportunity to do that. Tōjō, in particular, should be made to bear all responsibility at this trial."

The sustained intensity of this campaign to protect the Emperor was revealed when, in testifying before the tribunal on 31 December 1947, Tōjō momentarily strayed from the agreed-upon line concerning imperial innocence and referred to the Emperor's ultimate authority. The American-led prosecution immediately arranged that he be secretly coached to recant this testimony. Ryūkichi Tanaka, a former general who testified at the trial and had close connections with chief prosecutor Joseph B. Keenan, was used as an intermediary to persuade Tōjō to revise his testimony.

Legacy

Tōjō's commemorating tomb is located in a shrine in Hazu, Aichi, and he is one of those enshrined at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. His ashes are divided between Yasukuni Shrine and Zōshigaya Cemetery in Toshima ward, Tokyo.

He was survived by a number of his descendants, including his granddaughter, Yūko Tōjō, a right-wing nationalist and political hopeful who claims Japan's war was one of self-defense and that it was unfair that her grandfather was judged a Class-A war criminal. Tōjō's second son, Teruo Tōjō, who designed fighter and passenger aircraft during and after the war, eventually served as an executive at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

References

External links

WW2DB: Hideki Tōjō

Hideki Tōjō Quotes

Address by Tojo Hideki, Premier of Japan

Hideki Tōjō's grave at Findagrave

|- |- |- |years=1942}} |- |- |- |- |-

Category:1884 births Category:1948 deaths Category:Prime Ministers of Japan Category:Japanese people of World War II Category:Executed politicians Category:Executed prime ministers Category:Japanese anti-communists Category:Japanese generals Category:Japanese people convicted of crimes against humanity Category:Japanese people convicted of the international crime of aggression Category:Japanese people convicted of war crimes Category:Education ministers of Japan Category:Foreign ministers of Japan Category:Ministers of Home Affairs of Japan Category:Ministers of Army of Japan Category:People convicted in Tokyo Trials Category:People executed by hanging Category:People executed by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Category:People from Tokyo Category:Executed Japanese people Category:Taisei Yokusankai politicians Category:International response during the Holocaust Category:Executed generals and admirals

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name	hide
background	solo_singer
birth name	Hideto Matsumoto
alias	hide, HIDE
birth date	December 13, 1964
origin	Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan
death date	May 02, 1998
death place	Tokyo
genre	Alternative rock, industrial rock, heavy metal, speed metal, power metal, progressive metal, symphonic metal, glam metal
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, actor
instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass
years active	1981–1998
label	MCA Victor, Sony, LEMONed
associated acts	X Japan, Zilch, M*A*S*S, Saver Tiger
url	hide-city.com
notable instruments	Fernandes MG series, B.C. Rich Mockingbird, Gibson Les Paul }}

, better known by his stage name hide (ヒデ, written in all capital letters when he was with X Japan and in all lowercase letters when solo), was a popular Japanese musician. He was primarily known for his work as lead guitarist of the heavy metal band X Japan from 1987 to 1997. He was also a successful solo artist and co-founder of the United States based band Zilch.

Biography

1964–1987: Early years and Saver Tiger

Hide was born in St. Joseph's Hospital in Midorigaoka, Japan, on December 13, 1964 and went on to attend Yokosuka Tokiwa Junior High School. He was first exposed to rock music at the age of fifteen, through the album Alive II by Kiss. In the same year his grandmother bought him his first electric guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.

On March 11, 1980, hide graduated from Tokiwa Junior High School. He then entered Zushi Kaisei Senior High School in Zushi, Kanagawa, where he entered the school's brass band as a club activity. He quit the band after a short time because he was assigned the clarinet while he wanted to play the trumpet. After this, he concentrated on guitar and in 1981 formed the band Saber Tiger. A year after their founding, they started playing shows at live houses in Yokosuka, such as Rock City.

In April 1983 he started attending cosmetology and fashion school at the Hollywood Beauty Salon in present-day Roppongi Hills, from which he graduated in 1984. Later that year he took a nationwide examination and successfully obtained a beautician license. In July 1985 Saber Tiger released their self-titled EP, which included two songs, "Double Cross" and "Gold Digger". In November, the band contributed the song "Vampire" to the Heavy Metal Force III sampler, which also included songs by X and Jewel. Years later, Jewel's guitarist Kiyoshi would join hide's solo band.

In 1986 the group changed its name to Saver Tiger to avoid confusion with a similarly named band from Sapporo (see Saber Tiger). Their first appearance with the new name was on the sampler Devil Must Be Driven out with Devil, with their songs "Dead Angle" and "Emergency Express". They continued to perform in live houses and night clubs such as Meguro Rokumeikan, Omiya Freaks and Meguro Live Station. Until January 28, 1987, when hide became tired of changing members and decided to end the band (vocalist Kyo and drummer Tetsu would both go on to D'erlanger). Around the same time hide was invited to join X.

1987–1997: X Japan

Hide joined X Japan (then called X) in early 1987. He became the band's lead guitarist and occasional songwriter, composing songs like "Celebration", "Joker" and the single "Scars". Shortly after the release of the album Art of Life, the members of X Japan took a break, to start solo projects. Around that time, the group also dropped most of its original visual kei aesthetics, the exception being hide, who would still perform in wildly colorful outfits and with his trademark pink hair.

1993–1998: Solo career

In early 1993, hide was featured on the sampler Dance 2 Noise 004, with the song "Frozen Bug", which he recorded with Inoran and J of Luna Sea, under the band name M*A*S*S. He also starred in an art film titled Seth et Holth, along with Tusk of Zi:Kill. In 1994, hide recorded and released his first solo album, Hide Your Face. In addition to all vocals and songwriting, he played most of the guitars and bass on some of the tracks. The cover art was based on a mask designed by Swiss artist H. R. Giger. The album's musical style differed significantly from the speed metal anthems and power ballads of X Japan, leaning more towards alternative rock. Hide then went on the "Hide Our Psychommunity Tour", for which a live band was hired that would later become part of his primary project, hide with Spread Beaver.

In 1996, hide oversaw the production of the first release on his own label LEMONed (founded in 1989), an album from the band Zeppet Store. His second solo album, Psyence, was released on September 2, also followed by a tour, "Psyence a Go Go". After X Japan disbanded in 1997, hide formally titled his solo project hide with Spread Beaver. He also formed a new band named Zilch in 1996, which apart from him and Spread Beaver programmer and percussionist I.N.A., was composed of American and British artists, such as Joey Castillo (Queens of the Stone Age), Paul Raven (Killing Joke) and Ray McVeigh (ex:The Professionals).

May 2, 1998: Death

Hide died on May 2, 1998. After a night out drinking, he was found hanged with a towel tied to a doorknob in his Tokyo apartment. Authorities officially deemed hide's death a suicide, and this verdict was reported in the media. Within one week, three fans had died in copycat suicides, and of the 50,000 people who attended his funeral in Tsukiji Hongan-ji, nearly 60 were hospitalized and about 200 received medical treatment in first aid tents. Later that month, the single "Pink Spider" was released, entering the Oricon charts at number one. The song would also receive that year's MTV Video Music Award in the category "Japan Viewers Choice". Sales were also strong for the follow-up single "Ever Free", while those of a single released previous to his death "Rocket Dive" would also see a substantial increase. American Journalist Neil Strauss commented on the trend saying that: "In just a few weeks, pop culture in Japan had gone from mourning hide's death to consuming it." Popular interpretation of the lyrics to hide's "Pink Spider", which he had performed on the day prior to his death, fueled speculation of a premeditated suicide, because of clear autobiographical elements, and the song's theme of escape from the vicissitudes of life.

Meanwhile, several of hide's friends and colleagues stated that they believed the auto-strangulation to have been an accident, among them X Japan co-founder Yoshiki and former X Japan bassist Taiji Sawada. This notion is supported by the fact that no suicide note was left and Sawada theorizes in his autobiography, that at the night of his death, hide may have been practising a technique to relieve upper back and neck pains which guitarists can suffer from continuous use of a shoulder strap. The technique involved was practiced by the X Japan members during their touring days and required the use of a towel and a door knob or handle. According to Sawada, hide may have fallen asleep in his intoxicated state, becoming caught and strangling himself.

Zilch bassist Paul Raven commented that hide was "under a lot of stress", due to recording schedule for the Ja, Zoo album. He went on to question the ultimate degree of hide's involvement in the finished record, stating that only three songs had been completed before he died. Ja, Zoo was released in November of that year with the artist listed as hide with Spread Beaver. Zilch's debut album 3.2.1. was also released and the group continued to perform and record for several years. While they never achieved mainstream success in the United States one of their songs was included on the soundtrack for Heavy Metal 2000.

Posthumous

On May 1, 1999, a tribute album was released, titled Tribute Spirits. It features covers of hide's songs by several bands (such as Buck-Tick, Luna Sea and Oblivion Dust) and solo artists. The album was released to coincide with the anniversary of hide's last live appearance on May 1, 1998.

A hide museum was opened in his hometown of Yokosuka on July 20, 2000. It remained open, past its original three year plan, for five years, before closing its doors on September 25, 2005.

The remaining members of X Japan reunited in 2007 and recorded a new song, "I.V.". It contains a previously unused guitar track by hide. X Japan performed at the Tokyo Dome on March 28, 2008, during the performance of "Art of Life" hide's image (taken from footage of the "Art of Life" performance at the Tokyo Dome in 1993) played alongside the band. This was made possible by the use of Musion Eyeliner hologram technology.

As far back as July 8, 2007, Yoshiki announced to be in talks with several musicians regarding a hide tribute concert set for 2008, in order to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his former band mate's passing. The "hide memorial summit" was held on May 3 and 4, 2008 at Ajinomoto Stadium, where X Japan, Dir en grey, D'espairsRay, Versailles and many others performed, bands such as Luna Sea and Phantasmagoria even reunited for one day to perform. Hide with Spread Beaver also performed, using studio and live recordings for hide's vocals. There are still tribute shows held every year, where bands perform on hide's birthday and on the anniversary of his passing.

As with many other deceased musicians, re-issues, remixes, compilations and previously unreleased portions of hide's work continue to be published. The most recent being "The Devolution Project", a release of his original eleven singles on picture disc vinyl, throughout 2010.

In August 2010, hide's management company, Headwax Organization, which includes his brother Hiroshi, filed a lawsuit against Yoshiki's management, Japan Music Agency, for using images of the former X Japan guitarist without a formal agreement in place. The claim states that in 2000 the two companies signed an agreement allowing Yoshiki and X Japan to use visual images of hide during concerts. However, images were used at X Japan's August 14 and 15 shows at Nissan Stadium, when apparently the contract was expired.

On March 8, 2011, a musical based on and featuring hide's music debuted, named Pink Spider after his song of the same name. The show stars both Nao Minamisawa and Hitomi Takahashi as Meru, a girl who likes rock music, struggling between the real world and a fictional one. Other cast members included Taka (defspiral) and J (Luna Sea), with the backing band being the rest of defspiral. The production ran from March 8 to the 27 at the Tokyo Globe Theater and was then brought to Fukuoka, Kobe, Nagoya, Niigata, Sendai, and Sapporo in April. A compilation album of the songs used in the musical (the original versions by hide) was released on March 2 and is titled "Musical Number" -Rock Musical Pink Spider-.

Personal life

Hide had a younger brother named Hiroshi, who can be seen in the DVD His Invincible Deluge Evidence. Hiroshi was his chauffeur and manager until his last days, he took hide's ashes with him to throw in the Santa Monica Bay, along with a bottle of wine. Hiroshi had a son whom, during the "Hide Our Psychommunity Tour", hide would bring onstage and sing to. Hiroshi is part of hide's management company Headwax Organization, he also appears on Ja, Zoo reading an excerpt on "Pink Cloud Assembly".

During a TV interview on May 1, 1998 (one day before his death), hide said he had a girlfriend . Reports say that he was with a girl at the time of his death, who may or may not have been this girlfriend.

Songwriting

At the outset of his solo career, hide experimented with instrumentations very different from what he usually had access to in X Japan. The song "Psychommunity", for example, has four guitar tracks and employs a full string section. As another example, his song "Blue Sky Complex" features guitars in drop C tuning, a trumpet section, and an organ.

The title track of his second album Psyence is a big band/jazz composition with full brass, other songs on the record explore genres such as reggae, industrial rock and glam rock, with varying uses of guitar effects.

Instruments and songwriting are less experimental on the Ja, Zoo album, most songs featuring a fairly conventional instrumentation of two guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. Traditional piano and violins do, however, make an appearance.

Equipment

Hide was a fan of Bow Wow guitarists Kyoji Yamamoto and Mitsuhiro Saito, and selected to use the Mockingbird style guitar, which Saito used. Hide was rarely seen performing without a Fernandes guitar. He owned a repertoire of signature models as well as standard models. His signature models are still available for purchase today.

Hide often utilized the sustainer feature that came equipped with his guitars, and is heard on many X Japan songs. He was often seen in the early 1990s using Peavey amplifiers on stage.

Spread Beaver

hide's backing band:

– percussion, programming 1993–1998 (Zilch, Dope HEADz, Sonic Storage) – bass 1994–1998 (Debonair, Miyavi, machine, Madbeavers, Chirolyn & The Angels, Gackt, Bonnie Pink, Koda Kumi) – drums 1994–1998 (44 Magnum, Ziggy, Kings, machine, Madbeavers) – keyboards 1994–1998 (Loopus, Ra:IN, Minimum Rockets) – guitar 1996–1998 (Jewel, Virus, Media Youth, R, machine, Madbeavers, Lucy) – guitar 1998 (Oblivion Dust, Spin Aqua, Sonic Storage, Vamps)

;Former member – guitar 1993–1994 (Blizard, X-Ray, Twinzer)

X Japan guitarist Pata made numerous live appearances with the band. Jennifer Finch and Demetra "Dee" Plakas, of American all-girl grunge band L7, supported hide on a couple of TV performances in 1993 before Spread Beaver was formed, they also appear in the original promotional video for "Doubt".

Discography

Albums

Hide Your Face (February 23, 1994)

Psyence (September 2, 1996)

Ja, Zoo (November 21, 1998)

Singles

"Eyes Love You" (August 5, 1993)

"50% & 50%" (August 5, 1993)

"Dice" (January 21, 1994)

"Tell Me" (March 24, 1994)

"Misery" (June 24, 1996)

"Beauty & Stupid" (August 12, 1996)

"Hi-Ho"/"Good Bye" (December 18, 1996)

"Rocket Dive" (January 28, 1998)

"Pink Spider" (May 13, 1998)

"Ever Free" (May 27, 1998)

"Hurry Go Round" (October 21, 1998)

"Tell Me" (January 19, 2000, re-recording)

"In Motion" (July 10, 2002)

Live albums

Psyence a Go Go (March 19, 2008)

Hide Our Psychommunity (April 23, 2008)

Compilations

Tune Up (June 21, 1997, remix album)

Tribute Spirits (May 1, 1999, tribute album)

Best ~Psychommunity~ (March 2, 2000)

Psy-Clone (May 22, 2002, electronic remix album)

Singles ~ Junk Story (July 24, 2002)

King of Psyborg Rock Star (April 28, 2004)

Perfect Single Box (September 21, 2005, all 13 singles and a DVD)

Singles + Psyborg Rock iTunes Special!! (February 6, 2008, digital download)

We Love hide ~The Best in The World~ (April 29, 2009)

"Musical Number" -Rock Musical Pink Spider- (March 2, 2011)

Videos

Seth et Holth as Seth (September 29, 1993)

A Souvenir (VHS: March 24, 1994, DVD: April 4, 2001 as A Souvenir + Tell Me)

Film The Psychommunity Reel.1 (VHS: October 21, 1994, DVD: April 4, 2001)

Film The Psychommunity Reel.2 (VHS: November 23, 1994, DVD: April 4, 2001)

X'mas Present (December 24, 1994)

Lemoned Collected By hide (May 22, 1996, also features Zeppet Store, Vinyl and Trees of Life)

Ugly Pink Machine File 1 Official Data File [Psyence A Go Go In Tokyo] (VHS: February 26, 1997, DVD: October 18, 2000)

Ugly Pink Machine File 1 Unofficial Data File [Psyence A Go Go 1996] (VHS: March 26, 1997, DVD: October 18, 2000)

Seven Clips (VHS: June 21, 1997, DVD: October 18, 2000 as Seven Clips + Hurry Go Round)

hide presents Mix Lemoned Jelly (VHS: August 21, 1997, DVD: July 20, 2003 features many other artists)

Top Secret X'mas Present '97 (December 24, 1997)

His Invincible Deluge Evidence (VHS: July 17, 1998, DVD: July 20, 2000)

A Story 1998 hide Last Works (December 8, 1999)

Alivest Perfect Stage ＜1,000,000 Cuts hide!hide!hide!＞ (December 13, 2000)

Seventeen Clips ~Perfect Clips~ (May 3, 2001)

hide with Spread Beaver Appear!! "1998 Tribal Ja,Zoo" (September 21, 2005)

Alive! (December 3, 2008)

We Love hide ~The Clips~ (December 2, 2009)

With Saber Tiger/Saver Tiger/Yokosuka Saver Tiger

Saber Tiger (July 1985)

Heavy Metal Force III (November 7, 1985, "Vampire")

Devil Must Be Driven out with Devil (1986, "Dead Angle" and "Emergency Express")

Origin of hide Vol. 1 (February 21, 2001, compilation album)

Origin of hide Vol. 2 (February 21, 2001, compilation album)

Origin of hide Vol. 3 (February 21, 2001, VHS)

With X Japan

With M*A*S*S

Dance 2 Noise 004 (January 21, 1993, "Frozen Bug")

With Zilch

3.2.1. (July 23, 1998)

Bastard Eyes (July 7, 1999)

Other work

Flowers (Issay, 1994, guitar on "Itoshi no Max")

96/69 (Cornelius, June 9, 1996, remixed "Heavy Metal Thunder")

Ultra Mix (Shonen Knife, October 22, 1997, remixed "Tower of the Sun")

References

External links

Official YouTube

Official Twitter

Official MySpace

Official LEMONed Shop website

Signature guitars website

Pink Spider the musical official website

Category:X Japan members Category:Visual kei musicians Category:Japanese singer-songwriters Category:Japanese rock singers Category:Japanese rock guitarists Category:Japanese heavy metal musicians Category:Lead guitarists Category:Musicians who committed suicide Category:Suicides by hanging in Japan Category:People from Yokosuka Category:1964 births Category:1998 deaths

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name	Imogen Heap
background	solo_singer
birth name	Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap
birth date	December 09, 1977
gender	Female
origin	Havering, London, England
instrument	Vocals, keyboards, array mbira, cello, clarinet, guitar, drums, keytar, nail violin, vocal percussion, synthesizer, sampler, organ, hang, vocoder
genre	Electronica, alternative, indie, synthpop, Folktronica, ambient, trip hop, rock, classical
occupation	Musician, singer, songwriter, visual artist
years active	1997–present
label	Almo Sounds (1998–2001)Megaphonic (2005–present)RCA Victor (2006–present)
associated acts	Frou FrouUrban SpeciesIAMXMIKA
website	imogenheap.com
notable instruments	}}

Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap () (born 9 December 1977 in the London Borough of Havering) is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Romford, Havering. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes. She has produced three solo albums, the latest of which is 2009's Ellipse, which was a North American chart success and earned Heap two Grammy nominations, winning Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

Musical and songwriting style

For her solo work (as well as her work with Frou Frou and Acacia), Heap plays heavily produced and arranged singer-songwriter pop incorporating elements of rock, dance and electronica. As a guest player and collaborator she has played rock (Jeff Beck), hip-hop (Urban Species) and theatre/film music. A skilled multi-instrumentalist, Heap extensively uses manipulated electronic sounds as an integral part of her music. She also mixes ambient sound into her music (such as the sound of a frying pan in use cooking food, in the background of her song "My Secret Friend") and has commented that "certain sounds give the music a width and a space, and that's important."

Heap states that her song lyrics come from personal experience, but are not straightforwardly confessional. She has stated "Most of the time, the lyrics are kind of like my secret messages to my friends or my boyfriend or my mum or my dad. I would never tell them that these songs are about them or which specific lyric is about somebody. Often, when I sit down to write a lyric, it is in the heat of the moment, and something has just happened."

Biography

Early life

Heap played music from an early age, becoming classically trained in several instruments including piano, cello and clarinet. She attended Friends School, a private, Quaker-run boarding school in Saffron Walden. Heap's mother (an art therapist) and her father (a construction rock retailer) separated when she was twelve. By age thirteen, she had begun writing songs.

Heap did not get along well with the music teacher at her boarding school, so she principally taught herself sequencing, music engineering, sampling and production (on Atari computers). She also taught herself to play the guitar and drums, and subsequently two percussion/idiophone instruments, the array mbira and the Hang. After school, she went on to study at the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon, South London.

Early work as musician (including work with Acacia)

After being introduced to Nik Kershaw by his manager Mickey Modern, Heap and Kershaw recorded four demos that Mickey Modern took to Rondor Music. Consequently, a few months later she signed her first record contract at 18 to independent record label Almo Sounds. Modern and Wood formed Modernwood Management, and managed Heap until 2006, when Modernwood was dissolved. Wood continues to manage the artist via his new company, Radius Music.

During 1996, Heap began working with an experimental pop band called Acacia, which featured her future collaborator Guy Sigsworth and was fronted by the singer Alexander Nilere. While never a full member of the band, Heap was a guest vocalist (as a counterpart to Nilere) and contributed to various Acacia single and album tracks. One Acacia song, "Maddening Shroud", would later be covered by Frou Frou.

Mickey Modern asked Dennis Arnold to place Imogen in the line up in the 1996 Prince's Trust Concert in Hyde Park, London organized by Harvey Goldsmith. Heap performed four songs between sets by The Who and Eric Clapton.

1998–2000: iMegaphone

Heap's debut album, iMegaphone (an anagram of "Imogen Heap") was a mixture of self-penned and self-produced tracks, alongside tracks co-written and produced with established producers such as David Kahne, former Eurythmic Dave Stewart and Guy Sigsworth. The album was released in 1998 internationally via Almo Sounds, to favorable reviews comparing Heap's angst-filled songs to work by PJ Harvey, Kate Bush and Annie Lennox. Promotion for the record included a tour of America and performances around Europe. Three singles were commercially released in the UK: "Getting Scared", "Shine" and "Come Here Boy". "Oh Me, Oh My" was sent to US radio stations in place of "Shine".

Heap's early success was soon replaced by problems. Almo Sounds cut funding for UK promotion and gave Heap a deadline to deliver songs for her second album. Upon delivery of the songs, she was told that they lacked "hit potential". It was announced that the record label would be sold to Universal and its artists moved to other labels or released. Heap was one of the artists who was dropped from the label, leaving her without a record contract. iMegaphone had, however, been licensed from Almo Sounds to Aozora Records in Japan, who eventually re-released and re-promoted the album in January 2002, featuring "Blanket" and "Aeroplane" (a Frou Frou remix/remake of one of her B-sides, "Airplane" of the Shine single released in 1998). The album featured new packaging, all-new artwork, and a previously unavailable hidden track, entitled "Kidding", recorded live during her 1999 tour.

Copies of the original Almo Sounds release remain rare. A Brazilian label, Trama Records, currently claims to hold the license to the record and has started re-printing copies of the album in limited quantities. The album was released digitally on the U.S. iTunes Music Store in early 2006. After achieving commercial success with her work with Guy Sigsworth as the duo Frou Frou and her second solo album, Speak for Yourself.

2001: Interim work

In the gap between the end of promotion for iMegaphone internationally and the re-promotion, Heap had also begun to think about her second solo album, and had started writing songs, both solo, as well as working with Guy Sigsworth; however, as she was without a record deal, the songs were shelved. During the time when she was unsigned, Heap appeared on two UK singles, "Meantime" (a track written by her former Acacia colleagues Guy Sigsworth and Alexander Nilere for the soundtrack to the independent British film, G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time) and "Blanket" (a collaboration with Urban Species). In 2000, Heap sang on the album You Had It Coming by Jeff Beck.

2002–2003: Frou Frou

Heap had kept in contact with Guy Sigsworth (who had co-written and produced "Getting Scared" from iMegaphone) and this led to the pair of them establishing the collaborative project Frou Frou.

The initial concept for Frou Frou was Sigsworth's, and the project was to have been an album written and produced by her with each track featuring a different singer, songwriter, poet or rapper. Heap explains that Sigsworth invited her over to his studio to write lyrics to a four-bar motif he had, with one condition – that she include the word "love" somewhere. The first line she came up with was "lung of love, leaves me breathless", and the Details album track, "Flicks" was born. A week later, Sigsworth phoned Heap up again, and together they wrote and recorded the future single "Breathe In".

Throughout the process, Frou Frou work was an equal partnership, with Heap and Sigsworth making equal contributions to writing, arrangement, production and instrumental performance and Heap handling all of the vocals.

In August 2002, they released the Details album and singles "Breathe In", "It's Good To Be In Love", and "Must Be Dreaming" (although the latter two were not commercially available). The album was critically acclaimed, but did not enjoy the commercial success that they had been hoping for.

In late 2003, after an extensive promotional tour of the UK, Europe and the U.S., the duo were told that their record label, Island Records would not be picking up the option for a second album.

Heap and Sigsworth remain firm friends, and have worked together since the project, including their temporary re-formation in late 2003, when they covered the Bonnie Tyler classic, "Holding Out for a Hero", which was featured during the credits of the movie Shrek 2 after Jennifer Saunders version in the film. Frou Frou saw a resurgence in popularity in 2004, when their album track "Let Go" was featured in the film Garden State.

In a 2005 interview Heap said of frou frou "(it) was really like a kind of little holiday from my own work. Guy and I, we have always worked together, and then over the years, it became clear that we wanted to do a whole album together. It was very organic and spontaneous - just one of those wonderful things that happens. But there was never a mention of a second record from either of us, and not uncomfortably. We're just both kind of free spirits. I love to work with a lot of different people, but I was also just gagging to see what I could do on my own. But I'm sure in the future, Guy and I will get back together to do another record, or to record a few songs together."

2004–2005: The O.C. and Speak for Yourself

In December 2003, Heap announced on her Web site that she was going to write and produce her second solo album, using her site as a blog to publicise progress.

Heap set herself a deadline of one year to make the album, booking a session to master the album one year ahead in December 2004. She re-mortgaged her flat to fund production costs, including renting a studio at Atomic Studios, London (previously inhabited by UK grime artist, Dizzee Rascal), and purchasing instruments.

At the end of 2004, with the album completed, Heap premiered two album tracks online, selling them prior to the album's release – "Just for Now" and "Goodnight and Go".

In April 2005, The O.C. featured the vocoded-vocal track, "Hide and Seek" in the closing scenes of their season two finale. The track was released immediately to digital download services, such as iTunes, in the U.S., where it charted. The track was released to iTunes UK on 5 July 2005 (the same day as the UK airing of the season finale) and entered the official UK download chart.

Heap made a decision to put out the album on her own in the UK, starting her own record company, titled Megaphonic Records. The album was titled Speak for Yourself.

Speak for Yourself was released in the UK on 18 July 2005 on CD and iTunes UK, where it entered the top 10 chart. The initial 10,000 physical copies pressed sold out, distributed through large and independent record stores and Heap's own online shop.

In August 2005, Heap announced that she had licensed Speak for Yourself to Sony BMG imprint RCA Victor for the album release in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The album was released in November 2005 and debuted at #144 in the Billboard Top 200 album chart. In concert, Heap performed solo, controlling the sound through her Apple PowerBook laptop, as well as singing and playing the piano and array mbira.

She returned from the U.S., already having sold over 120,000 copies.

2006–2007: The year of the 'White Rabbit'

Heap also announced, on her return to the UK, that she had signed a deal for the album to be released internationally, as well as re-promoted in the UK, with a new imprint of Sony BMG, White Rabbit, run by former Sony BMG UK A&R; vice president Nick Raphael. The deal meant that the album could have the promotional backing provided by a respected major label, whilst Heap retained sole control and the team she established for Megaphonic Records.

Speak for Yourself was re-released on the label on 24 April 2006, ahead of a full promotional push on 15 May, a week after the second single, "Goodnight and Go", was commercially released in the UK.

In August 2006, Heap performed a set at the V Festival, where it was announced that "Headlock" was to be the third single to be lifted from the album, and released on 16 October 2006 in the UK.

In late September and early October, Heap embarked on a tour of the UK, holding a competition on MySpace for different support acts for each venue, before touring throughout Canada and the USA in November and December. This was her first tour of North America that included a band, incorporating upright bass, percussion, and support acts Kid Beyond and Levi Weaver on beatbox and guitar, respectively. In December 2006, Heap was featured on the front page of The Green Room magazine.

On 7 December 2006, Heap received two Grammy nominations for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, one for Best New Artist and the other for Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for "Can't Take It In".

2007–2009: Ellipse

Throughout the creation of her album Ellipse, Heap posted vlogs, or VBlogs as she called them, through YouTube. She used these to comment on the album as well as update on its release. The album's release was pushed back multiple times. These included Heap being asked to perform at the annual event PopTech in October 2008. During the event, she premiered one of her album's songs, "Wait it Out".

Heap announced on her Twitter page that Ellipse's first single would be "First Train Home". On 17 August 2009 Heap made the entire album Ellipse available for live streaming via her webpage.

Ellipse was released in the United Kingdom on 24 August, and in the United States on 25 August.

2011: New "concept" album

On 14 March 2011 Heap officially started work on a new record as fans sent in nearly 900 "sound seeds", or samples of everyday sounds such as a "dishwasher door", a "bicycle" or a "burning match". Heap has stated that the concept for this record will be to record one track over a two week period every 3 months. Each song and video will be released immediately.

The first song, initially titled #heapsong1 and later retitled "Lifeline", premiered worldwide on 28 March 2011 via Ustream along with a live remix by Tim Exile. "Lifeline" was released on 30 March 2011 as a digital download from Imogen's website and via iTunes, Amazon and other digital retailers. Released alongside this was a 12 page 3DiCD package (a 3D virtual CD) including crowd sourced (and paid for) images, the instrumental version of the song, the "seeds and solos only" version and "heap speaks seeds and solos" - an-18 minute commentary by Heap on how the sounds and solos were used in "Lifeline". The whole project can be viewed on the #heapsong1 / Lifeline mini site.

#heapsong2 is entitled "Propeller Seeds" and was released on 5 July 2011.

Recordings for television and film

Heap has recorded several songs for films, including a cover of the Classics IV hit "Spooky" for the soundtrack to the Reese Witherspoon film Just Like Heaven. Her song "Hide and Seek" was featured in The Last Kiss, starring Zach Braff (who used her former band Frou Frou's "Let Go" in his 2004 film Garden State), and was also used in a 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Shia LaBeouf. "The Moment I Said It" was also used in the episode "Seven Seconds" of the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds.

In 2004, while recording her second solo album, she was commissioned to record a cover of a short nursery rhyme for the HBO television series, Six Feet Under, entitled "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)".

In late 2005, Heap was asked to write a track for the soundtrack of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe entitled "Can't Take It In", when a track that fellow Brit singer Dido submitted was deemed unfitting. Heap's track is played at the end of the film in an orchestral version produced by Heap and Harry Gregson Williams, who scored the movie. In addition, she composed a track for the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, but it was deemed to be too dark in tone for the film. Instead, it was included in her album Ellipse as "2-1". 2-1 has also featured in CSI Miami (Season 8 Episode 9), as well as promotional trailers for the film The Lovely Bones.

In March 2006, Heap completed a track about locusts, entitled "Glittering Cloud", for a CD of music about the plagues of Egypt entitled Plague Songs, accompanying The Margate Exodus project, for musical director Brian Eno.

Heap recorded an a cappella version of the Leonard Cohen track "Hallelujah", for the season three finale of The O.C., and her "Not Now But Soon" was included on the original soundtrack for the NBC show, Heroes.

Song usage

Imogen Heap and Frou Frou songs have been featured in various TV shows, movies, advertisements, and marching band productions, notably including CSI, The OC, SNL, Garden State, and So You Think You Can Dance.

Also notable is the sampling of Heap's song "Hide & Seek" in Jason DeRulo's single "Whatcha Say", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Collaborations

Heap has collaborated as a guest vocalist, co-writer, remixer or producer with many various artists throughout her career. Among them co-writing and producing By The Time for Mika and Now or Never for Josh Groban. The diverse range of other musicians Heap has worked with include IAMX, Jeff Beck, Temposhark, LHB, J. Peter Schwalm, Way Out West, Jon Bon Jovi, Mich Gerber, Sean Lennon, Urban Species, Matt Willis, Jon Hopkins, MIKA, Acacia, Britney Spears, Nik Kershaw, Blue October, Joshua Radin and Nitin Sawhney.

Use of technology

Heap is an outspoken advocate of using new technology to interact and collaborate with her fans. In August, 2009 she used Vokle, an online auditorium, to take questions from listeners over video chat.

Imogen also teamed up with Vokle to hold open cello auditions for her North American tour. She provided sheet music for “Aha” on her website and encouraged local fans to learn the part and audition live via Vokle. Imogen would then pick the cellist to accompany her for that particular city - sometimes with the help of viewers and her puppet Lion, Harold.

In 2010 Imogen opened her online auditions to singers and choirs and invited them to audition via submitted YouTube videos to accompany her on stage as she performed the song "Earth" from Ellipse. The winner of each local show was also invited to do a 15 minute gig of their own. In the studio, the official album recording of "Earth" was made up entirely of numerous tracks of vocals.

July 2011 saw Imogen unveil a pair of high-tech musical gloves at the TED conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. The gloves which were created by Tom Mitchell, a lecturer in music systems at the University of the West of England, Bristol allow Imogen to manipulate sounds using nothing but hand gestures live on stage.

Charity

In 2008 she participated in a music album called Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace, which is an initiative to support Tibet, Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and to underline the human rights situation in Tibet. The album was issued on 5 August via iTunes and on 19 August in music stores around the world. On 12 October 2008, Heap also Participated in "Run 10k: Cancer Research UK," placing fifth of the women in the actual run and raising over £1000 for the cause with the help of her fans.

In 2008 Imogen was asked to perform at POP!Tech in Camden, Maine (USA). There she performed selections from her then forthcoming album Ellipse. After her set and an encouraging plea for another performance later in the conference by the audience and organizers, Imogen agreed. Having nothing else prepared though, she decided to improvise a song on the spot with parameters (tempo, key) suggested by the audience. After the show, Imogen was asked by a Poptech attendee if she would give the newly created piece of music to his charity. A ‘lightbulb’ moment occurred in Heap’s head and she saw the potential in doing these improvised pieces for local charities at each show during the tour she would soon begin.

The first of these songs materialized at Imogen’s show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, in London on the 19th of February 2010. Using the same parameters and audience participation from POP!Tech, Imogen improvised a song titled, "The Shepherdess". After the show, Imogen made the song available worldwide as a digital download on her website asking for donations per download. All proceeds went to the Great Ormond Street Hospital where Imogen was diagnosed with osteomyelitis and underwent life-saving surgery as a little girl. Loving the concept, Imogen rolled this out for her North American Tour, donating all the proceeds for each song to a local charity from that city.

In 2011 Imogen was set to play a benefit concert in New Zealand's Christchurch city to help rebuild the Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti High School, following a severe 6.3 aftershock in February originating from the 7.1 earthquake that struck the Canterbury region in September 2010. The concert was held at the Burnside High Aurora Centre, also featuring performances from Roseanna Gamlen-Greene, and The Harbour Union including The Eastern, Lindon Puffin, Delaney Davidson and The Unfaithful Ways.

Live 4 X

In 2010, Imogen Heap partnered with Thomas Ermacora of Bubbletank to organize a series of online charitable events called Live 4 X.

The initial event was inspired by the 2010 Pakistan floods. Triggered by monsoon rains, the floods left approximately one-fifth of the country of Pakistan underwater, affecting over 14 million people and damaging or destroying over 900,000 homes. Teaming up with Richard Branson’s Virgin Unite and Vokle.com, Heap and Ermacorda create an online webcast/fundraiser to raise awareness and money for the flood stricken. Hosted by comedian, creative, and internet personality Ze Frank, the webcast included a series of conversations with Cameron Sinclair of Architecture for Humanity, Mark Pearson, Gary Slutkin, and Anders Wilhelmson, (and later Richard Branson and Mary Robinson) with live performances by musicians Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Kate Havnevik, KT Tunstall, Josh Groban, Kaki King, Zoe Keating and Mark Isham.

The premise of Live 4 X thus established, Heap has since continued to refine the model, organize, host, and perform a number of charitable, streaming-live, concert events. By integrating live entertainment with educated discussion and technology, Live 4 X became an effective charitable outreach tool.

Following the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of 2011, Heap told Washington Times Communities journalist and recording artist Jennifer Grassman, that she intended to continue organizing Live 4 X events to benefit various charitable causes.

Catalog of Live 4 X events to date:

August 31, 2010 – Live 4 Pakistan raised funds for flood relief and recovery in that region. Musicians included Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Kate Havnevik, KT Tunstall, Josh Groban, and Zoe Keating. In an ironic turn of events, Heap, was kept from appearing on Live 4 Pakistan due to Hurricane Earl which at the time was progressing along the US eastern seaboard. Heap, stranded and unable to get an internet connection, later posted a video message as well as a performance of her song “Wait It Out” from Ellipse. February 3, 2011 – Live 4 Capetown April 11, 2011 – Live 4 Sendai raised funds for Japanese tsunami recovery following the disastrous Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. The event was also used to solicit rebuilding design ideas on behalf of Architecture for Humanity. Performers included Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, KT Tunstall and Jamie Cullum and hosted by Ze Frank.

Film

After touring for nearly two years straight for her album Speak For Yourself Imogen continued her travels, this time with only a laptop and video camera on hand as she began her writing trip for her next album. Nine weeks later she returned to the UK with the beginnings of the award-winning Ellipse and footage (as requested by a fan to film the making of the album) from its quiet beginning. Back in Essex, Imogen sought the talents of long-time friend and film maker Justine Pearsall to continue documenting the creation of the album. The film documents every moment of joy, excitement, frustration, and even the renovation of the Imogen’s childhood home including turning her old playroom into her new home studio. Everything In-Between: The Story of Ellipse is scheduled to be released in November 2010.

On November 5, 2010 at the Royal Albert Hall, Heap conducted an orchestra (including friends and family) as they performed an original composition by Imogen herself orchestrated by Andrew Skeet. It was the score to the concept film Love The Earth - in creative partnership and co-production with Thomas Ermacora again for another Bubbletank production - in which fans were invited to submit video footage highlighting all of the breathtaking qualities of nature to be selected and edited into a film. This performance was broadcasted live worldwide.

In March for the Birds' Eye Festival at the BFi Imogen composed in collaboration with Andrew Skeet an a cappella choral score to the first ever surrealist film ‘The Seashell and the Clergyman’ (Germaine Dulac, 1927) with the Holst Singers.

Heap also performed in the Film and Music Arena at Latitude Festival in 2011.

Discography

1998: iMegaphone

2005: Speak For Yourself

2009: Ellipse

Frou Frou

Details (2002 • Island Records/MCA/Universal) (UK: #128)

"Breathe In" (single) (2002 • Island Records/Universal) (UK: #44)

"Its Good To Be In Love" (single) (2002 • Island Records/Universal)

"Must Be Dreaming" (single) (2002 • Island Records/Universal)

"Let Go" (Promotional single)

Guest appearances

Hate EP by Acacia (1996 • Radar Records)

Sway EP by Acacia (1996 • Radar Records)

Maddening Shroud EP by Acacia (1997 • WEA)

Cradle by Acacia – all tracks except "Wire" (1997 • WEA)

Blanket by Urban Species – "Blanket" and "Predictably Unpredictable" (1998)

Amor Fati by Mich Gerber – "Embers of Love", "Sirens Call (Qishm)" and "Mare" (2000)

¡Viva Nueva! by Rustic Overtones – "Valentine's Day Massacre" (2001 • Tommy Boy Records)

You Had It Coming by Jeff Beck – "Dirty Mind" and "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (2001 • Sony Music)

Tell 'Em Who We Are by LHB – "Coming Up For Air" (2003 • Telstar TV)

Contact Note by Jon Hopkins – "Second Sense" (2004 • Just Music)

It's Better To Have Loved EP by Temposhark – "Not That Big (Metronomy Remix)" (2005 • Paper & Glue)

Foiled by Blue October – "Congratulations" (2006 • Universal Records)

Musikain by J. Peter Schwalm – "P.I.N." (2006 • Musikain Records)

The Invisible Line by Temposhark – "Not That Big" (2007 • Paper & Glue)

London Undersound by Nitin Sawhney – "Bring It Home" (2008 • Cooking Vinyl)

Kingdom of Welcome Addiction by IAMX – "My Secret Friend" (2009 • Metropolis Records)

The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Mika – "By The Time" (2009 • Casablanca Records)

''Live at Ronnie Scott's - Jeff Beck - (2008 • Eagle Records) - (2009 • DVD)

Compilation appearances

New Dawn (Class of '94) – "Missing You" – (1994)

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack – "Getting Scared" – (1998 • Warner Music Group)

Virtual Sexuality soundtrack – "Come Here Boy" – (1998 • EMI)

G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time soundtrack – "Mean Time" (with GMT) – (1999 • Island Records/Universal)

Serve Chilled – "Blanket" (with Urban Species) – (1999 • Hed Kandi)

Women Talking Dirty soundtrack – "Getting Scared" – (2001 • Polygram International)

American Psycho 2: All American Girl soundtrack – "Angry Angel" – (2002 • Rondor Music (London) Ltd)

Garden State – "Let Go" – (2004 • Epic Records/Sony BMG)

Nearing Grace Soundtrack – "The Walk" – (2005 • Sony BMG)

Music from the OC: Mix 4 – "Goodnight and Go" – (2005 • Warner Music Group)

Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends – "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)" – (2005 • Astralwerks/EMI)

Just Like Heaven Soundtrack – "Spooky" – (2005 • Sony BMG)

Music from the OC: Mix 5 – "Hide and Seek" – (2005 • Warner Music Group)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – "Can't Take It In" – (2005 • Disney Records/EMI)

The Last Kiss soundtrack – "Hide and Seek" – (2005 • Lakeshore Pictures)

Plague Songs – "Glittering Clouds (Locusts)" – (2006 • 4AD)

So You Think You Can Dance (US) – "Hide and Seek" – (2006)

So You Think You Can Dance (US) – "Let Go" – (2006)

The Black Donnellys – "The Moment I Said It" – (2007)

In Search of Sunrise 6 – "Hide and Seek" (Tiëstos' In Search Of Sunrise Remix) – (2007)

The Holiday – "Just For Now" and "Let Go" (Under 'Frou Frou') – (2006)

So You Think You Can Dance – "The Moment I Said It" – (2007)

Heroes Original Soundtrack – "Not Now, But Soon" – (2008 • NBC Records)

Criminal Minds – "The Moment I Said It" – (2008)

Songs For Tibet – The Art of Peace' – "Hide & Seek 2" – (2008)

Greys Anatomy – "Bad Body Double" – (2009)

So You Think You Can Dance (US) - "Aha!" - (2009)

The Vampire Diaries - "Wait it Out" - (2009)

''Melrose Place - "Aha!" - (2009)

Powder Blue - "Blanket" - (2009)

Chuck – "Wait it Out" – (2010)

CSI: NY - "Wait it Out" - (2010)

References

External links

Official website

Imogen Heap, french website.

Imogen Heap's New Music Business Model

Bob Lefsetz on Imogen Heap

Auralgasms Interview From January 2006

Imogen Heap video interview on TiFFcast, November 2006

Portrait of Imogen Heap on 365portraits.com

Imogen Heap plays the Array mbira on numerous recordings and in concert

Review of First Train Home at Daily Music Guide

Interview with Jessica Lewis at "Exclaim!"

Interview with Imogen Heap for www.4ortherecord.com

Photo Report @ Milano (2010)

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:English female singers Category:Female rock singers Category:People from Havering (district) Category:English singer-songwriters Category:People educated at the BRIT School Category:Ableton Live users Category:Grammy Award winners Category:English electronic musicians Category:People educated at Friends School Saffron Walden

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