Keita Tachibana : biography
(born on 16th December, 1985), also known as Keita (stylized KEITA), is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. Since 2000, he rose to fame as the lead vocalist from the boy band w-inds.. During that time, he briefly launched a critically successful solo career, and in 2012, has revitalized it again under a reinvented image. His voice is on 5 octave vocal range.
Biography
Tachibana came to national attention as the only male finalist in the 2000 Kyushu-Okinawa Starlight Audition. After that experience he joined forces with two dancers from Sapporo, Ryuichi Ogata and Ryohei Chiba, to form w-inds. In addition to his singing and dancing talents, Keita plays piano, guitar and bass guitar.
Solo career
In addition to Tachibana’s activities in w-inds., he launched a brief solo career, with his debut single "Michishirube" releasing on 18 October 2006. "Michishirube" served as the first ending theme to the anime Reborn! and debuted at #3 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. Shortly after the release of "Michishirube", Tachibana’s first solo album, Koe, was released on November 29, 2006, and debuted at #5 on the first week on Oricon Weekly Albums Chart. Following its success, Tachibana’s second single, "Friend", was released in May of 2007 as the first opening theme song to the anime Blue Dragon.
After a five-year hiatus, late in 2012, Tachibana announced his intent to restart his solo career, this time under a mononymous, anglicized stage name, Keita. His first single under his new name, "Slide ‘n’ Step" is releasing on February 20, 2013.
Other activites and endorsements
Acting career
In 2007 Tachibana voiced Prince Arthur (Artie) in the Japanese dubbed version of Shrek the Third.
Filmography
Films
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Star Light | Himself | |
2002 | Nurse no Oshigoto: The Movie | Soccer player | Cameo |
2007 | Shrek the Third | Artie | Voice for Japanese dub |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Ohitorisama | Hiroyuki Harada |
Discography
Singles
# | Information | Sales |
---|---|---|
1st / DebutSingle | Michishirube
|
48,725 (yearly ranking: #174) |
2nd | Friend
|
21,858 |
Albums
Album information | Copies sold |
---|---|
Koe
|
40,000+ |
Personal life
Tachibana is the second oldest of four siblings. His youngest sister, Mio Tachibana, is signed onto the same record label and is currently a solo singer. Tachibana’s blog was awarded "Blog of the Year 2006" by Cyber Agent.