My Idol, Hideto Matsumoto

Hideto Matsumoto was born in St Joseph's Hospital, Midorigaoka, Yokosuka, on December 13, 1964. He entered kindergarten in 1968, studying English for three years, followed by an enrollment in Yokosuka Tokiwa Junior High School. He was first exposed to rock and roll music at the age of fifteen, through the album Alive! by Kiss. In the same year his grandmother bought him his first electric guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.[1]
On March 11, 1980, Matsumoto 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 soon though, because he was assigned the clarinet, while he wanted to play the trumpet. After this, he concentrated on guitar playing and in 1981, formed the independent band Saber Tiger. A year after their founding, they started playing shows at live houses in Yokosuka, such as Rock City.[1]
In April 1983 he started attending cosmetology and fashion school at the Hollywood Beauty Salon in present-day Roppongi Hills, from which he graduated with outstanding results in 1984. Later that year he took a nationwide examination and successfully obtained a beautician license.
Hide joined X Japan in 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 Matsumoto, who would still perform in wildly colorful outfits and with his trademark pink hair.
In early 1993, Matsumoto was featured on the sampler Dance 2 Noise 004, with the song "Frozen Bug", which he recorded with Inoran and J of Luna Sea. He also starred in an art film titled Seth et Holth, along with Tusk of Zi:Kill.[4] In 1994, Matsumoto oversaw the production of the first release on his own label Lemoned (founded in 1989), an EP from the band Zeppet Store. In the same year, hide recorded and released his first solo album, Hide Your Face. In addition to songwriting, he played most of the guitars and bass on some of the tracks, and provided all lead vocals. The album's musical style differed significantly from the speed metal anthems and power ballads of X Japan, leaning more towards alternative rock. Matsumoto then went on the Hide our Psychommunity Tour, for which the live band was hired that would later become part of his primary project, Hide with Spread Beaver.
A second album, Psyence, was released in 1996, 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 second 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.

Hideto Matsumoto 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. Three fans 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."
While authorities deemed Matsumoto's death a suicide, several of Hide's friends and colleagues stated that they believed it to be an accident, among them X Japan co-founder Yoshiki Hayashi 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 practised 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, Matsumoto may have fallen asleep in his intoxicated state, becoming caught and strangling himself.

On May 1, 1999, a tribute album was released, titled Tribute Spirits. It features covers of Hide songs by several bands (such as Buck-Tick, Luna Sea and Oblivion Dust) and solo artists. A Hide museum opened in 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.
As with many other late musicians, re-issues, compilations and previously unreleased portions of Matsumoto's work continue to be published, the most recent being several singles, re-released on May 2, 2007, the ninth anniversary of the artist's death.The remaining members of X Japan recently reunited and recorded a new song, titled "I.V.". It contains a previously unused guitar track by Hide. On July 8, 2007 Yoshiki Hayashi 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 bandmate's passing. The Hide Memorial Summit was held on May 3 and May 4, 2008 at the Ajinomoto Stadium, where X Japan, as well as many other bands, performed. Hide's image (taken from footage of the Art of Life performance at the Tokyo Dome in 1993) played alongside X Japan during their performance of "Art of Life". This was made possible by the use of Musion Eyeliner hologram technology.
Spread Beaver
Hide's live band featured the following musicians:
Kiyoshi Honma (本間清司, Honma Kiyoshi?) – guitar
Kazuhito "Kaz" Iwaike (岩池一仁 Iwaike Kazuhito) – guitar
Hiroshi "Chirolyn" Watanabe (渡邊紘士 Watanabe Hiroshi) – bass
Daijiro "D.I.E." Nozawa (野澤大二郎 Nozawa Daijiro) – keyboards
Satoshi "Joe" Miyawaki (宮脇知史 Miyawaki Satoshi) – drums
Kazuhiko "I.N.A." Inada (稲田和彦 Inada Kazuhiko) – percussion, programming
Toshiya "Ran" Matsukawa (松川敏也 Matsukawa Toshiya) - guitar (1993–1994)
X Japan guitarist Tomoaki "Pata" Ishizuka also made several live appearances with the band.
Solo/with Spread Beaver
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" (re-recording, January 19, 2000)
"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)
Tribute Spirits (May 1, 1999)
Best: Psychommunity (March 2, 2000)
Psy Clone (May 22, 2002)
Singles - Junk Story (July 24, 2002)
King of Psyborg Rock Star (April 28, 2004)
We Love hide ~The Best in The World~ (April 29, 2009)
With X Japan
· (1987-1997)

R.I.P Hide