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Ki-Yo (known as “Kiyotaka” in Japan) started playing piano at the age of five, and that passion for music remains in him even now. He is a multi-talented artist who is capable of performing the entire music-making process by himself. Ki-Yo is strongly influenced by a variety of music from different styles and various eras including the classical music of Frederic Chopin and Maurice Ravel; the jazz music of Nina Simone, Bill Evans, Nat King Cole, and Diana Krall; the soul music of Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, and Luther Vandross; the gospel music of Smokie Norful and Kim Burrell; and the pop music of Billy Joel, Elton John, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston.
Originally from Sendai, Japan, Ki-Yo has acquired many talents including singing, songwriting, arranging, and producing. At sixteen, he was discovered by hit-maker Hideya Nakazaki after sending in a self-produced demo tape. As a seventeen-year-old, he released his first single, No No No. It quickly went into heavy rotation on seventeen radio stations in Japan, a record for new artists. Ki-Yo’s third single, The Only One, sold over 400,000 copies and his album I’ll Be There was number seven in the Oricon charts d... More Biography
Originally from Sendai, Japan, Ki-Yo has acquired many talents including singing, songwriting, arranging, and producing. At sixteen, he was discovered by hit-maker Hideya Nakazaki after sending in a self-produced demo tape. As a seventeen-year-old, he released his first single, No No No. It quickly went into heavy rotation on seventeen radio stations in Japan, a record for new artists. Ki-Yo’s third single, The Only One, sold over 400,000 copies and his album I’ll Be There was number seven in the Oricon charts d... More Biography
