Sirius XM Radio announced today that Yoshiki, Japanese icon and leader of Japan's multi-million-selling, superstar rock band X JAPAN, will host his first-ever radio show, Yoshiki Radio, on SiriusXM's The Boneyard, Channel 38. Yoshiki Radio, the hour-long monthly show, will launch on Friday, May 27th at 8 PM (ET). Beginning Sunday, June 5th, Yoshiki Radio will air the first Sunday of every month at 9 PM (ET).

Yoshiki Radio will offer an eclectic mix of East meets West, and will include Yoshiki's personal favorite music tracks, and music from artists that have influenced him, as well as an introduction to some of Japan's most innovative and successful artists. The monthly show will also feature elements of Japanese pop culture that already have made their mark on American life, from sushi to Sony to Nintendo/Wii, to the global megastar Hello Kitty, to the bourgeoning western popularity of Anime. Yoshiki's band X Japan has been credited with pioneering "Visual Kei," a cultural movement that greatly contributed to today's worldwide Anime craze.

"I'm very excited to do the show exclusively on SiriusXM, as I'd like to help tear down the wall between East and West," said Yoshiki. "I want to show people that there is no one language, no real boundaries when it comes to music and art, and that we are all more alike than not. I also hope my exposure of unique music choices to the West will allow me to show, with pride, a beautiful side of our culture in these difficult times."
"We love introducing listeners to bands they may not otherwise hear on other audio platforms and providing them the chance to discover great new music," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM Radio. "Yoshiki's music ranges from heavy metal to ballads to alternative rock to symphonic. Only on SiriusXM will you hear Yoshiki's pioneering choices of songs that mix musical worlds."

As previously reported, X Japan's 2011 recently announced their first dates for a world tour. Their schedule is currently as follows:

June

28 - Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, UK

July

1 - Zenith de Paris - Paris, France
2 - Tivoli - Utrecht, Netherlands
4 - Columbiahalle - Berlin, Germany

August

13 - Summer Sonic Festival - Osaka, Japan
14 - Summer Sonic Festival - Tokyo, Japan

In Asia, X Japan - Toshi (vocals), Pata and Sugizo (guitars), Heath (bass), and Yoshiki (drums, piano) - plays arenas and stadiums, bringing elaborate production including lasers, catwalks, and holograms. For the UK/European and South American dates, X Japan will tailor its "stadium-sensibility theatrics" to the more intimate venues, focusing primarily on its "QUEEN-meets-GUNS N' ROES-meets-The-Matrix" rock assault.

"We had a wonderful time last fall on our first North American tour, playing theaters, something we hadn't been able to do in Japan since the early days," Yoshiki explained. "We were able to make a strong connection with our audiences because they were right there, just feet away from the stage. I even crowd-surfed a few times! So, we're looking forward to the same sort of close-up-and-personal but intense experience on these dates."

Yoshiki and X Japan's vocalist Toshi were in Paris last July, making a special appearance for more than 5,000 fans. The duo performed a handful of X Japan songs "unplugged," and had the entire audience singing the chorus to one of the band's most exquisite compositions, 'Endless Rain'.

The members of X Japan have been writing and recording what will be their first album to be released outside of Japan with English lyrics. According to Yoshiki, about half of the album will feature some of the band's most popular songs from throughout their career, with nearly all of the lyrics re-recorded in English, and the other half, brand new songs written specially for this album. The album's first single will be 'Jade', and will be on the 2011 European set lists as well.