Hotei began his career as a guitarist in the legendary Japanese rock band, BOØWY (pronounced BOY) in 1981, enjoying phenomenal success as one of Japan’s most popular rock bands. Following the break up of BOØWY in 1988, he established himself as a solo artist, having a marked influence on the Japanese music scene. He kicked off his solo career with the album “GUITARHYTHM”, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, and this was just the start of a string of albums achieving multi million sales. His music career is not limited to solo projects; his achievements as a hit maker and for producing and song writing are noteworthy. A very successful collaboration led to the formation of rock duo, COMPLEX (1989~1990), releasing two albums both of which went to number one.Hotei has collaborated in numerous recording sessions and live performances with international musicians such as David Bowie, Andy Mackay (Roxy Music), Brian Setzer, Chris Spedding, Asia, Jesus Jones, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers), INXS, Joni Mitchell, Ray Cooper, Darren Price (Underworld), David Sanborn, Apocalyptica and Chicago to name just a few.

In 1996, he played guitar under the baton of Michael Kamen at the closing ceremony for the Atlanta Olympics, and this led to collaborating on Kamen’s “Guitar Concerto”(1998). His recent appearance alongside other world-renowned guitarists on Lee Ritenour’s album, “6 String Theory”(2010), was ranked Billboard Jazz Album Top 10 in 9 consecutive weeks.

Hotei has received worldwide recognition for his work on film scores, most notably for the film soundtracks “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (1996) and his song “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” which was featured as the main theme of the film “Kill Bill” (2003). This was made possible by a personal proposal from the film director Quentin Tarantino. More recently, he arranged the main theme of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (2011) to promote the film release in Japan, attended Japan’s premier alongside Tom Cruise to perform live.

In July 2011, COMPLEX was reunited to perform two nights at the Tokyo Dome to support the reconstruction of areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The two shows attracted an audience of 100,000 people with all proceeds from the event being donated to charity.

In summer 2012, Hotei has relocated from Tokyo to London to explore his next phase as an international artist, and his significant performance at London’s prestigious The Roundhouse has convinced the audience that he is true Electric Samurai.

With a stellar 30 year career as a guitarist, Tomoyasu Hotei continues to be a forerunner in his native land and will explore new momentum in global music scene.