Matsumoto Hideto was born on December 13, 1964 in Yokosuka, near Tokyo. He became interested in music in middle school, when he went to America to study and heard KISS on the radio. He gathered his money and bought a used Gibson Les Paul at a thrift store. He carried the guitar everywhere, learning KISS songs from rock magazines. He was given the nickname Gibson because he always brought the guitar with him.

When Hideto returned to Japan for high school, he formed a band called Saber Tiger with some other people interested in rock music. Electric Guitars weren't allowed in school, but the band managed to get gigs at local bars and restaurants. Saber Tiger encountered it's first problem when they found that another band in a nearby city had the same name, but had it before them. Hideto, now known by his stage name, hide, was forced to change the band's name to Saver Tiger.

After a couple more years, the band had seen numerous member changes, and hide was tired of it. He quit his own band in 1985, and with no idea what he wanted to do now, went to beauty school. He studied for two years while working as a hairdresser, and in 1987, he was called by a man named Yoshiki, the leader of a band called X. hide had spoken to Yoshiki once before at a gig where both their bands had performed and didn't hesitate to say "yes" when asked if he wanted to be X's new lead guitarist.

X had also undergone quite a few member changes, but after hide joined, the members were there to stay for some time. Yoshiki - the drummer and pianist, Toshi - the vocalist, Taiji - the bassist, hide - the lead guitarist, and Pata - the rhythm guitarist. As the band was only playing small gigs and heavy metal was not well accepted in Japan at this point in time, Yoshiki decided that the only way to become popular was to make his own Indie record label. He asked his mother to sell the family business, and shortly after, Extasy Records was born.

X released it's first album, Vanishing Vision, in 1988 and quickly caught Sony's eye. The band was signed and released their first major label album in 1989, Blue Blood. The band was amazingly popular, especially hide, with his crazy way of playing to the crowd during concerts. Another album, Jealousy, was released in 1991, but soon after, Taiji quit the band when Yoshiki refused to put his song Rose and Blood on the album. Yoshiki often changed his ideas and he was tired of not having a say in the final product.

A replacement bassist named Heath was found and the band lived on, although Taiji was recognized as one of the greatest bassists Japan had ever seen. With the member change, X became X Japan. Yoshiki wanted to spread the band's popularity to America, but a band named X already existed in America. The mini album Art of Life was released in 1993. The one song was an amazing 29 minutes long, with multiple guitar and piano solos. Being so long, the band performed the song live only two times.

Also in 1993, hide started his solo career, releasing two singles, Eyes Love You and 50% & 50%. He was instantly popular and released the album HIDE YOUR FACE early in 1994.

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