Gackt

Gackt's musical career started when he became the drummer for Cains:Feel. He had started singing when Cains:Feel's guitarist YOU (who later became the guitarist for GacktJOB) jokingly put him up to it. He took on the task and continued with voice lessons. He was approached by Mana, who asked him to join the visua kei band Malice Mizer in 1995 as vocalist and pianist. His style at that point was considerably darker and more gothic than that of his work during his solo career.

His induction into Malice Mizer marked a new period for the band's musical and visual style, which became brighter, more romantic, and began to incorporate elaborate costumes and scenery onstage. Along with a change in style, the band's popularity also increased and they managed to secure a major record label contract. Along with this increase in popularity however, the differences between the band members became greater. Gackt mentioned in his autobiography he wanted to participate in creating music for the band, rather than just singing and writing lyrics. There were other rumors involving affairs with the management that have, as of yet, been unsubstantiated. Gackt left Malice Mizer shortly after their last major single, "Le Ciel," was released and disappeared completely from the media for about 8 months.
After leaving Malice Mizer, Gackt started his solo career in 1999 backed by "GacktJOB," initially consisting of YOU (violin/rhythm guitar), Yukihiro "Chachamaru" Fujimura (lead guitar/effects), Masa (rhythm guitar), Ren (bass), Toshi (drums), Yosh (choreographer/dancer), and Igao (keyboards). GacktJOB later added Ryuichi Ryu Nishida and Ju-ken. His official fanclub is named DEARS.
Masa parted abruptly with GacktJOB accompanied by Toshi in early 2002 to pursue solo activities following the release of "Another World," the first single for Gackt's "Moon" Album. Although Masa has continued his own solo career, Toshi still occasionally provides percussion for Gackt in the studio. For live appearances and the majority of studio recordings, Ryuichi Ryu Nishida has otherwise taken Toshi's place.
Bassist Ren announced during Gackt's "Jougen no Tsuki" tour during the summer of 2003 that he would be taking a break. Later that year, Ren posted assurences to fans on his blog that he would not be leaving GacktJOB permanently but wanted to return less inundating indies scene with his own band, LiN Clover for a while.
Throughout the first and second quarters of 2004, magazine shoots were conducted only with the remaining four members until a TV appearance in March which featured a new bassist. This was later revealed to be Ju-ken, who has been GacktJOB's bassist since then.
Despite often being labeled as "pop", few of his songs can be clearly said to belong to that genre. Gackt's music is characterized by a wide variety in musical styles which can range from heavy rock to romantic ballad. Traditional instruments are often used to accentuate electric guitar, piano, and other modern instruments. For these reasons, it is difficult to clearly assign Gackt's music to a specific genre.