Kiyokiba Shunsuke was born on January 11, 1980, in the Yamaguchi prefecture. From middle school to junior high school, Shunsuke played in a local band. The band eventually disbanded when he was 18, but it did not deter him from continuing to play his guitar as he performed in the tunnels around his hometown along with other musicians who shared the same interest in music. At 20, he became involved with the construction business and was successful at managing field work - however, his new job did not stop him from to trying to get recognition through his musical talents, as he continued to follow his dream of being a vocalist and entered - and won - a vocal audition held by a local TV station.
Hyped up by the achievement, Shunsuke was soon spotted by a producer from a record company, which led him to move to Tokyo in 2001 to join the pop vocal and dance group EXILE as their lead vocalist, SHUN. On September 27th, the group had its debut with the single Your eyes only ~aimai na boku no rinkaku~, which sold approximately 250,000 copies and reached the fourth spot on the Oricon charts.
In the following years, SHUN received a lot of praise for his talents and skills, also for his actions within the group. In March 2004, he decided to take part in the Yutaza Ozaki tribute album GREEN ~A TRIBUTE TO YUTAKA OZAKI by singing the song Futatsu no kokoro under his full name, officially marking the beginning of his solo career. He also participated in a special event to commemorate the release of the tribute at SHIBUYA-AX on April 22nd.
Expanding his works to interests beyond music, Kiyokiba held two exhibitions across five cities in Japan in 2004 and 2005, and then a private one in 2008, attracting approximately 43,000 attendees total. The exhibitions consisted of his own poetry, calligraphy and photography works, in which he managed to express his own feelings and views regarding the world.
In January 2005, Shunsuke released his anticipated solo debut single, Itsuka…, selling over 50,000 copies and reaching the third position on the Oricon charts in its first week. However, it was not until the release of his first and self-titled in October that people were able to see how different his solo works would be from EXILE. Ranging from brighter songs to pure rock, with many soul and blues influences, Shunsuke managed to create a distinctive sound with the help of his musical roots, his stirring voice, and occasionally his harmonica.
After touring Asia with EXILE on their tour EXILE LIVE TOUR 2005 "PERFECT LIVE~ASIA~" throughout September and December, it was a shock when the announcement was made that SHUN would be leaving leave the group to enter a new path on his life and focus on his solo career as a rock artist. His official departure from EXILE was in March 2006 and he wasted no time in releasing his first solo single, Ningen jarou ga!/Sayonara no uta…, and, just a few months later, his first nationwide solo tour, titled Kiyokiba Shunsuke LIVE TOUR 2006 "Sore ike! Ossan Shounen no tabi", taking place throughout October and December. In the same year, he also launched KIYOKIBASSTARS, which was nothing but a website to promote his favorite hobby: fishing.
2007 saw the release of four other singles, as well as his second album, IMAGE. However, the year also marked Shunsuke’s involvement with other projects. First, in February, he debuted as an actor in the movie “Tengoku wa matte kureru", which also featured Yoshihiko Inohara from V6 and Aya Okamoto. He also released a single under the same name as the movie, which was used as the film's theme song. In the same month, he started his own label, UTAIYA, with which he promoted artists Kawane Raine and Nishihiro Shouta. During spring, he also took a shot at the clothing business by starting his own line called "ENO HUNDERT ELF."
2008 was mostly focused on live performances all over Japan, but the year also saw the release of his popular song Ima. as a single, as well two live DVDs and one music video collection. In 2009, Shunsuke decided to leave the label avex trax, leading to the release of the compilation Kiyokiba Shunsuke SONGS 2005-2008 on March 18th. On the same day, he also put out another live DVD, Kiyokiba Shunsuke LIVE TOUR 2008-2009 "ROCK&SOUL II”, marking his first released under Victor Entertainment’s sublabel SPEEDSTAR RECORDS.
His first album to be released through the new label was Rockin' the Door, which came out on July and featured many popular live songs for the first time recorded in studio. September will mark the release of his 11th single, titled JET, and also the beginning of his newest nationwide tour titled FLYING JET TOUR 2009~2010, which will consist of 35 dates, ending with two consecutive concerts at Nippon Budokan in the end of January.
Kiyokiba Shunsuke has certainly reached many people’s hearts across Japan, and maybe also overseas, with his soulful voice and sincere and powerful live performances. As he pours his heart out by singing, his songs may vary with either a strong edge or catchy simplicity, but the fact remains that something about his attractive aura will touch anyone who listens to his music with ears open.
