Keita Tachibana

Keita Tachibana
Born	(1985-12-16) 16 December 1985
Origin	Fukuoka, Japan
Genres	J-pop, R&B, dance-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, dancer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, bass
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Pony Canyon, Vision Factory
Associated acts	W-inds.

Keita Tachibana (橘 慶太, Tachibana Keita) (born on 16 December 1985), also known as Keita (stylized KEITA), is a Japanese pop and R&B singer and dancer. Since 2000, he rose to fame as the lead vocalist from the boy band W-inds.. During that time, he briefly launched a critically successful solo career, and in 2012, has revitalized it again under a reinvented image.

Biography

Tachibana came to national attention as the only male finalist in the 2000 Kyushu-Okinawa Starlight Audition. After that experience he joined forces with two dancers from Sapporo, Ryuichi Ogata and Ryohei Chiba, to form W-inds. In addition to his singing and dancing talents, Keita plays piano, guitar and bass guitar.

Solo career

In addition to Tachibana's activities in w-inds., he launched a brief solo career, with his debut single "Michishirube" releasing on 18 October 2006. "Michishirube" served as the first ending theme to the anime Reborn! and debuted at #3 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. Shortly after the release of "Michishirube", Tachibana's first solo album, Koe, was released on 29 November 2006, and debuted at #5 in the first week on Oricon Weekly Albums Chart. Following its success, Tachibana's second single, "Friend", was released in May 2007 as the first opening theme song to the anime Blue Dragon.

After a five-year hiatus, late in 2012, Tachibana announced his intent to restart his solo career, this time under a mononymous, anglicized stage name, Keita. His first single under his new name, "Slide 'n' Step" is releasing on 20 February 2013.

Other activities and endorsements

Acting career

In 2007 Tachibana voiced Prince Arthur (Artie) in the Japanese dubbed version of Shrek the Third.

Personal life

Tachibana is the second oldest of four siblings. His youngest sister, Mio Tachibana, is signed to the same record label and is currently a solo singer. Tachibana's blog was awarded "Blog of the Year 2006" by Cyber Agent.

On 4 August 2013, Keita announced he registered his marriage to Matsuura Aya after almost 12 years of dating. Their wedding ceremony was held in Oahu, Hawaii on 7 October. On December 24 2014, Tachibana and Matsuura announced via their agencies that they become the parents of a healthy baby girl. The couple did not reveal the details on the baby including her name and her exact date of birth

Discography

Albums

Album information	Copies sold
Koe Released: 29 November 2006 Oricon Top 200 Weekly Peak: #5 Singles: "Michishirube"	40,000+
Side by Side 1st album as KEITA Released: 5 June 2013 Singles: "Slide 'n' Step"

Singles

#	Information	Sales
1st / Debut Single	Michishirube Released: 18 October 2006 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: 3 From Album: Koe	48,725 (yearly ranking: #174)
2nd	Friend Release: 2 May 2007 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: 4	21,858
1st single as KEITA	Slide 'n' Step Release: 20 February 2013 Oricon Top 20 Weekly Peak: 6

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Star Light	Himself
2002	Nurse no Oshigoto: The Movie	Soccer player	Cameo
2007	Shrek the Third	Artie	Voice for Japanese dub
2009	Baby! Baby! Baby!	Shop attendant	Cameo

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	Ohitorisama	Hiroyuki Harada
2010	Mattsugu	Seiji	head the cast
2012	Answer	Jumpei Karasawa

External links

• Official blog: Michishirube, /tachibana-keita/ at Ameblo.jp (Japanese)