Hideaki Tokunaga

Hideaki Tokunaga is a Japanese singer/songwriter whose career spans several decades, from the mid-'80s well into the 21st century. While he peaked in popularity during the early to mid-'90s, he continued to experience success in later years, most notably with the Vocalist trilogy of albums released in the mid-2000s. Born on February 27, 1961, in Yanagawa, Japan, Tokunaga made his album debut in 1986 with Girl, followed by Radio later in the year. From this point onward, he released a new album more or less annually. Though his popularity waned a bit after the mid-'90s, resulting in a series of retrospective compilations -- Ballade of Ballade (1997), Single Collection (1986-1991) (1998), and Single Collection (1992-1997) (1998) -- Tokunaga remained active and fairly popular in later years. After the turn of the century he released a trilogy of albums that is particularly notable: Vocalist (2005), Vocalist 2 (2006), and Vocalist 3 (2007). In 2008 the Vocalist trilogy was compiled for release in a box set, and a pair of compilations was also released that year, Singles Best and Singles B-Side Best. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi