Gackt Camui (神威 楽斗, Kamui Gakuto?) is a Japanese musician, songwriter and actor. Usually referred to by his stage name only, he is best known for his work with Malice Mizer and his subsequent career as a successful solo artist. Besides Japanese, he has performed in English, Korean, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

Early life
Gackt Camui was born in Okinawa, Japan, on July 4 (precise year not publicly known),[1] as the second of three children, with an older sister and a younger brother. His father and mother were music teachers who played various instrument with his father primarily playing the trumpet. According to his autobiography, he was a mischievous child and enjoyed taking risks; at age seven he nearly drowned while swimming off the coast of Okinawa. After this near-death experience, he claimed to have the ability to see and speak with deceased family members, a notion which was dismissed by his parents. At the age of ten, Gackt was hospitalized with a gastrointestinal condition and had to remain at the hospital for a prolonged time. He made the acquaintance of several terminally ill children, some of whom died during his stay.[2]

Gackt's musical education began at age three, when his parents initiated his classical piano education, of which he grew tired four years later. It would take another four years until his parents allowed him to quit. Competition with a friend lead to Gackt taking back up the piano, and he was later encouraged to learn other various instruments, especially those used in a rock band, throughout the rest of his time in school.[2]

Solo career
Gackt launched his solo career on May 12, 1999 with the release of the EP Mizerable. Several albums, singles and videos (on VHS and DVD) have since followed. Gackt's music has also been featured as theme songs for anime and video games multiple times, examples being New Fist of the North Star, Texhnolyze, Bujingai and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, amongst others. He has also provided voice acting, motion capturing and his likeness for such works on several occasions[4][5] and co-wrote and co-starred in the 2003 movie Moon Child, which also features Hyde (vocalist of L'Arc~en~Ciel) and Taiwanese-American singer Wang Lee Hom.[6] Also in 2003, Gackt published his autobiography, Jihaku.

For Caparison Guitars, he has designed two guitars, named "Marcury" and "Venus". [7][8] Since January 7, 2007, Gackt has been playing the warlord Uesugi Kenshin in the NHK drama Fūrinkazan.[9] Gackt's most recent solo release is the single "Returner ~Yami no Shuen~", released on June 20, 2007, which was the first in the artist's career (both solo and in a band) to reach the number one spot on the Japanese Oricon charts.[10] Gackt has recently provided the voice for Malthazar in the Japanese release of the film Arthur and the Minimoys[11] and in October 2007, his back catalog became available in the iTunes Store.

On December 19, Gackt released an album titled "0079-0088." It contained eight tracks, all of which are related to Mobile Suit Gundam. In addition to the five theme songs Gackt provided for the three Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam movies in 2005 and 2006, three cover songs from Gundam were included in the album: "Suna no Juujika," "Ai Senshi," and "Meguriai."[12] It was created as a tribute to the creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino, for his birthday.[13]

Gackt recently preformed on the 58th Kouhaku Uta Gassen ( 紅白歌合戦 ) singing Returner ~Yami no Shuuen~ Kieyuku Samurai e no Requiem for the annual New Year's special done by NHK. He is currently in the recording studio working on new material that is as yet unknown.[14]