Japanese rock star, "X-Japan" frontman and classical composer Yoshiki has released a new album titled "Yoshiki Classical".

Yoshiki performs at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

Yoshiki is a classically trained pianist best known as the lead performer of X-Japan, a heavy metal rock band created in the late 80's that sold more than 30 million albums.

The artist has recently released a new album called "Yoshiki Classical". It combines heavy metal with classical music. The album is set for a world release on September 24th.

The artist was at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles earlier this week to perform a few classical compositions off the album. He also accepted a $10,000 dollar cheque from The Grammy Foundation to the non-profit Yoshiki Foundation America he created in 2010 that donates to various charities around the world.

Talking about his music, Yoshiki said, "Sometimes I was in a lot of pain, and sometimes I try to create a melody to bring myself up as well. Usually when I write something beautiful, I’m very, very sad. I think that's in me because I lost so many close friends as well as my father. That kind of melody just comes from me, from inside."

The artist lost his father to suicide when he was only 10 years old. He also mourned the death of X-Japan’s guitarist Hide in 1998.

Yoshiki’s long musical career includes not only filling the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome a record 18 times, but creating a piano concerto for the 10th anniversary of Japan's Emperor in 1999.

He is also known for writing the theme song for the opening ceremony of the World Expo in 2005 and composing the theme of the 69th Golden Globe Awards, which aired in 2012. According to Yoshiki, the composition process takes more than just a few hours for these epic events.

"Every time, I dedicate my entire heart to the song, I just have to feel it," he said.

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