On the heels of sold-out U.S. and Japan tours with his recently formed rock supergroup THE LAST ROCKSTARS, X JAPAN bandleader Yoshiki held a press conference at Grammy Museum's Clive Davis theater in downtown Los Angeles Monday evening to officially announce Requiem, his upcoming 10th anniversary classical world tour with a full orchestra in the fall.

The tour celebrates the 10th anniversary of Yoshiki's Classical album, his third classical studio record, which hit No. 1 on the iTunes charts in 10 countries.

Requiem is named for a song Yoshiki wrote after his mother died last year in May. "My tears became the melody," he said. "After my mother passed away, I couldn't do anything. I had to cancel my live TV shows. I had to cancel everything. So I said, 'What can I do?' I actually went to see a doctor. I couldn't stop crying. The tears kept coming for days. Then I started composing this song called 'Requiem' and I said, 'You know what? I should move forward. I shouldn't give up at this point yet,' so this tour that was just announced was already in talks and I said, 'Let's do this' for me to move forward and to really thank my fans and everyone who has supported me."

The tour will take the renowned performer around the world, starting with three performances at Tokyo Garden Theater (October 7th, 8th and 9th) followed by concerts at Royal Albert Hall in London (October 13th) and Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles (October 20th), before a final stop at Carnegie Hall in New York (October 28th). ...continue reading