Born on April 30th, 1980 in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japanese singer, songwriter, and producer Atsushi Satō aka Exile Atsushi began playing piano aged four and tinkered around in high school bands before setting his sights on singing. After training as a vocalist at Tokyo's ESP Musical Academy, he entered TV Tokyo's former talent search variety show Asayan in 2000, where he was duly discovered by Hiro – of J-poppers Zoo – and subsequently invited to join the Hiro-produced group J Soul Brothers; the precursor to Exile. Exile launched their career in 2001 with the gold-certified single, "Your Eyes Only (Aimai na Boku no Katachi)", selected as the theme tune for drama Dekichatta Kekkon, and a debut hit album followed in 2002. Marking Exile Atsushi's vocal debut on the track “Konna ni Mo Nagai Kimi no Fuzai” as well as "Eyes in Maze", for which he wrote the lyrics, Our Style set the stage for Exile Atsushi's career and a string of hit singles followed in the '00s, including a cover of Zoo's "Choo Choo Train" in 2003, and the gold-certified "Tada...Aitakute" in 2005. In 2004, he formed the J-pop group Deep, working simultaneously as a member and producer and eventually renaming the group Colour, before downgrading his involvement in 2009 to serve exclusively as a producer. The '10s marked the start of a string of chart-dominating successes, with his first solo single, "Itsuka Kitto..." shooting to the top of the Japanese singles chart in 2011, and his debut album Solo, also rising to the top in 2012. An impressive 12 Top 10 singles followed in its wake, including "Suddenly" in 2018. Having maintained a glittering career with Exile alongside his solo career, he made the decision to quit the group in 2020 and dropped his final single with Exile, "Sunshine", that year. He has released four solo albums to date; 2014's Music, 2020's 40 ～forty～ and 2022's One, which went to number four in Japan.