Japanese visual kei rock musician and co-founder of the band X Japan Yoshiki has announced global livestream music documentary special to air Wednesday, Dec. 23. The special, called “Under the Sky,” will feature musical guests St. Vincent, Marilyn Manson and more.
“Under the Sky” will air at 6 a.m. eastern time on Dec. 23 on Yoshiki’s Youtube channel. The Chainsmokers and Lindsey Stirling will also be featured in the special.
“Together with amazing friends, I want to lift people’s spirits,” Yoshiki said in a statement to Consequence of Sound. “Even though we faced obstacle after obstacle as you see in the film, we made it happen with maximum care and love for everyone. We’re still in the middle of everything in terms of the final cut, but very excited that we finally could announce this amazing event.”
Yoshiki has previously collaborated with St. Vincent to reimagine her 2017 song, “New York.” He also performed with Manson at 2018’s Coachella to cover Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made For This).” Last New Year’s Eve, Yoshiki joined Kiss for performance on the NHK‘s 70th Kōhaku Uta Gassen (“Red and White Song Contest”) contest.
St. Vincent was featured on the song “Chalk Tablet Towers” on Gorillaz newest album, Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez, which came out on Oct. 23. In June, she joined Bon Iver, Patti Smith, Lady Gaga and Leon Bridges in signing letter to Congress to give federal assistance to the National Independent Venue Association to save small music venues, which have struggled financially during the COVID-19 pandemic. During quarantine, she has also given virtual performances of Led Zeppelin’s “Dancing Days” and “Stairway to Heaven” and performed cover of Tool’s “Forty Six & 2.” Most recently, she announced she’s working with MasterClass, a virtual education platform, to help teach professionalism within musical creativity.
Marilyn Manson released his latest album, We Are Chaos, in September via Loma Vista Recordings. He had announced the album in June and released the track “Don’t Chase The Dead” as well as music video.
In July, The Chainsmokers performed concert in the Hamptons in New York, which was announced as a drive-in charity event but was later criticized by Gov. Andrew Cuomo after video footage showed concert-goers engaging in what he said was “egregious social distancing violations.” The New York Department of Health launched an investigation into the concert andin October fined the concert promoters $20,000 for violating public health law. The town of Southampton, where the concert was held, is also banned from organizing events without the state’s approval.
In late October, Lindsey Stirling announced she will be going on North American tour in 2021. In August, she joined Evanescence, Lzzy Hale, Taylor Momsen and more for the song “Use My Voice,” which was written to encourage voting in the presidential election. The same month, she teamed up with electro-pop vocalist Kiesza and mobile game Azur Lane for a new single called “What You’re Made Of” and an accompanying video.
UPDATE: 12/22
According to a press release from Yoshiki, the “Under The Sky” live stream event has been postponed until 2021 due to the spread of COVID-19 throughout the world. The live stream involves staff from various countries, including the United States, Europe, Chine and Japan, and coordination is taking longer than expected.
Featured image: Raymond Flotat
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