Hideki Saijō Saijō Hideki, originally Tatsuo Kimoto , Kimoto Tatsuo; April 13, 1955 – May 16, 2018) was a Japanese singer and television celebrity most famous for singing the Japanese version of the Village People’s hit song “Y.M.C.A.”, called “Young Man”. In the 1970s, he was called “New Big Three” (新御三家, shin gosanke) with Goro Noguchi and Hiromi Go. Although the original version was camp, Saijō’s version was intended to seriously inspire “young men”.
Career
Saijō’s career spanned over three decades. He gained popularity again in the 1990s in the anime Chibi Maruko-chan and by releasing a cover version of the Enrique Iglesias song “Bailamos”. He also sang the theme song and became the character (specially created for the Japanese version — Lucky Mucho) in The Emperor’s New Groove and also performed “Turn a Turn”, the first opening theme song for ∀ Gundam.
In the late 1990s, he also appeared on an episode of the original Japanese cooking show Iron Chef as a guest judge, for the Rice Battle, involving Iron Chef Japanese Masaharu Morimoto and Chinese chef Masayoshi Kimura.
In 2003, around the time that his 85th single was to be released, he suffered a mild stroke while performing overseas in Korea. After rehabilitation, in 2006, he released his 86th single, “Meguriai”. Lyrics were set to André Gagnon’s “Comme au Premier Jour”.
In 2009, he released a downloadable single, “Vegetable Wonderful” which is tied to the NHK program, Time for Vegetables.
Personal life and death
Saijo married Miki Makihara in 2001, and they had one daughter and two sons.
In June 2003, while promoting his new released song in South Korea, Saijo suffered a stroke which resulted in his speech being partially impaired. After several years of rehabilitation, Saijo was on his way toward full recovery until his cerebral infarction relapsed in 2011, resulting in his right side being paralyzed. In spite of his failing health, Saijo courageously continued to perform to please his fans.
Saijo died from acute heart failure in a hospital in Yokohamacity on May 16, 2018.