X Japan bassist Hiroshi "Heath" Morie has died at 55 years old. According to a report by Yahoo! Japan, Heath struggled with health problems over the past year and was ultimately diagnosed with cancer. The report further states that Heath's decline was so sudden that X Japan was never informed of the diagnosis.
X Japan recently released their first single in eight years named "Angel", and is working on their first full length since 1996. Heath played bass for X Japan between 1992 and their breakup in 1997, and then again from their reunion in 2007 until present day. We wish Heath's friends and family all the best at this time.
X Japan is widely regarded as one of the founders of visual kei movement and have sold over 30 million albums and singles worldwide over their career. As for their legacy, Kiss frontman Gene Simmons put it best in the We Are X documentary – "If those guys were either born in America or England and sang in English, they might be the biggest band in the world."
