Masahiro Kuwana (桑名正博) , August 7 , 1953 – October 26 , 2012, was a Japanese singer, actor, TV personality, and businessman.

He was born in 1953 as the seventh generation successor to Kuwabun, a shipping wholesaler founded in 1830 (later renamed Kuwana Kogyo, then went bankrupt and closed down). He grew up in a mansion with two maids and a family of four, including his parents and a younger sister. In 1957 , he entered Katsuyama Kindergarten. In 1960 , he entered Sumiyoshi Elementary School in Osaka . In 1967 , he entered Konan Junior High School in Ashiya , Hyogo Prefecture . In 1969 , he transferred to Hannan Junior High School in Osaka . In 1970 , he moved to San Francisco after working part-time at the Osaka Expo .

He returned to Japan in 1971 and formed Funny Company . They debuted in 1972 with "Sweet Home Osaka". They released two albums, "Funny Company" in 1973 and "Funny Farm" in 1974, and disbanded the same year. He participated in the omnibus album "Introduction" released by King Records under the name of Yggdrasil, which he formed with Kuwana Masahiro Band, Kaga Tetsuya , and Yamamoto Sho.

He began his solo career in 1975 , and released the album "Who are you?" from RCA in 1976. In 1977 , he met Kyohei Tsutsumi through an introduction from Kosugi Riuzo, who was the director in charge at RCA at the time . Tsutsumi asked Matsumoto Takashi to write the lyrics . In June of the same year, the duo released their work "Aishu Tonight". After that, the Matsumoto-Tsutsumi duo continued to release singles such as "Third Lady".

The Kanebo Cosmetics campaign song " Sexual Violet No.1 ", released in 1979 , was a huge hit, reaching number one on the charts. It became one of her most famous works. It was around this time that the genre known as "rock pop" became popular.

In the early morning of July 15, 2012 , he collapsed at his home in Osaka due to a brain stem hemorrhage and was rushed to Yuaikai Hospital in Suminoe Ward , Osaka , but was left unconscious in critical condition. On August 2, he underwent a tracheotomy after the artificial respirator that had been inserted into his airway to help him endure the prolonged illness at the hospital where he was admitted. He remained unconscious for a long time, but died of heart failure at 11:44 a.m. on October 26. He was 59 years old. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.