Marty Friedman began his career as a Shrapnel solo recording artist and later recruited a then 17 year old Jason Becker to form the yet unrivaled dual guitar un. It, “Cacophony”, who have a strong influence on today’s top guitarists. Amassing worldwide acclaim as a guitar superstar, he came to the attention of Megadeth. Racking up sales of over 10 million records with Megadeth, Friedman continued to record solo records, often embarking on adventurous musical forays far removed from his work with Megadeth, including an album with Golden Globe winner Kitaro. In a bold move, he left the legendary Megadeth to pursue new musical goals and has succeeded tremendously. Friedman’s many accomplishments make him currently the only musician to be a fixture in the top class of the Japanese domestic as well as international music scene.
Three performance (original songs from “LOUDSPEAKER”, Rachmaninoff and Bach) on national TV with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and charting high with his own music and with Japan’s top artists, has spurred Friedman into new celebrity territory. Now residing in Tokyo, having appeared on well over 600 TV programs Friedman has become a staple on mainstream media in Japan. His list of accomplishments in Japan is quite long. The short list includes being the first and only foreign musician in history to play the Japanese National Anthem at a major sporting event. (Twice at Formula 1 races) After writing two bestsellers in Japanese, collaborating with several top Japanese artists, recording #1 singles and several top ten singles, stadium/dome tours of Asia and appearing in two major Japanese motion pictures, he released three albums, 'Future Addict' 'Tokyo Jukebox' and 'Bad D.N.A.' For industry giant Avex. He was in the center of the ad campaign for FANTA for 2 years, where he could be seen in the FANTA band in their television commercials and on billboards all over Japan.
Linz Alexander David 'Alex' Linz (born January 3, 1989) is an American former actor who starred in several late 1990s and early 2000s films and television programs as a child actor.His film roles include Home Alone 3 (1997) and Max Keeble's Big Move (2001).
He put together a stellar band of Japanese musicians with whom he did 4 solo tours of Europe. His 11th solo album, 'Tokyo Jukebox 2' was released on 9/14/2011 by Avex in Japan, and after worldwide reissues of all his previous Japanese solo albums, he released the absolutely incendiary 'Inferno' worldwide in 2014. This was his first solo album to hit the Billboard charts in the US (#133 in the Top 200, #10 Rock & Metal and #4 Heatseekers') and got wide mainstream exposure on Rolling, and hundreds of others. After a successful European tour Marty is back in Japan to play live and prepare for touring the rest of the world to promote 'Inferno'. For much more detailed info, see.
MARTY FRIEDMAN (of Megadeath) MARTY FRIEDMAN`s presence in the world of music, the world of guitar, and Japanese pop culture is mystifying, bizarre, and nothing short or inspiring.His 14th solo album, ONE BAD M.F. Is an all-out celebration of Marty`s music in its rawest form, Recorded live during his 2018 Wall of Sound tour, ONE BAD M.F. Smashes any notions you may have about instrumental music being pompous and snobby. As seen in the first music video for the album, “Whiteworm”, Marty and the band are all smiles and are in constant interaction with the audience, pouncing on the rhythms and playing such addictive melodies that one doesn`t miss a vocalist for a moment. “This live album is a tip of the hat to the live albums that blew my mind when I was a kid,” explains FRIEDMAN, “the musical content itself is modern and atomic-powered, but the presentation is decidedly old school. The pacing of the show, the audience participation stuff, the special live arrangements of the songs, it`s all been tweaked in such a way to give the audience the feeling that they are really getting something special, that only happens at THEIR show, not just a recital of the songs exactly as they know them.
There are happy accidents, once in a lifetime ad libs, things that could have only happened because we were high on the audience`s energy.” MARTY FRIEDMAN`s first major impact in music was in the game-changing guitar duo Cacophony, which he founded with equally enigmatic and now legendary guitarist, Jason Becker. He then spent 10 years as lead guitarist in the genre-defining thrash metal icon Megadeth. His tenure in the band, considered the “golden era” by many, was indisputably the most successful era in the band`s history, by any criteria. As much as he loved Megadeth, its music and its fans, FRIEDMAN`s overwhelming love of Japanese music and the Japanese language, found him leaving the band and moving to Tokyo. It is there where his career took off in very unexpected ways. His appearance as the star of a new TV comedy, “Hebimeta-san” (“Mr.
Heavy Metal”) and its spinoff, “Rock Fujiyama,” which ran for six seasons, propelled him into the living rooms of Japan`s mainstream. This led to appearances on over 700 TV shows of every category, parts in major Japanese motion pictures, several TV commercials, including a two-year Coca-Cola campaign for Fanta. His popularity with the Japanese public led him to write two best-selling books in Japanese. In 2018, Young Guitar Magazine honored him with a 175-page special edition devoted only to FRIEDMAN and his inimitable playing style.
Despite MARTY FRIEDMAN`s flourishing television career, he still considers his music his “only real job,” often performing at the Tokyo Dome, Budokan, the Super Arena and other top venues with his own music, as well as guesting with other artists. Along with releasing his ever evolving solo albums, he also writes and performs with the top artists in Japanese music, racking up countless chart hits including a #1 with Smap, two #2 songs with Momoiro Clover, a #2 with Sound Horizon, and a long list of others in and around the Top 10 in Japan. His latest Japan-only release, B: THE BEGINNING-THE IMAGE ALBUM, hit #1 on the overall Japan iTunes chart in fall of 2017. In 2017, the Japanese Government appointed MARTY FRIEDMAN as an Ambassador of Japan Heritage, for a term of three years through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Along with J-pop icon Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, baseball legend Hideki Matsui and four others, he’s the first foreigner ever to receive this title. He performed the Opening Ceremony at the Tokyo Marathon in both 2017 and 2018, again the first foreigner to do so.
His most recent collaboration with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra is the government sponsored Japan Heritage Theme Song. Now with the release of ONE BAD M.F. Live!!, the combination of his other worldly experiences culminate into an avalanche of emotion, in his immediately recognizable style.
“I like to lose myself in giving as much energy to the audience every night. I want everyone to go home feeling like they were injected with a shot of positive vibes.” MARTY FRIEDMAN continues, “I think we captured that on the record.”.