Biography

Kiyoshi Maekawa (前川清, Maekawa Kiyoshi) (born (1948-08-19)August 19, 1948) is a Japanese singer and tarento.

He is best known as the first lead vocalist of Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five, which was formed in 1967 and debuted in 1969 with the Japan Record Award-winning song "Nagasaki wa Kyō mo Ame Datta". As a frontman of the band, he spawned multiple hit singles such as "Awazu ni Aishite", "Uwasa no Onna","Soshite, Kōbe", "Nakanoshima Blues" and "Tokyo Sabaku" during the 1970s. In 1982, he released his first solo single "Yuki Ressha" composed and produced by Grammy-winning musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, and left the group five years later. During his solo career, he released only one top-20 hit "Himawari" in 2002, a ballad contributed by Masaharu Fukuyama.　

Aside from the recording career, Maekawa has also built up popularity as a TV star, appearing on some television shows hosted by comedians such as Kinichi Hagimoto and The Drifters, airing around the latter half of 1970s and the 1980s.