Tatsurou Yamashita

Birth place: Tokyo, Japan

Tatsurou Yamashita is a singer-songwriter and record producer who's basically a legend in Japanese popular music. He's consistently ranked among the world's most influential musicians and is widely considered one of the greatest singers ever.

He's probably best known for "Christmas Eve," which has become the standard Christmas song in Japan. The track originally showed up on his 1983 album Melodies, though it didn't get a proper single release until 1986. Beyond that, he's been a major force in the industry for decades and also works as a producer—most notably, he's married to and produces for singer Mariya Takeuchi.