David Sylvian

David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, February 23, 1958) is a British singer/songwriter who first rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the band Japan, and whose subsequent solo career has been in

David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, February 23, 1958) is a British singer/songwriter who first rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the band Japan, and whose subsequent solo career has been influenced by a variety of musical styles, including jazz and electronic music (primarily ambient and electronica).

David Sylvian was born in 1958, in Beckenham, Kent. Japan, whose other members included Mick Karn, Rob Dean, Richard Barbieri and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen, began as a group of friends who grew up together. As children they played music together as a means of escape, playing David's two-chord numbers – sometimes with Mick as the frontman, sometimes with David as the frontman. On Christmas of 1973 David's parents gave drums to Steve and a guitar to David.