Japanese rock musician Yoshiki was honored in Hollywood on Thursday with his handprints and footprints immortalized in cement outside the TCL Chinese Theatre for its Forecourt of the Stars.
The X Japan member is the first Japanese star to join hundreds of legendary celebrities whose artistic achievements have been recognized in this unique and historical fashion by the theater, one of its officials said.
At the imprint ceremony, which included him pressing his drumsticks above his prints, Yoshiki, wearing dark sunglasses and clad in a black suit, joked around and posed as photographers called out to him to get snapshots.
But during an emotional speech given almost entirely in English, he said there were countless times he wanted to give up but didn't because of his fans and his mother.
"I wanted to prove that nothing is impossible. I wanted to prove that a person from Asia, a person from Japan, who didn't speak English could still pursue (the) American dream, could still pursue the Hollywood dream regardless of race, regardless of who you are," he said.
"Nothing's impossible. Be your own rock star," he added before thanking his fans, friends, band members and parents in Japanese.
Marilyn Monroe and film director Steven Spielberg are among the some 300 stars honored at the site, according to Japan House, a Japanese government facility promoting the country's culture overseas.