EXILE's ATSUSHI and blind pianist Tsujii Nobuyuki will be teaming up to release the single "Soredemo, Ikiteyuku" on May 1st.

Originally, the song was the tune Tsujii played without preparation during the encore for his piano recital held in Boulder, Colorado on March 31st 2011. He expressed his thoughts toward the victims of the 2011 Tohoku�earthquake with the tune, and ever since then, he has been playing the melody as the encore for his recitals.

Reportedly, when Tsujii heard ATSUSHI singing "Furusato" last fall, he thought, "His gentle singing voice and singing ability suit well with this melody." He then offered ATSUSHI to write lyrics and sing to it, and ATSUSHI readily agreed to his request. The first half of the lyrics has the theme of�reminiscence, while the last half has the theme of hope.

ATSUSHI commented, "Since it's the music Tsujii-kun made while thinking about the victims, I wanted to write the lyrics and sing to it just like I'm representing his thoughts. I will do my best to sing the song to soothe the souls of people."

"Soredemo, Ikiteyuku" will be released under the name "EXILE ATSUSHI & Tsujii Nobuyuki."

Source & Image: Sanspo