Inoue has released 22 solo studio albums, and also produced 2 albums with Tamio Okuda. He has been one of the most commercially successful Japanese male solo recording artists of the last 40 years, selling in excess of 10.9 million copies on the country's Oricon albums chart up to May 2009 and has had seven number-one albums; "Kori no Sekai", "Nishoku no Koma", "Good Pages", "Shoutaijou no Nai Show", "9.5 Carats", "Under the Sun", and the compilation "Golden Best" which was released in 1999 and has shipped over 2 million units.