Glay (band)
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Glay (グレイ?) is a rock/pop band from Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan formed by guitarist Takuro and vocalist Teru during high school in 1988. Glay primarily composes songs in the rock and pop genres, but they have also composed songs using elements of different styles such as reggae and gospel[citation needed] . They have sold over 36 million records as of 2007.
HistoryPre-major eraDuring Glay's early years in high school, members (particularly drummers) were constantly joining and leaving the band. Upon the unexpected resignation of their vocalist, drummer Teru made a tape of his singing to give to Takuro and was immediately recruited as the new vocalist. On the search for another guitarist, Hisashi was asked to join but turned down the offer, as he was already part of a locally well-known heavy punk/rock band called Ari, which better suited his taste in music. When Ari disbanded, Hisashi accepted Takuro's offer and became the lead guitarist of Glay.[citation needed] By the time of Takuro and Teru's graduation, Glay had become more popular in their hometown of Hakodate and were playing in full live houses.[citation needed] Following Hisashi's high school graduation in 1990, the three of them moved to Tokyo to try and further expand their musical career. However things did not seem to improve for them in Tokyo. Their gigs only attracted a few people, and sometimes none at all.[citation needed] When their bassist quit, Takuro had heard that Jiro, who was also from Hakodate and had played with the indie band Pierrot (different from the now disbanded Japanese rock band Pierrot, that enjoyed mainstream popularity), had moved to Tokyo and invited him to join Glay. He too declined the offer, insisting that he was already heading in the right direction for himself. It wasn't until Takuro asked him to play at just one show to fill in for their missing bassist that he decided to go. Following that show Jiro continued to receive invitations to play with Glay, and in 1991 he had become Glay's official bass player, finalizing the official four member lineup. They promoted the band by handing out flyers on the street and giving out demo tapes. Eventually they became more well known on the Tokyo live house circuit, and began drawing larger crowds. During one of these shows in October 1993, Yoshiki, then drummer and pianist for X Japan, saw their show and offered them a contract to his label Extasy Records. In 1994, their debut single "Rain" was produced. Early works with major labelsFrom the time of their debut, Glay steadily became more popular. Their 4th single "Freeze My Love" made it onto the Oricon, debuting at #19. Two months later their second album "Speed Pop" peaked at #8. Their first #1 hit was in 1996 with their third album "Beat Out!" which was marked as a major turning point in Glay's career. In August 1997 they released the hit single "However" becoming their most well-known song to date.[citation needed] In the same year they released the album "Review - Best of Glay", which sold more than 4 million copies, becoming the all-time best selling album in Japan at the time (at present, it is at #3 spot).[citation needed] In the next two years to follow, Glay toured Japan in sold out stadiums frequently and produced several #1 hits. On July 31, 1999, Glay held a concert called "Glay Expo 1999 Survival" at Makuhari Messe, gathering a total audience of 200,000 people making it the largest single concert to ever be held in Japan.[citation needed] There was a huge amount of publicity leading up to this concert[weasel words], including having their faces printed on the sides of Japan Airlines jumbo jets.[1] In 2001 one more Glay Expos were held. Glay Expo 2001 was divided into four separate performances at three different locations (Tokyo, Ishikari, and Fukuoka), and accumulated a total audience of over 280,000.[citation needed] Following the release of Unity Roots & Family, Away, in February 2003 Glay released two compilation albums composed mostly of B-side tracks from their singles that hadn't yet been put onto an album. It was not until 2004 that they released a new album entitled The Frustrated. This album spawned a documentary DVD about the "making of," a fanclub members only concert tour, the theme of Glay Expo 2004, and a fall concert tour that travelled across the country. Glay Expo 2004 celebrated their 10th anniversary, and was held in the parking lot of Universal Studios Japan selling out the 100,000 tickets in under 15 minutes.[citation needed] In 2005, Glay produced a collaboration single with the vocal/dance group Exile which was the fifth best selling single of the year.[citation needed] Major media exposureImage:GLAYnewsmaker2006.jpg
On the cover of Newsmaker magazine
Throughout the years Glay has appeared on several TV programs, and appeared on the front covers of many famous band/music magazines in Japan, such as Gigs, What's In?, BPass, Ongaku to Hito, PatiPati, Newsmaker, etc. Kadokawa Shoten has also produced two special edition Glay only books, and every member of Glay (excluding Teru) has written a book of their own (Jiro has made two). Besides appearing in magazines and on TV, Teru, Hisashi and Jiro each have their own personal weekly radio shows (aired on bayFM, FMFuji, and FM802, respectively).[citation needed] After many years of touring, promoting, and recording, the four decided to take a hiatus after celebrating their 10th anniversary. During that time, Jiro created a side band with the pillows guitarist Yamanaka Sawao and Straightener's drummer Nakayama Shinpei called The Predators in the summer of 2005. The Predators played in several summer festivals at this time. Teru and Hisashi formed a band called Rally with The Mad Capsule Markets drummer Motokatsu and bassist Koji Ueno from Thee Michelle Gun Elephant. They did a Buck-Tick cover to "Aku no Hana" as part of a tribute CD. Takuro took time off and spent time with his wife and child in L.A. and to work on new Glay songs. Glay: Re-BirthIn February 2006, Glay ended their silence by having a two day live performance in Zepp Tokyo and a three day live performance at Nippon Budokan, titled "Re-birth: Rock 'n' Roll Swindle." Here, they played many of their old songs and introduced two new written songs as their new sound.[weasel words]On July 12, 2006, they released a new single titled "G4" after a year and seven months away from the limelight and returning to their rock and roll roots. In the following month, they collaborated with former Boowy vocalist, Kyosuke Himuro in their single, "Answer" Together, they performed in "Kyosuke Himuro + Glay Swing Addiction 2006," with "Answer" being one of the songs. In August, Glay performed at Southern All Stars's summer concert Mujintou alongside various artists. In September, "Natsuoto/Henna Yume -Thousand Dreams-" was released, their first ballad of 2006, with Natsuoto being the theme song to "Koi suru Hanikami." Following the release of these singles was their tour, "Rock 'n' Roll Swindle -Re-Birth-" in November 2006 and going into early 2007. They released a single early January titled, "100 Man Kai no Kiss," with four different jackets accompanied by four different live performances on DVD.[citation needed] On January 31, 2007, Glay released their tenth full length album, Love is Beautiful, containing 14 tracks. Following the release of this album was their arena tour, titled after the album. After the tour, they released another single, "Kodou" as a tie-in with the movie "Taitei no Ken." Over the summer, they performed at the 15th Anniversary Cue Music Jam-Boree in Yubari on July 1 and Rock Shock. Vol. 4 on August 23, 2007, where they played two new songs from their upcoming 41st single, "Ashes EP," due out on October 31, 2007. Jiro's side band, The Predators, performed at the Rising Sun Rock Festival in Ezo on August 17 and 18 while Teru and Hisashi's side band, Rally, performed at the Buck-Tick Fest 2007 in September. They announced another full tour starting in November 2007 and into March 2008: The "Highcommuncations Tour 2007-2008."[citation needed] Name
Officially, the name "Glay" is a deliberate misspelling of the word "gray" and represents the style of music they wanted to play: a mixture between rock (black) and pop (white). However, it is thought by many English-speaking residents that the misspelling of the band's name may actually have been due to a genuine error, and the official reason was only decided in retrospect. In support of this, they point out that confusing the R and L is a very common mistake amongst Japanese speakers of English. MembersMain membersAll members were born in Hakodate, Hokkaidō except Hisashi, who was born in Hirosaki, Aomori. When he was in elementary school, he moved to Hakodate.
Past and current support members
DiscographyFor a detailed discography, information on singles, videos and other releases, see Glay discography Albums
Trivia
Awards and records
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