GLAY

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GLAY (2008)
GLAY (2008)

One of Japan's most popular rock bands, GLAY's name originated from a deliberate misspelling of "gray" representing the wide range of genres the band can fit into without being classified as "black" or "white". GLAY has not been afraid to experiment with different styles of music, and with songs ranging from gospel to pure rock.

Since their 1994 debut single RAIN (produced by X Japan's YOSHIKI), they have produced 10 albums and over 40 singles. With record numbers of audiences attending their concerts and releases reaching #1 spot on charts, GLAY continues to have an impact on the Japanese music scene after fifteen years.

Contents

Members

  • TERU: Vocals and acoustic guitar
  • HISASHI: Guitar
  • TAKURO: Guitar, keyboard and background vocals
  • JIRO: Bass

Along with the four members are supporting musicians Nagai Toshi (drums) and, currently, Nagai Seichiro (Keyboards). Former support musician D.I.E. (keyboard) was later replaced by Komori "sk55" Shigeo when he left to pursue a solo career. After Komori left, Saito Yuta played with GLAY. In some live performances, Sakuma Masahide, GLAY's record producer, also played as a supporting musician.

Former Members

Biography

The band was formed in 1988 by TAKURO and TERU. HISASHI joined shortly after, when his band ARI broke up. The band became popular in their hometown. In 1990, when the members graduated from high school, they headed down to Tokyo to try and push their career even further.

However, things were difficult in Tokyo. The band performed for very small audiences, sometimes for only one person. The members had to work very hard to be able to keep themselves and the band together, conciliating their career to other job. For instance, Hisashi worked as a clerk in a game center and in a convenience store, Takuro worked as a security guard and an office clerk - he told in a 1996 interview for Mother Rock magazine that he was responsible for interviewing job candidates in a company-, Jiro worked in construction and Teru was a moving truck driver. It was not until JIRO joined the band, in 1992, that things started to change. JIRO came in with new ideas that opened the doors for them and helped them to get more success in the indies circuit.

In 1993, YOSHIKI watched one of their performances and signed them under his label, Extasy Records. Since then, they've been very successful, with consecutive #1 hits and million selling albums and singles. The band has performed some remarkable events like the GLAY EXPO's (they've done three editions so far), which always gather hundreds of thousands of people. The EXPO '99 established a record as it has the largest audience in Japan, luring 200,000 people. The 2nd edition of the EXPO, in 2001, was distributed in three concerts, each of them held in different parts of Japan (Kyushu, Tokyo and Hokkaido). The concert held in Kyushu featured artists from several Asian countries, including Chinese Nicholas Tse and Taiwanese band Mayday.

In 2004 GLAY celebrated their 10th year as a major band with the EXPO 2004, which was attended by 100,000 people. It was one of the busiest years in the band's career, with the release of the album THE FRUSTRATED and four singles, along with other products, and appearances in a number of TV shows. The celebration finished in 2005, with the GLAY DOME TOUR 2005 "WHITE ROAD" in TOKYO DOME and the release of the compilation WHITE ROAD -Ballad Best Singles-.

Although GLAY had just celebrated a decade of success, the band faced serious problems with its record label in 2005. They did not give details, but, reportedly, someone from their former office had been deviating money from the band. That caused the band to split with Unlimited Group. They did not have any material released in 2005, besides |the best album and the DVD of the 2005 Dome Tour, both released early that year. Their only new work was the single SCREAM, in collaboration with group EXILE, which was released under EXILE's record label rhythm zone.

Early 2006, still without a record label, they produced the tour "ROCK'N'ROLL SWINDLE 2006". Later, they signed up with Capitol Records and released three singles, G4, Natsuoto / Hen na Yume ~THOUSAND DREAMS~ and ANSWER, the latter, with their idol, Kyosuke Himuro. They also performed the concert "KYOSUKE HIMURO + GLAY SWING ADDICTION 2006" and the tour "GLAY TOUR 2006 ROCK'N'ROLL SWINDLE~Re-birth~", at the end of the year.

In January, 2007 the band released the single 100 Man Kai no KISS and, a week later, their 10th original album LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL which managed to reach #1 on the charts despite of the low sales compared to previous releases. In April 4th they released the single Kodou, which was the theme song for the movie Taitei no Ken.

In 2008, to celebrate their 20th anniversary, GLAY performed for the first time in the Unites States. The band played three concerts: at The Fillmore, in San Francisco, on August 12, and at the House of Blues, in Los Angeles, on August 15 and 16.

Interesting facts

Discography

GLAY (1996)
GLAY (1996)
GLAY (1997)
GLAY (1997)
GLAY (1998)
GLAY (1998)
GLAY (1999)
GLAY (1999)
GLAY (2001)
GLAY (2001)
GLAY (2006)
GLAY (2006)
GLAY (2007)
GLAY (2007)

Albums

Singles

Download Exclusive

VHS / LD / DVD

Compilation / Other


External Links

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