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164-562: Rock bands such as B'z and Mr. Children are among the best selling music acts in Japan . Rock festivals like the Fuji Rock Festival were introduced in the late 90s with attendances reaching a peak of 200,000 people per festival making it the largest outdoor music event in the country. Rockabilly had a brief surge in popularity in Japan during the late 1950s. Suppressed by authorities, elements of it nevertheless managed to reach

328-569: A live album , and fifteen home video releases. The band's music is mainly composed and written by lead singer Sakurai, with the exception of the Suzuki-penned songs "Asia" and "#2601" from the albums Atomic Heart and Discovery , and occasional collaborative song writing with producer Takeshi Kobayashi. In 2012 they celebrated their 20th debut anniversary by releasing dual best album titled Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ and Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞ . Both albums dominated

492-508: A "Girls Metal Band Boom" ( ガールズ・メタル・バンド・ブーム ) , with a large number of all-female heavy metal bands forming and gaining mainstream attention. Although not the first to form, Aldious have been cited as the initiators of the movement when their debut album Deep Exceed (2010) topped the Oricon Indies Albums Chart and reached number 15 on the main chart. Another notable girls metal band is Cyntia , who are believed to be

656-459: A 2-month dome tour, titled "Popsaurus 2012", after the series of concerts they held in 2001 following the release of their first two best-of albums. On November 28, Mr. Children released new album titled (An Imitation) Blood Orange . At the end of the year, Mr. Children monopolized the yearly album ranking, with all three of their albums in the top 10. Their dual best-of albums Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞ and Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ were

820-529: A Chuetsu offshore earthquake in Niigata Prefecture on July 16, 2007. Near the end of the year, Mr. Children re-grouped and released their 25th single "Tenohira/Kurumi" ( 掌/くるみ ) . It became their first double a-side single with "Tenohira" receiving no commercial tie-in, and "Kurumi" used to promote NTT DoCoMo ( NTTドコモ ) . The single was a hit and became Mr.Children's best selling single since 2001's "Youthful Days" single. In 2004, Sakurai started

984-413: A Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai , Kenichi Tahara , Keisuke Nakagawa , and Hideya Suzuki , they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one of the best selling artists in Japan and one of the most successful Japanese rock artists, having sold over 75 million records and creating the "Mis-chil Phenomenon" ( ミスチル現象 ) in the mid-1990s in Japan. They held

1148-584: A Top 10 new entry one week, followed by a dramatic decline the next, with most of these releases exiting the Top 75 completely. The majority of these acts would be indie and rock bands like the Wombats , Sea Power and Maxïmo Park , who would market their album to the type of people who would want to own the release via a physical format rather than streaming it. The first number one on the UK Albums Chart

1312-564: A change to the Japanese music in general. Since these bands don't rely in a very heavy sound but take a softer, catchier approach, they proved to be more appealing to pop fans that are not familiar with rock. Veteran rock bands like L'Arc-en-Ciel and X Japan sold out concerts at Madison Square Garden in 2012 and 2014, respectively, among other large arenas through the United States. As of 2015, slap-guitarist Miyavi , who had performed

1476-453: A club tour. On February 11, 1998, they released their 14th single "Nishi e Higashi e" ( ニシエヒガシエ ) , theme song to the Japanese drama Kira kira Hikaru ( きらきらひかる ) . The group was still on hiatus during this time and made no live performances to promote the single and did not appear in the music video for the song. Finally on October 21, 1998, Mr. Children officially re-grouped and released their 15th single, "Owarinaki Tabi" ( 終わりなき旅 ) with

1640-401: A combined total of 4,034,785 copies. According to an interview done with MTV Japan Sakurai stated the best of albums weren't something they had planned on doing yet. During this time, the group was finishing up work for their new upcoming album and had planned to start promoting singles on it. However it was decided that a best of album was needed and so they were released. Four days following

1804-456: A consecutive run of 70 weeks from November 1958 to March 1960, and had further runs at the top in 1960 and 1961, making a non-consecutive total of 115 weeks. The youngest artist to top the chart is Neil Reid , whose debut album topped the chart in 1972 when he was only 12 years old, while the youngest female artist is Billie Eilish who was 17 years old when she debuted at the top with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? . The record for

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1968-493: A fan of Shonen Knife during the girls' tour in the LA in 1991. Cobain later asked the band to join them in a tour in the U.S. to which Shonen Knife accepted. Also during the 1980s, Japanese metal and rock bands gave birth to the movement known as visual kei . Taking visual influence from Western glam rock and glam metal , it was pioneered by bands like X Japan , Dead End , Buck-Tick , D'erlanger , and Color . Although starting in

2132-492: A group they participated in the live concert for Act Against AIDS on December 1, 1994 and again on December 1, 1995. The goal of live was to raise awareness about AIDS . The proceeds from the event were donated to support children living with HIV . The live was followed up by a collaboration Act Against AIDS charity single with fellow Japanese artist Kuwata Keisuke titled ‘Kiseki no hoshi’ and released on January 23, 1995. On April 25, 2001 Kazutoshi Sakurai also participated in

2296-467: A joint tour with fellow Japanese rockers the pillows , known as 'Mr.Children & the pillows new big bang tour ~This is Hybrid Innocent~'. The tour was held from September 26, 2006 through October 11, 2006. On November 15, 2006, the group released their 29th single "Shirushi" ( しるし ) , which was used as the theme song Jyūyonsai no Haha ( 14才の母 ) , by NTV , a controversial television drama about underage pregnancy . Kazutoshi Sakurai had begun writing

2460-402: A limited edition single, brought the group to 26 consecutive No. 1 singles. Shortly after, the 13th original album, Home , was released on March 14, which would become the group's first in almost 13 years to chart at No. 1 for two consecutive weeks. It was also the first Japanese album in 2007 to sell more than a million copies. Work on the record had come to a standstill, during

2624-458: A male artist and solo act to do so. The first female solo artist to have the UK's year-end best seller was Barbra Streisand in 1982, with Love Songs . The first studio album and non-soundtrack or cast recording album to top the decade-end chart was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles in the 1960s – they became the first group to achieve this. James Blunt 's Back to Bedlam , in

2788-560: A monster hit selling 569,000 copies its first week, and ending with 925,632 copies sold. As a quad a-side single, all four songs had a commercial tie in. "Mirai" ( 未来 ) promoted 'Pocari Sweat', "and I love you" promoted ' Nissin Cup Noodle – NO Border', "Running High" ( ランニングハイ ) became the theme song for the Japanese movie 'Fly Daddy Fly', and "Yooidon" ( ヨーイドン ) was used as a promotional song for Fuji TV 's educational program 'Kodomo bangumi Ponkikkiizu, Gachagachapon'. Even though it

2952-477: A new chart record for the most weeks spent inside the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart for a girl group album. As of 2022, it had spent 69 weeks in the Top 40. To date, Little Mix are the girl group with the most Top 5 albums, with seven as of 2021. In July 2021, ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits was officially recognised by the Official Charts Company as the first album to spend over 1000 weeks on

3116-457: A non-profit environmental financial institution, in June. Sakamoto Ryuichi , a well known composer, came up with the initial idea to build a wind-power plant. With the help of Sakurai and music producer Takeshi Kobayashi, their goal later became to invest in environmentally friendly projects, such as renewable energy, and as of 2007, participated in other social issues such as helping the victims of

3280-474: A public statement on their official site at Toy's Factory, both the group and Sakurai felt that the A-side tracks on their singles had started to dictate and overall theme as to who Mr. Children were as a group. They felt a lot of feelings and desires which have shaped them as a group came from these coupling songs, and thus decided to release them as a compilation album. On May 5, 2007, after the second concert for

3444-412: A second audition to play at the club. After playing in the club, they were asked to try and debut as professionals. Mr. Children sent out five demo tapes; all failed to generate record label interest, and the group took a three-month hiatus in 1991. Hideya Suzuki worked as a receptionist at an economy hotel, while Kazutoshi Sakurai worked with his father who owned a construction company. When they returned,

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3608-616: A selection of popular tracks performed by session artists in the style of a recent hit (and unconnected with the BBC series of Top of the Pops albums, which would follow in the 1990s). This decision was soon overturned, with these anonymous cover albums being taken out the chart again. On the Official Albums Chart Top 50 for the week ending 18 August 1973, all the compilations listed as 'various artists' albums were taken out of

3772-723: A show by then-upcoming artist Jimi Hendrix during a visit to Europe, Yuya Uchida returned home and formed Yuya Uchida & the Flowers in November 1967 in order to introduce a similar sound to Japan. Uchida replaced every member of The Flowers except its drummer and renamed them the Flower Travellin' Band for October 1970's Anywhere , which includes covers of heavy metal band Black Sabbath and progressive rock act King Crimson . They moved to Canada and published their first album of original material, Satori which

3936-522: A solo artist of any gender) with 23 weeks, 11 of which were consecutive (which is also a record for a female artist). The first studio album and non-soundtrack or cast recording album to top the year-end chart was With the Beatles by The Beatles in 1963 – they became the first group to achieve this feat. Elton John 's Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player in 1973, marks the first album by

4100-407: A solo project titled Bank Band, which became a spin-off of AP Bank . As Bank Band, Sakurai released a first album, titled "Soushi Souai" ( 沿志奏逢 ) , which contained covers of two Mr. Children songs, "Hero" and "Yasashii Uta". Mr. Children released their eleventh album on April 4, 2004, titled " Shifuku no Oto " ( シフクノオト ) , which came with a documentary DVD showing the group working and talking about

4264-399: A talk at a dinner where the group thought the word "children" had a nice ring to it, but because they were no longer children themselves, they decided to add Mr. in front of it. They credit this change as a new way they started to look at the group. After changing their name and overall sound, Mr. Children auditioned at a music club called La Mama, failing to pass the first time, but passing

4428-427: A total of 66 weeks and most top ten albums by any artist, charting 53 releases. Until this same month, he also held the record for the most number one albums by a solo artist in a tie with Robbie Williams , however when Williams' XXV album reached the top on 16 September 2022, the former Take That star broke this record with 14 number ones albums to Presley's 13 chart toppers, with Williams moving into second place in

4592-511: A world tour at London's Wembley Arena , becoming the first Japanese act to headline the venue, and their album Metal Resistance reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart, marking the highest ever entry by a Japanese act. They also made their US television debut by performing "Gimme Chocolate!!" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert . Band-Maid earned worldwide attention circa 2015 for their "submissive" maid appearance contrasting with their aggressive music. They began international activities

4756-575: Is a way of riding on waves, not only on big waves, but also small waves. Look at it to see how to catch it. It's something similar to composing. Eleven days later they began the Discovery Tour '99, from February 14 to July 12, where the group visited 16 cities and held 42 shows. During the tour, Mr. Children released their 17th single "I'll Be" on May 12, which was used in Shiseido's ( 資生堂 ) Sea Breeze commercials. Though originally released on

4920-518: Is currently Japan's eighth highest selling drama tie-in single. The success of the single was also a surprise for Sakurai, who admitted to spending very little time writing the song. Two months later, on April 5, 1996 the group's eleventh single " Hana (Mémento Mori) " ( 花 -Mémento-Mori- ) was released, followed by their fifth original album Shinkai ( 深海 ) on June 24 and their twelfth single " Machine Gun o Buppanase (Mr. Children Bootleg) " ( マシンガンをぶっ放せ -Mr.Children Bootleg- ) , on August 8. To close

5084-403: Is divided by 1000 and added to the pure sales of the album. This calculation was designed to ensure that the chart rundown continues to reflect the popularity of the albums themselves, rather than just the performance of one or two smash hit singles. The final number one album on the UK Albums Chart to be based purely on sales alone was Smoke + Mirrors by Imagine Dragons . On 1 March 2015, In

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5248-455: The Discovery album, the song was re-released as a single with a lighter beat. The single was not a success and became Mr. Children's lowest selling single since " Cross Road ". During the Discovery Tour '99, an idea for a live album was brought up. It was released as a 500,000 copy limited edition on September 8, 1999 and called 1/42 (referring to one of the 42 shows in the tour). Most of

5412-819: The Melody Maker chart from 8 November 1958 to March 1960; the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969; and the Official Albums Chart from 1969 on. For eight weeks in February and March 1971 no Official Albums Chart was compiled due to a postal strike – for this period, the OCC uses the chart compiled by Melody Maker instead. In the 1970s the new album chart was revealed at 12:45 pm on Thursdays on BBC Radio 1 , and then moved to 6:05 pm (later 6:30 pm) on Wednesday evenings during

5576-611: The Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. The album was not a favorite amongst fans for various reasons and became their first album since Atomic Heart to not sell over one million copies. ‘Concert tour Q’ started, visiting 13 cities and holding 35 concerts between October 15, 2000 and February 24, 2001. In 2001, Mr. Children continued their Q tour, followed by dual "Best Of" albums. Titled Mr. Children 1992–1995 and Mr. Children 1996–2000 , they were both released on July 11, 2001. Both albums went on to sell

5740-500: The Now That's What I Call Music series was launched by EMI/Virgin, followed by CBS/WEA's rival Hits Album series a year later and Chrysalis/MCA's Out Now! in 1985. From this point in the 1980s, every regular edition of Now That's What I Call Music topped the albums chart (apart from Now 4 which was kept of the number one spot by the first ever Hits Album ), with these albums from the three major-label joint-ventures joined in

5904-493: The Olympus E-410. During the E Goes to World campaign, the camera manufacturer had customers submit pictures to create a new promotional video for the song. On July 10, Mr. Children announced a new song on their website titled "Tabidachi no Uta" ( 旅立ちの唄 ) . While initially a single release date wasn't issued, the group announced a month later it would be released on October 30, 2007. The title track, "Tabidachi no Uta",

6068-619: The Peter Powell and Bruno Brookes shows. In October 1987 it moved to Monday lunchtimes, during the Gary Davies show, and from April to October 1993 it briefly had its show from 7:00–8:00 pm on Sunday evenings, introduced by Lynn Parsons . Since October 1993 it has been included in The Official Chart show from 4:00–5:45 pm on Fridays (previously from 4:00–7:00 pm on Sundays). A weekly 'Album Chart' show

6232-656: The Reading Festival in England in 1982. After some member changes resulted in a more commercial sound, they changed their name to Vow Wow and relocated to England. Their 1989 album Helter Skelter reached number 75 on the UK Albums Chart . In the 1980s, a plethora of Japanese heavy metal bands formed. Anthem (band) was formed in 1981 and Loudness was also formed in 1981 by former Lazy members Akira Takasaki and Munetaka Higuchi . In 1983, they toured

6396-488: The music download market. The nun full-track ringtone downloads ( Chaku Uta ) of the song began on October 1 and the full-track downloads ( Chaku Uta Full ) began on November 1, 2008. Their studio album Supermarket Fantasy was released on December 10, 2008. Supermarket Fantasy sold about 708,000 copies in its initial week, debuting at the number-one position on the Oricon weekly album charts. On October 20, 2009, it

6560-598: The 1980s, acts such as Boøwy inspired what is called the "Band Boom" ( バンドブーム , Bando Būmu ) , popularizing the formation of rock groups. In 1980, Huruoma and Ry Cooder , an American musician, collaborated on a rock album with Shoukichi Kina , driving force behind the aforementioned Okinawan band Champloose. They were followed by Sandii & the Sunsetz , who further mixed Japanese and Okinawan influences. Alternative rock bands like Shonen Knife , Boredoms and The Pillows formed. Nirvana 's Kurt Cobain admitted to be

6724-633: The 1990s, Japanese rock musicians such as B'z , Mr. Children , Glay , L'Arc-en-Ciel , Southern All Stars , Malice Mizer , Dir En Grey , Shazna , Janne Da Arc , Tube , Spitz , Wands , T-Bolan , Judy and Mary , Deen , Lindberg , Sharam Q , the Yellow Monkey , the Brilliant Green and Dragon Ash achieved commercial success. B'z is the best selling artist in Japan with over 86 million confirmed records sold and they are speculated to have sold 100 million worldwide. The duo are also

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6888-404: The 2000s, marks the first album by a male artist and solo act to do it. Blunt was the only performer in history to top the decade chart with a debut album. The first female solo artist to achieve this feat was Adele in the 2010s, with 21 . Dua Lipa 's Future Nostalgia holds the record for having the lowest one-week sales while at the top of the chart in the modern era, when it was number one

7052-654: The 2000s, the number of all-female rock bands all-female band started to grow. Two of the first of such groups to achieve success were Zone and Chatmonchy . Zone, which was planned to be an idol group, became a rock band thanks to one of their producers, who had decided to let them play with instruments, and was well received. The quartet from Osaka, Scandal , was created in 2006 and sold 52,956 copies of their debut album in 2009. Later, their albums also became top ten bestsellers. This success led them to become famous worldwide and later took them on several tours abroad. In 2018, Scandal established their own label "her". During

7216-404: The 3,889 downloaded copies it sold out of 51,510 sales. Also on 16 September 2022, Columbia became the first record label to take the Top 3 chart positions with three different acts with releases by Robbie Williams, Ozzy Osbourne and Harry Styles occupying number 1, 2 and 3 (with parent company Sony Music also having the number 4 with a re-issue of Manic Street Preachers' Know Your Enemy ). In

7380-427: The 45 million mark in sold records. The first single for 2006, was their 28th single "Houkiboshi" ( 箒星 ) released on July 5, 2006 and used as the promotion song for Toyota 's "Tobira wo akeyou" commercial and as the theme song to NTV's 2006 FIFA World Cup broadcasting. Due to the groups involvement with ap bank fes . '06, there were no magazine or radio promotions, and only 3 live performances were done to promote

7544-462: The Albums Chart, but this total does not include 2014's Gold – 40th Anniversary Edition (which like Queen's The Platinum Collection is a 3-CD set also including More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits and The Golden B-sides ) or additional weeks inside the Top 100 missing from the OCC's database before February 1994 (as with the singles chart, Music Week only published the Top 75 as this

7708-460: The British album charts than any other musical act, followed by the Beatles , Elvis Presley , U2 and ABBA . By most weeks at number one, the Beatles lead with a total of 176 weeks, and the most number one albums of all with 16, followed by The Rolling Stones and Robbie Williams with 14 number ones each. Similar to the situation regarding Elvis Presley's record-breaking tally of number ones on

7872-571: The DVD Mr. Children Dome Tour 2009 Supermarket Fantasy in Tokyo Dome , but it sold about 49,000 copies one day before the official release day, debuting at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart with the one-day sales. It became their seventh consecutive number-one music DVD and they tied the records of Arashi and KAT-TUN for having the most consecutive number-one DVDs on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart. It also debuted at No. 1 on

8036-427: The Japanese drama Naguru Onna ( 殴る女 ) using it as their theme song. The song remains a public favorite in voting polls, Oricon citing its inspirational lyrics as the reason. On January 13, 1999, "Hikari no Sasu Hou E" ( 光の射す方へ ) , their 16th single, was released, followed by their seventh album, Discovery , on February 3, 1999. Sakurai compared his approach to the songwriting for the record to surfing: There

8200-671: The Lonely Hour by Sam Smith became the first album to top the new streaming-incorporated Official Albums Chart. The weekly Top 75 UK Albums Chart (albums described as hits in the case of British Hit Singles & Albums or The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums) were published in Music Week magazine until 2021. In 2018 Future (publisher of 'Louder Sound' publications such as Metal Hammer and Classic Rock ) acquired Music Week publisher NewBay Media. Future decided that

8364-550: The Mr.Children phenomenon was alive and well. A second half of the tour to promote 'Home', titled Mr.Children Home Tour 2007 -In the Field- took place from August 4 to September 30. Both tours ended up being a big success for the group, and became the most attended Japan tour in 2007 at 550,000 fans. The main promotional track for the Home album, "Irodori" ( 彩り ) , was selected to promote

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8528-473: The Official Albums Chart, the album must be the correct length and price. It must be more than three tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 and £3.75. Full details of the rules can be found on the OCC website. According to the canon of the OCC, the official British albums chart was the Record Mirror chart from 22 July 1956 to 1 November 1958;

8692-558: The Oricon weekly comprehensive DVD chart, eclipsing the sales of Avatar in the week. It topped the Oricon comprehensive DVD charts for three consecutive weeks, making them the second artist to achieve that with the music DVD while the first is Arashi. On September 4, Mr. Children released their second documentary/concert movie Mr. Children / Split the Difference (since first "Es" ~Mr. Children in Film~ ) and released DVD + CD includes

8856-825: The Top 100 albums chart and given their own Top 20 chart (found in Music Week and Record Mirror ), with the main albums chart reformatted as a top 75 (as far as hit albums are concerned) to equal the singles chart. As of 2022, the OCC publishes the Official Compilations Chart Top 100 on their website, which as well as listing the chart places of all the various Now That's What I Call Music! , Hits Albums and Ministry of Sound Annuals that have been released, now include Motion Picture Cast Recordings such as The Greatest Showman or A Star Is Born and Original Broadway/West End cast albums such as Hamilton , all three of which were included in

9020-427: The UK. In February 2015, it was announced that due to the falling sales of albums and rise in popularity of audio streaming, the Official Albums Chart would begin including streaming data from March 2015. Under the revised methodology, the Official Charts Company takes the 12 most streamed tracks from one album, with the top-two songs being down-weighted in line with the average of the rest. The total of these streams

9184-692: The United States and Europe and soon started focusing more on an international career. In a 1985 deal with Atco Records , Loudness became the first Japanese metal act signed to a major label in the United States. Their albums Thunder in the East (1985), Lightning Strikes (1986) and Hurricane Eyes (1987) reached numbers 74, 64 and 190 on the Billboard chart. Loudness replaced singer Minoru Niihara with American vocalist Michael Vescera in 1988, in an unsuccessful attempt to further their international popularity. Loudness were famous among heavy metal fans in

9348-476: The United States. In the '80s, few bands had a female members, like all-female band Show-Ya fronted by Keiko Terada , and Terra Rosa with Kazue Akao on vocals. In September 1989, Show-Ya's album Outerlimits was released, it reached number 3 in the Oricon album chart. Happy End is credited as the first rock band to sing in the Japanese language. Their self-titled debut album was released in August 1970 on

9512-420: The album Be Here Now by Oasis is a controversial second place, this is due to the fact its release date was irregular, being released on a Thursday instead of the usual Monday. The record was released on 21 August 1997 and sold around 813,000 in its first seven days, which surpasses the current claimant to the title, though this topic is still highly contested. In September 2020, The Rolling Stones became

9676-499: The album were not announced until just before a release date, November 29. On April 4, 2011, Mr. Children released the download single "Kazoe Uta" to collect donations for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake . "Kazoe Uta" debuted at number 1 on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart, surpassing the download sales of AKB48 's charity single "Dareka no Tame ni (What Can I Do for Someone?)". On April 18, 2012, Mr. Children released

9840-464: The album, Home , was originally suggested to be titled "Home Made" or "Home Ground", because the group wanted the album to have the meaning that it was made by hand. However, they choose to name it just Home because they felt that by adding another word it would be limiting the idea in mind. Three days after the release of Home , Mr. Children won the awards Best Video of the Year and Best Group Video for

10004-556: The all-time number 1 album record holders just two behind The Beatles. As of October 2023, The Rolling Stones join Williams in joint second place for overall artists with most number ones when they released their 14th No.1 album Hackney Diamonds . With Williams and Presley, the record was broken on a technicality, as many Presley's albums have been kept off the top spot by movie soundtracks, while with Williams such albums are now in their own chart. Taylor Swift and Madonna tie for

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10168-662: The band holding nine performances. Shortly after, " Cross Road " was released on November 10, 1993, which was used to promote the Japanese drama Dousoukai ( 同窓会 ) . The single was not a hit, but through word of mouth " Cross Road " gained popularity and after 22 weeks sold over a million copies and later, though released in 1993, managed to become the fifteenth best selling single in Oricon 's 1994 yearly charts. Sakurai confessed years later as to not liking his works up to this point. According to him: I thought I had to be like Mr. Children's pop music star. That's why I tried my best to play

10332-400: The band's tenth number one album, Voyage . With that album, ABBA also became the artist with the longest gap between number one studio albums, with 40 years (since The Visitors in 1981). The longest number one by a group is Simon and Garfunkel 's Bridge Over Troubled Water which was number one for 33 weeks (13 of which were consecutive). The longest consecutive number one by a group

10496-412: The best-selling studio album in UK chart history. Queen's Greatest Hits has sold over 7 million copies (including downloads and equivalent streams) as of July 2022. ABBA's Gold has sold over 6 million, and Sgt. Pepper has sold in excess of 5.4 million copies. The longest-running number one album, both consecutively and non-consecutively, is the soundtrack of the film South Pacific . It had

10660-465: The best-selling album category in the 2012 Oricon yearly chart, selling over 2.5 million copies. Mr.Children has become the third artists who achieved TOP 2 spots on the yearly album ranking, and this is the first time in 14 years for any artist to achieve this. Moreover, [(An Imitation) Blood Orange] , an album of new material released in November 2012, debuted No.1 on the Oricon Chart—at the end of

10824-542: The chart, but those billed as 'official soundtracks' (to films such as A Clockwork Orange and Cabaret ) were kept in. As the Ronco-released tie-in to the 1973 film That'll Be the Day was listed as a various artist album and not as a soundtrack, it disappeared from the chart after its seventh week at number one alongside EMI's former number one Pure Gold and Phillip's 20 Original Chart Hits . In 1983,

10988-404: The charts by many albums from all the regular compilation specialists like K-Tel, Telstar and Stylus. As the amount of compilations in the chart were keeping out artists from reaching number one or charting at all, it was decided that all the various artist albums would be removed from the Official Albums Chart Top 100. In January 1989, all the various artist compilation albums were removed from

11152-504: The completion of the band's tour they began work on for their third album. The first single of the new year to be released was " Replay ", released on July 1, 1993 and used in Glico Pocky ( グリコポッキー ) commercials. On September 9, 1993 their third album Versus was released, but failed to bring the group into the spotlight. They continued on and held a new tour. The '93 Versus Tour was held from September 23 until November 5 and had

11316-411: The concept behind the album. To help promote the album, Mr. Children used the song "Tagatame" ( タガタメ ) in ' Nissin Cup Noodle – NO Border' commercials and as the 'News 23' theme song. According to Sakurai, "Tagatame" ( タガタメ ) is a message song with impact… (that) is carved within the depths of the heart of a person. In the following month, they released their 26th single, " Sign ", on May 26, which

11480-553: The dual album release, the group launched the ‘Popsaurus’ tour, visiting 10 cities and playing 15 shows, lasting from July 15, 2001 all the way through September 25, 2001. A month into the tour their 20th single "Yasashii uta" ( 優しい歌 ) was released and used to promote the Wonda Canned Coffee by Asahi Soft Drinks . Two months after the Popsaurus tour ended, "Youthful Days" was released. Released on November 7, 2001, it

11644-402: The early 1980s, it was not until the tail-end of the decade that visual kei acts saw major success. Buck-Tick's 1988 album Seventh Heaven reached number 3 on the Oricon chart, and its follow-ups Taboo (1989) and Aku no Hana (1990) both topped it. In April 1989, X Japan's second album Blue Blood reached number 6 and sold 712,000 copies. Their third and best-selling album Jealousy

11808-485: The experimental record label URC (Underground Record Club). This album marked an important turning point in Japanese music history, as it sparked what would be known as the " Japanese-language Rock Controversy  [ ja ] " ( 日本語ロック論争 , Nihongo Rokku Ronsō ) . There were highly publicized debates held between prominent figures in the rock industry, most notably the members of Happy End and Yuya Uchida, regarding whether Japanese rock music sung entirely in Japanese

11972-407: The festivals, with an announcement in 2008 that the group will now work more closely with its cause by participating during the entire three-day festival duration in addition to further details to be announced at a later time. Members Kazutoshi Sakurai and Kenichi Tahara joined together to create Acid Test for the concert ‘Dream Power John Lennon Super live broadcasting’ on October 9, 2001. The live

12136-513: The first Asian band to be inducted in the Hollywood's RockWalk . In the 1990s, anime was becoming the best-selling genres of music in Japan. The rise of disposable pop has been linked with the popularity of karaoke , leading to criticism that it is consumerist : Kazufumi Miyazawa of the Boom said "I hate that buy, listen, and throw away and sing at a karaoke bar mentality." Ska-punk bands of

12300-495: The first British female solo artist to have a number-one album in the UK with Never for Ever , as well as being the first album by any female solo artist to enter the chart at number 1. In August 2014 she became the first female artist to have eight albums in the Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart simultaneously, (altogether she had eleven albums in the Top 50 in one week). She is currently in fourth place for artists having

12464-548: The first act to have reached number one in the album chart during six different decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2010s and 2020s). For solo artists, Elvis Presley was the first artist to score UK number-one albums in five different decades (the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 2000s and 2010s). In 2020, Bruce Springsteen became the first solo artist to score UK number-one albums in five consecutive decades (the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s) with his twelfth number-one album Letter to You . Just two weeks later, Kylie Minogue became

12628-467: The first artist to chart with an album released in a NFT format when Close to Home debuted at number 2 (with Steps beating the rapper to number one and becoming the first mixed-gender British act to get chart topping albums in four consecutive decades). A week later, Will of the People by Muse became the first NFT-listed album to top the charts, with the limited edition NFT listed as part of

12792-456: The first female solo artist to have UK number-one albums in five different decades (all consecutively, the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s), with her eighth UK number-one album Disco . In November 2021, ABBA became the third group (after The Rolling Stones and The Beatles) to score a UK number one album in five different decades (in ABBA's case, the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2020s) with

12956-404: The first half of the Home tour, drummer Hideya Suzuki injured his hand after accidentally touching a ventilator. He injured his left index finger, which required four stitches and the following two concerts had to be rescheduled. Publicity for the tour reached a high, when they performed in front of a sold-out tour for 15,000 fans at Yokohama Arena on June 7, 2007 and reignited speculation that

13120-400: The first of the movement to sign to a major record label when they joined Victor Entertainment in 2013. The year 2014 brought the international success of self-described " kawaii metal " idol act Babymetal , through the viral YouTube hit " Gimme Chocolate!! ". They were the opening act to five of Lady Gaga 's concerts on her ArtRave: The Artpop Ball 2014 tour. In 2016, Babymetal began

13284-507: The following year, including signing to JPU Records . In 2018, Lovebites won the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards for Best New Band and became the first Japanese all-female heavy metal band to perform at Germany's Wacken Open Air . Mr. Children Mr. Children ( Japanese : ミスターチルドレン , Hepburn : Misutā Chirudoren ) , commonly referred to by their contracted nickname "Misu-Chiru" ( ミスチル ) , are

13448-491: The group created a sixth demo tape and caught the attention of Toy's Factory. The label signed the group and had them play as the opening act for the rock group Jun Sky Walkers. It was also during this time that they were introduced to their long-time friend and producer Takeshi Kobayashi. Kobayashi was already known in the music industry as a music composer for Keisuke Kuwata of Southern All Stars and Kyōko Koizumi . On May 10, 1992, Mr. Children's debut album, Everything ,

13612-424: The group is through Brajacket' s, a dust jacket for books, which are available at stands in bookstores for free. The Brajacket serve as free advertising for various products from ice cream to movies and musicals. Mr. Children have used this method to promote singles and albums; for example Shifuku no Oto ( シフクノオト ) and I Love U (I♥U) . The official fan club of Mr. Children is called Father & Mother,

13776-487: The group's commercial tie-ins include "and I love you", "Bokura no Oto", and "Tagatame" for Nissin Cup Noodle no Border commercials, 'Gift' for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on NHK, and "Tabidachi no uta" for the 2007 Japanese movie Koizora ( 恋空 ) . As a group, Mr.Children have not endorsed products by physically appearing in television commercials or printed media advertisements. One of the methods used to help promote

13940-468: The groups' tenth anniversary. The release of the album on their 10th anniversary was not something that had originally intended. As the group was wrapping up recording, Sakurai asked if the album could be released in the spring time. While the group and their management was trying to think of how to promote an album in the spring time, they came up with releasing the album on their 10th anniversary. A new tour, titled Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World

14104-920: The late 1960s, Group Sounds bands such as The Tempters, the Tigers, the Golden Cups, the Ox, the Village Singers, the Carnabeats, the Mops , the Jaguars, the Wild Ones and the Spiders had big hits. After the boom of Group Sounds, there were several folk singer-songwriters. They were influenced by Bob Dylan and American folk music . The Tigers were the most popular Group Sounds band in the era. Later, some of

14268-404: The late 2000s there was an increasing number of bands that had built up a strong fan base prior to their main break-through in the music industry. Indie band flumpool sold over one million copies of their first digital single "Hana ni nare". Sakanaction performed their first live concert at Nippon Budokan while enjoying major success with their singles " Aruku Around " and "Rookie". Sakanaction

14432-416: The late nineties extending in the years 2000 include Shakalabbits and 175R . The first Fuji Rock Festival opened in 1997. The following year, Supercar released its influential debut album Three Out Change . Characterized as having "almost foundational importance to 21st century Japanese indie rock", Supercar remained active through 2005 with their later albums containing more electronic rock. Around

14596-549: The main album chart or excluded. In August 1971, the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) allowed low-priced budget albums to chart as well as standard compilations. This decision gave a number one to Music For Pleasure's Hot Hits 6 , which went straight in at the top of the chart and was joined at number 6 by a new entry for Hallmark's Top of the Pops Volume 18 , another album featuring

14760-486: The main artist albums chart before 2020. In addition to the main Compilations chart, all the 'Motion Picture Cast Recordings' and cast albums get their own Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50, but are still classed as artist albums as far as the singles chart is concerned with, for example, only three tracks from early 2022 chart topper Encanto (a Disney soundtrack which sold 13,855 units to be at number one for

14924-503: The mainstream through singers such as Kyu Sakamoto . In the 1960s, many Japanese rock bands were influenced by Western rock musicians such as the Beatles , Bob Dylan , and the Rolling Stones , along with other Appalachian folk music , psychedelic rock , mod and similar genres: a phenomenon that was called Group Sounds (G.S.). John Lennon of the Beatles later became one of the most popular Western musicians in Japan. By

15088-760: The members of the Tigers, the Tempters , and the Spiders formed the first Japanese supergroup , Pyg . Late 1960’s and early 1970’s "New Rock" groups such as Powerhouse, The Helpful Soul, Apryl Fool , Mickey Curtis & The Samurai, Yuya Uchida (singer) & The Flowers (aka Flower Travellin' Band ), Blues Creation , Pyg (band) , Food Brain, Shinki Chen & Friends, Speed, Glue & Shinki , Too Much, Strawberry Path, Flied Egg, Cosmos Factory, Yonin Bayashi, Alan Merrill and Vodka Collins (band) , Rouge, and Okinawa Island rock groups such as Murasaki (band) , and Condition Green released rock albums. After seeing

15252-561: The most number one albums by a female artist in the UK, with 12 each, though in Madonna's case this includes the Evita film soundtrack which was a cast recording and not strictly a Madonna album as she does not perform on every track (of the album's 31 tracks, she performs on 22 songs but only on 8 songs by herself). Swift also holds the record for the most consecutive number one albums by a female artist with 9, just one behind Eminem who holds

15416-472: The most simultaneous UK Top 40 albums, behind Elvis Presley and David Bowie who both tie for the most simultaneous Top 40 albums (twelve each, both immediately following their deaths in 1977 and 2016 respectively), and The Beatles who had eleven in 2009 when remastered versions of their albums were released. The fastest selling album (first chart week sales) is 25 by Adele . Released in November 2015, it sold over 800,000 copies in its first week. However,

15580-749: The most successful international tour by a Japanese artist in 2008, has performed at 250 concerts in more than thirty countries around the world. In 2016, One OK Rock became the first Japanese band to perform at the Taipei Arena in Taiwan, and it has sold out concerts at venues such as AsiaWorld-Arena in Hong Kong and Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines, making it one of the band's biggest performances outside of Japan, with an average attendance of twelve thousand people at each concert. The decade saw

15744-412: The movie and selected songs by the band on November 10, 2010. It debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly music DVD chart and they also became the first artist to have their eighth consecutive number-one music DVD. On December 1, Mr. Children released their sixteenth studio album Sense includes digital release only single "Fanfare". But the details such as track list, number of tracks, cover and title of

15908-595: The music scene. Several Japanese musicians began experimenting with electronic rock in the early 1970s. The most notable was the internationally renowned Isao Tomita , whose 1972 album Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock featured electronic synthesizer renditions of contemporary rock and pop songs . Other early examples of electronic rock records include Inoue Yousui 's folk rock and pop rock album Ice World (1973) and Osamu Kitajima 's progressive psychedelic rock album Benzaiten (1974), both of which involved contributions from Haruomi Hosono, who later started

16072-439: The ninth single, " See-Saw Game (Yūkan na Koi no Uta) " ( シーソーゲーム 〜勇敢な恋の歌〜 ) was released on August 10. On February 6, 1996 Mr. Children's tenth single " Namonaki Uta " ( 名もなき詩 ) was released, to promote the Japanese drama Pure ( ピュア ) and also for Daio Paper's Elleair ( エリエール ) commercial. The single went on to become Japan's highest first week selling single of all time (which was later broken by idol group AKB48) and

16236-543: The oldest artist to top the charts is Vera Lynn , who was 92 years old when she was at number one with We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn , released in 2009 (though the album only contains material she recorded between 1936 and 1959). Lynn, who died in 2020 at the age of 103, also leads the list for the oldest artist to have a chart album, when the 2017 release of Vera Lynn 100 , released to mark her 100th birthday (though again, this only contains material she recorded decades earlier), peaked at number 3. Currently,

16400-447: The oldest living male artist to have the topped the UK albums chart is Tom Jones , who reached the top in 2021 with new studio album Surrounded By Time at the age of 80, while 95 year old Tony Bennett charted at number 6 on the chart of 8–14 October 2021 with his Lady Gaga duets album Love For Sale , becoming recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest person to release an album of new material. In 1980, Kate Bush became

16564-613: The only bands to maintain a high standards of their sales along the years. Japanese rock has a vibrant underground rock scene, best known internationally for noise rock bands such as Boredoms and Melt Banana , as well as stoner rock bands such as Boris and alternative acts such as Shonen Knife , Pizzicato Five , and the Pillows (who gained international attention in 1999 for the FLCL soundtrack). Other notable international touring indie rock acts are Mono and Nisennenmondai . In

16728-512: The participants. The ap bank announced that Mr.Children would appear for all 3 days at ap bank fes '08. Their second single of the year, "Hanabi", released on September 3, 2008, was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Code Blue , in which Tomohisa Yamashita played a main role. The single "Hanabi" topped the Oricon single charts for two weeks, becoming their 29th consecutive number-one single. However, their next single "Hana no Nioi" ( 花の匂い ) became their first download-only single for

16892-407: The previous 66 years of the chart, this occurrence where one label has had the Top 3 has only happened twice before with Parlophone taking the Top 3 positions in 1964 with two albums by The Beatles and Stay With The Hollies and K-Tel having three TV-advertised compilations at number 1, 2 and 3 on the chart of 31 December 1972. The fastest-selling debut albums (first-week sales): Sam Smith holds

17056-407: The publication would go monthly from March 2021, and so a bespoke monthly Official Albums Chart Top 75 (similar to album charts used by Top of the Pops in the early 1990s and Absolute 80s on Sundays) started to be published from this date alongside monthly singles charts and specialist/genre charts. By 2022, the weekly album chart had started to regularly feature a pattern of acts getting

17220-429: The record for most weeks spent in the Top 10 by a debut album with In the Lonely Hour , with 76, surpassing a record previously held by Emeli Sandé . Over more than sixty years of compiling album sales, the various chart compiling firms have had a problem with the success of multi-artist compilation albums, with these albums (mostly TV-advertised collections featuring a number of hits) either being allowed to chart in

17384-602: The record for the highest first week sales of a single in Japan for 15 years, with 1.2 million copies of their 10th single " Namonaki Uta " ( 名もなき詩 ) , have 30 consecutive number 1 singles, replaced Glay as the all-male band (with 3 or more members) to have the most number 1 albums on the Oricon charts, and won the Japan Record Award in 1994 for " Innocent World " and in 2004 for " Sign ". As of 2012, Mr. Children has published fifteen original studio albums and 34 physical singles , along with five compilations ,

17548-411: The record for the most consecutive number one albums in Official Albums Chart history with 10. Adele is the female solo artist with the most weeks at number one, with a total of 37 weeks. Spice Girls are the female group with the most weeks at number one, with a total of 18 weeks (15 of which were for their debut album Spice ). In March 2018, Little Mix 's fourth studio album Glory Days , set

17712-463: The record for the steepest drop from number one when their album Anxiety Replacement Therapy fell out of the Top 200 altogether with second week sales of 880 copies. This occurrence of number one albums dropping out of the top 100 in their second week of release prompted an article in The Guardian newspaper wondering whether the UK album chart was broken. On 26 August 2022, Aitch became

17876-609: The record set by GReeeeN 's "Haruka". Also released on April 18 was the band's Mr. Children 2011 Tour Sense: In the Field DVD, which debuted at number one on both the Oricon DVD and Blu-ray charts, making Mr. Children the first artist to top three of Oricon's charts in a single week. On May 10, Mr. Children released a pair of best-of albums titled Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞ and Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞ in celebration of their 20th anniversary. The band also embarked on

18040-610: The recording of Zero Landmine , a single created to promote awareness of the problem of landmines and promote a ban on landmines. In addition the group has also participated in Kazutoshi Sakura's solo project, AP bank. AP Bank, a nonprofit lending group, carries the goal of tackling environmental problems by financing environmentally friendly projects such as renewable energy, in addition to holding yearly festivals to raise money to fund additional projects. Since its inception in 2005, Mr.Children has been actively participating in

18204-451: The recording of the song "Houkiboshi", due to a dispute among the group over "Home"'s direction. Producer Kobayashi suggested to make an album that "pays attention to the world with a message". The album reflected a more personal touch from the group, with "Motto" ( もっと ) talking about the 9/11 attacks at New York City , and "Anmari oboetenai ya" ( あんまり覚えてないや ) , being inspired by Kazutoshi Sakurai father who had been sick. The title of

18368-459: The release of the new album, Mr.Children's 23rd single "Any", was released on July 11, 2002 and used to promote NTT DoCoMo Group 10th Anniversary . The group was not able to properly promote the single. As preparations for the new tour were beginning and promotion for the new single were being done, lead singer Sakurai was hospitalized on July 21, 2002, after a blockage in his cerebellum was detected. The Mr. Children Tour 2002 Dear Wonderful World

18532-596: The release of two singles. The first, "Gift", released on July 30, 2008, was used as the official theme song to the 2008 Beijing Olympics coverage on NHK. When writing this song, Sakurai focused on the meaning behind the Olympics and wanted to write a song not just for those who win, but for everyone who participates. The most beautiful sparkling color in the Olympic Games is gold. But I also think there are other colors which are more important and valuable for all

18696-467: The role. On June 1, 1994 a new single called " Innocent World " was released and used a promotional song for the soft drink Aquaerius Ioshisu ( アクエリアス イオシス ) . The single solidified the groups popularity with its sales, managing to sell 1,935,830 copies and becoming the No. 1 selling single in Oricon 's 1994 yearly charts. Afterwards work began on their fourth original album Atomic Heart . The album

18860-465: The sales of 1.18 million copies, surpassing the sales of Kumi Koda 's album Black Cherry of 1.02 million copies. For the beginning of 2008, Sakurai released an album and DVD with his solo project Bank Band, followed a month later by the official announcement of a new song, "Shounen" ( 少年 ) , used in the NHK Japanese television drama Battery ( バッテリー ) . Afterwards Mr. Children announced

19024-916: The same time, bands such as Quruli and Number Girl had begun heavily influencing Japanese alternative rock. Music critic Ian Martin wrote that, along with Supercar, these groups had demonstrated that "Japanese rock bands could take on the British and American alternative bands of the 90s at their own game ... and in doing so, they had laid new ground for Japanese rock to develop in its own way from this point on." Rising Sun Rock Festival opened in 1999. Summer Sonic Festival and Rock in Japan Festival opened in 2000. New bands such as Bump of Chicken , Radwimps , Asian Kung-Fu Generation , ONE OK ROCK , Orange Range , Uverworld , Remioromen , Sambomaster , and Aqua Timez have achieved success. Established bands as B'z, Mr. Children, Glay, and L'Arc-en-Ciel also continue to top charts, though B'z and Mr. Children are

19188-583: The single "Shirushi" at the Space Shower Music Video Awards '07. For the album, the group held two promotional tours. The first half called Mr. Children Home Tour 2007, started on May 4 and lasted until June 23. During the tour, a new compilation album titled B-Side was released on May 10, which was also the group's 15th anniversary. The release of a B-side compilation had been suggested by singer Sakurai while working on Home : There are so many songs I like very much. Releasing

19352-644: The single. However the commercial tie-in's for the single proved to be a success and "Houkiboshi" was voted No. 3 as the favorite commercial song for 2006 and voted as the favorite winter song heard in the summer. Ten days following the release of 'Houkiboshi', Mr.Children participated in the 3 day festival, ap bank fes '06, where they performed "Hero", "Strange Chameleon", "Owarinaki tabi", and "Hokiboshi". One month later Mr.Children were special guests at The Mujintou fes. 2006 and performed "Mirai", "Innocent world", "Hokorobi", "Sign", "Owarinaki tabi", "Worlds end", and "Houkiboshi". Shortly after Mr.Children announced

19516-484: The singles chart , The Official Charts Company has classed re-issues of The Beatles' Abbey Road , and The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street and Goats Head Soup , as brand new hits/number 1s due to the amount of bonus material available, formats released and the fact that the issuing record label had changed. As of September 2022, Elvis Presley is still the male solo artist with the most weeks at number one with

19680-543: The song in February 2006 and finished writing in March 2006. and shot the promotional video in September 2006. One of the b-sides of single was a re-recording of Mr. Children's 2003 song "Kurumi", used as a theme song in the movie Koufuku na Shokutaku ( 幸福な食卓 ) . On January 24, 2007, the band released their 30th single, "Fake" ( フェイク ) , which was used as the theme song for the movie Dororo ( どろろ ) , and while only

19844-703: The techno pop music group "Yellow Magic Band" (later known as Yellow Magic Orchestra) in 1977. Early examples of Japanese punk rock include SS , the Star Club , the Stalin , Inu, Gaseneta, Bomb Factory , Lizard (who were produced by the Stranglers ) and Friction (whose guitarist Reck had previously played with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks before returning to Tokyo) and the Blue Hearts . The early punk scene

20008-531: The title being derived from their name. The fan club, which started in 1994, was kept relatively secretive at first, as the group has never made any mention of it on their official website. In 2006, for the release of the group's 29th single "Shirushi", the official website was revamped and with it information about the fan club was finally added. Just like before however, the fan club can only be joined by mail and requires an admission fee of 3,500 yen, with yearly re-applications for membership. Current members He

20172-468: The top two best-selling albums of 2012, selling 1.17 million copies and 1.11 million copies, respectively. Moreover, (An Imitation) Blood Orange placed eighth on the best-selling albums of 2012 list. They achieved both the highest-selling album and highest-selling artist for 2012. Mr. Children became the third artist to have achieved top two spots on the yearly album ranking, also making it the first time in 14 years that any artist achieved this. Mr.Children

20336-422: The tour the group was also filming a documentary/concert movie called Es ~Mr. Children in Film~ . It was released in theaters on June 6, 1995, preceded by the group's eight single " Es (Theme of Es) " on May 10, to promote the movie. Two months later the group held an open air tour titled -Hounen Mansaku- Natsu matsuri tour Sora [ku:] ( -Hounen Mansaku- 夏祭り1995 空[ku:] ) from July 16 to September 10, during which

20500-552: The tracks were recorded on June 16, 1999 at the Makomanai ice arena, while the bonus track "Dakishimetai" was recorded at the Okinawa Ginowan-Shi seaside park. At the beginning of a new century "Kuchibue" ( 口笛 ) , released on January 13, 2000 became the group's 18th single. While "I'll Be" failed to be a success, "Kuchibue" proved to be a hit selling 724,070 copies. On August 9, 2000, their 19th single "Not Found"

20664-614: The triple A-side single "Inori (Namida no Kidou)/End of the Day/Pieces", their first in three years and seven months; the single debuted at number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, selling 174,409 copies. Two of the songs, "Inori (Namida no Kidou)" and "Pieces", were used as the themes to the Bokura ga Ita movies. In addition, "Inori (Namida no Kidou)" spent four weeks atop the RIAJ Digital Track Chart, tying

20828-584: The week beginning 15 May 2020 with sales of only 7,317, while in 2021 You Me At Six ( Suckapunch ) and Ben Howard ( Collections from the Whiteout ) became the first artists to have a number one album exit the Top 100 with only one week on the chart (though when The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums did their list of number one albums with the fewest weeks on the chart, it was based on the Top 75 countdown and featured acts such as Little Angels with their 1993 album Jam ). In 2023, The Lottery Winners made

20992-456: The year and lead them into the next, Mr. Children released their second album, Kind of Love and their second single " Dakishimetai " ( 抱きしめたい ) on December 1, 1992. "Dakishimetai" was later used as an insert song for the Japanese drama Pure ( ピュア ) . Shortly after, a new tour called '92–93 Kind of Love Tour started and lasted from December 7, 1992 till January 25, 1993. In 1993, with

21156-474: The year, all three albums released that year were in the Top 10 best selling albums of 2012. In 2015, Mr. Children was named No.1 Concert Mobilization Power Ranking based on the overall number of people whom attended their performances during 2015 in Japan, mobilizing 1,119,000 fans (36 concerts). The group's members first met in the year of 1987, when Sakurai, Tahara and Nakagawa were in The Walls , which

21320-455: The year, the Regress or Progress Tour started and lasted from August 24, 1996 to March 28, 1997. The group visited 14 cities and held 55 concerts. Mr. Children's 13th single, " Everything (It's You) ", was released on February 5, 1997, with the title track used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Koi no Bakansu ( 恋のバカンス ) . A month later, on March 5 Bolero , Mr. Children's sixth album

21484-459: Was Songs for Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra for the week ending 22 July 1956. As of the week ending 21 November 2024, the UK Albums Chart has had 1381 different number one albums. The current number one album is Together at Home by From Zero and Linkin Park . The most successful artists in the charts depend on the criteria used. As of February 2016, Queen albums have spent more time on

21648-461: Was aired, the singer talked about his hospitalization and inspiration for the song. On November 15, 2002 Mr.Children's website announced the band's return to the stage for a "stew of home pride" with a one night only live, December 21, 2002 the group returned to the stage for a single concert, later released on DVD, titled Wonederful World on Dec. 21 . The group remained quiet for most of 2003. Sakurai helped to launch Artists' Power Bank ( AP Bank ),

21812-410: Was also used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Bus Stop ( バスストップ ) , followed a month later by their 9th original album Q on September 27, 2000. The band went to New York to record this album, where they re-recorded some of their old indie material and for the first time, producer Takeshi Kobayashi performed with the band on a recording. The cover for the album was shot bought Size, Inc. at

21976-489: Was announced that Mr. Children produced their first anime theme "Fanfare" for the movie One Piece Film: Strong World . "Fanfare" was digitally released as a non full-track ringtone song ( Chaku Uta ) on November 16 as a full-track ringtone song ( Chaku Uta Full ) on December 2, 2009. The song debuted at the number-one position on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart . On May 10, 2010, Mr. Children released

22140-548: Was born in Fukuoka and is charge of playing guitar in the band. He had joined the baseball team in high school but became interested in the guitar because he saw his classmate playing a guitar at a school festival. One day one of his classmates, Kazutoshi Sakurai brought his guitar to school. They bonded with each other over it and that became the catalyst for forming Mr.Children. Known for being quiet in live concerts, his fans become estatic when he says interacts with them. Nakagawa

22304-524: Was born in Nagasaki. His nickname is "Nakakei". He went to the same junior high school as Kenichi and Hideya where he started playing the bass. He is also famous for being a baseball fan. Supporting members UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums . Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming . It

22468-491: Was canceled and all group activities were put on a temporary hiatus. While recovering, Sakurai wrote a song called "Hero", that was inspired by his hospitalization. The song was released as the group's 24th single on December 11, 2002 and was used in NTT DoCoMo Group 10th Anniversary commercial. The first press version of the single included a DVD where, in addition to a ' Mr. Children 2002 documentary -Hero- that

22632-473: Was classed as a hit album (as in the case of The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums ) in the 1980s until January 1989, since the compilations were removed, this definition was changed to Top 75 with follow-up books such as The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums only including this data. As of 2021, Since 1983, the OCC generally provides a public charts for hits and weeks up to the Top 100. Business customers can require additional chart placings. To qualify for

22796-509: Was immortalized on film by Sogo Ishii , who directed the 1982 film Burst City featuring a cast of punk bands/musicians and also filmed videos for The Stalin. The independent scene also included a diverse number of alternative/post-punk/new wave artists such as Aburadako , P-Model , Uchoten , Auto-Mod, Buck-Tick , Guernica and Yapoos (both of which featured Jun Togawa ), G-Schmitt, Totsuzen Danball, and Jagatara , along with noise/industrial bands such as Hijokaidan and Hanatarashi . In

22960-503: Was licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo , until it ended on 2 April 2007. Though album sales tend to produce more revenue and, over time, act as a greater measure of an artist's success, this chart receives less media attention than the UK Singles Chart , because overall sales of an album are more important than its peak position. 2005 saw a record number of artist album sales with 126.2 million sold in

23124-506: Was originally influenced by the band Echoes. The frontman of Echoes, Jinsei Tsuji , was a political activist, and because of this, The Walls too became a political band. Drummer Hideya Suzuki was not an original member of The Walls. When the original drummer departed, the band recruited Suzuki, who went to the same school as the other members. In late 1988, The Walls disintegrated, while the remaining members formed Mr. Children in early 1989. The name of Mr. Children supposedly came about during

23288-630: Was part of Yoko Ono ’s Dream Power and educational platform where artists came together to hold a charity concert to raise money for school construction funds for children in Africa and Asia. The John Lennon song covered by Acid Test during the live, " Mother ", was later recorded and released on a tribute album Happy Birthday, John , and released on September 30, 2005. In addition to social causes, Mr.Children's music has been used as background music for numerous television advertisements, television programs, television drama's, and motion pictures. Examples of

23452-420: Was pinned as a different type of band since they experimented with electronic music and synthrock . Other bands that have gone mainstream included Gesu no Kiwami Otome , Sekai no Owari , and Alexandros . Because of the sudden major increase on indie bands and rock bands in general which competed with contemporary J-Pop artists, the movement has been referred to as a band boom by the media and has been praised as

23616-478: Was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on Fridays (previously Sundays). It is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 (top 5) and found on the OCC website as a Top 100 or on UKChartsPlus as a Top 200, with positions continuing until all sales have been tracked in data only available to industry insiders. However, even though number 100

23780-442: Was released and represented the long journey they took to get to this point. Three months later their first single " Kimi ga Ita Natsu " ( 君がいた夏 ) was released on August 21, 1992. After the release of the single the group held two tours for the album, both held between September 23, 1992 and November 5 of the same year, the '92 Everything Tour comprising ten and the '92 Your Everything Tour consisting of twelve performances. To cap off

23944-581: Was released as a single, it was classified as an album by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. A month later the group attended Kazutoshi Sakurai's 3-day festival ' ap bank fes ’ 05' from July 16, 2005 through July 18, 2005, followed by 'SETSTOCK '05' at Kokuei bihoku kyuuryou park on July 23, 2005 and 'Higher Ground 2005' at Umi no nakamichi kaihinkouen outdoor theater on July 30, 2005. Three months later on September 21, 2005, I Love U (I♥U) , Mr.Children’s 12th original album,

24108-603: Was released in April 1971 and is now considered a progenitor of heavy metal music and, together with Kirikyogen , doom metal . Japanese heavy metal bands started emerging in the late 1970s, pioneered by Bow Wow (1975), 44 Magnum (1977) and Earthshaker (1978). In 1977, Bow Wow supported Aerosmith and Kiss on their Japanese tours. They performed at both the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and

24272-530: Was released in July 1991, topped the charts and sold over 1 million copies. They released two more number one studio albums, Art of Life (1993) and Dahlia (1996), before disbanding in 1997. X Japan signed an American record deal with Atlantic Records in 1992, but an international release never happened. In the 1990s, Luna Sea , Glay , and L'Arc-en-Ciel sold millions of records, while Malice Mizer , La'cryma Christi , and Siam Shade also found success. In

24436-650: Was released on December 12, 1994, though originally intended to be the B-side of " Tomorrow Never Knows ". To end the year, " Innocent World " won the Song of the Year award at the 36th annual Japan Record Awards . In 1995, the second half of the Atomic Heart tour started, lasting from January 1 to February 2. Mr. Children also became involved in charity work, doing a collaboration song with Keisuke Kuwata of Southern All Stars . The single " Kiseki no hoshi " ( 奇跡の地球 )

24600-528: Was released on September 1, 1994 and became the band's highest selling album to date. Due to the huge success the band received from the album and "Innocent World" single, the groups popularity built up creating the "Mis-chil Phenomenon" ( ミスチル現象 ) in Japan. The band also had Takeshi Kobayashi produce two new tours for them. The first tour, named after the " Innocent World " single was held from September 18 to December 18. The band also released their sixth single " Tomorrow Never Knows " on November 10, 1994 which

24764-406: Was released. Soon after, rumors started of the group disbanding. Sakurai's reply: "The band will dissolve only when we have no more talent and have relationship problems with each other." Yet the group then decided to take some time off. Nakagawa and Suzuki start a side project band called Hayashi Hideo , and joined by Kenji Fujii from My Little Lover and Sawao Yamanaka from The Pillows , went on

24928-510: Was released. Two months later Dome Tour 2005 'I Love U' began, running from November 12, 2005 through December 27, 2005 and were only the fourth artist in Japanese history to play at the Osaka, Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya and Fukuoka dome's. The tour ended in Tokyo Come where they played to 45,000 fans, bringing the tour total to almost 390,000 fans. By the end of the year the group managed to pass

25092-444: Was scheduled to play at the ap bank fes '07 from July 14 to July 16, but due to a typhoon , the first two days had to be canceled, and only the final day proceeded as planned. With the announcement of the new single, Mr.Children also announced the 'Home' tour 2007 DVD, which was released on November 14, 2007. On December 18, 2007, Oricon announced that Home became their first album to top the yearly album charts since their debut with

25256-543: Was set to begin later that year. The previous single "I'll Be" from the Discovery album was selected to be used as an official theme for the 2002 FIFA World Cup , held in Japan and South Korea . On May 24, 2002 Mr. Children attended the first ever MTV Video Music Awards Japan and topped the awards show by winning 'Video of the Year' for the song "Kimi ga suki", the band also nominated in Best Group Category but losing to Backstreet Boys . Two months after

25420-552: Was sustainable. The success of Happy End's debut album and their second, Kazemachi Roman released in November 1971, proved the sustainability of Japanese-language rock music in Japan. Carol (led by Eikichi Yazawa ), RC Succession and Funny Company were especially famous and helped define the sound. Sometimes also beginning in the late sixties, but mostly active in the seventies, are musicians mixing rock music with American-style folk and pop rock elements. Folk rock musicians such as Tulip, Banban, Garo , Yosui Inoue were popular in

25584-517: Was the 4th artist by total sales revenue in Japan in 2012, with ¥9.947 billion (approximately $ 84 million). On November 19, 2014, Mr. Children released the CD single "Ashioto (Be Strong)". On December 2, 2020, Mr. Children released their 20th studio album Soundtracks . The band has collaborated with photographers such as Osami Yabuta, Reylia Slaby and Alfie Goodrich Since their official debut, Mr.Children has engaged in social and charitable causes. As

25748-406: Was the Beatles' Please Please Me , which held the top spot for a straight 30 weeks. The longest number one by a male solo artist was Elvis Presley with G.I. Blues which stayed at the top for 22 weeks (his Blue Hawaii album was also the longest consecutive number one album for a male artist with 17 weeks). Adele 's album 21 has the most weeks at number one by a female solo artist (and by

25912-441: Was the public chart for store owners to use in their record shops with the Top 150 Artist Albums Chart being for industry insiders/ChartsPlus subscribers). For many years, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the best-selling album in UK chart history, but is now in third place after being supplanted by Queen's Greatest Hits and then also by ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits . However, Sgt. Pepper still remains

26076-430: Was their 21st single and was an insert song for the Japanese drama Antique Bakery . "Youthful Days" debuted at number-one on Japanese Oricon's Charts in its first week at retail (ahead of Mr. Moonlight (Ai no Big Band) by Morning Musume , from album 4th Ikimashoi! ), and It ended up being their best selling single for the year. The b-side for the single, "Drawing", originally had no commercial tie-in, but two years later

26240-434: Was used as a theme song for the Japanese movie Koizora ( 恋空 ) , and a month later also be used to promote NTT Higashi Nihon. With the release of the single, Mr. Children managed to debut at number 1 for the week and in return obtained their 27th consecutive number 1 single. Similar to Jyūyonsai no Haha before, the movie Koizora deals with the struggles of a young girl, involving betrayal, rape and abortion. The group

26404-556: Was used as the theme song for the Act Against AIDS campaign, was produced by Mr. Children and written by Kuwata. To promote the single and the campaign, they held a one-month tour from April 18 until May 14, entitled Live UFO '95 Rock Opera "Acoustic Revolution with Orchestra" Kiseki no hoshi ( Live UFO '95 Rock Opera "Acoustic Revolution with Orchestra" 奇跡の地球 ) , where the group did cover songs of many English speaking artists such as The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan . During

26568-413: Was used as the theme song to the 2003 Japanese drama Koufuku no ouji ( 幸福の王子 ) , Starring former Shibugakitai member Masahiro Motoki . Mr. Children released their 22nd single "Kimi ga Suki" ( 君が好き ) on New Year's Day of 2002 (January 1), which was used as a show song in the Japanese drama Antique Bakery. Four months later their tenth original album It's a Wonderful World was released on May 10,

26732-474: Was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Orange Days and went on to win the Song of the Year award at the 46th annual Japan Record Awards ten years after their win for 'Innocent World'. Most of the 2005 was spent working on a new album. As a solo act, Kazutoshi Sakurai appeared at Golden Circle vol.7 on February 28, 2005. Finally on June 29, 2005 the group released their 27th single "Yojiken Four Dimensions" ( 四次元 Four Dimensions ) . The single became

26896-407: Was used as the theme song to the Japanese drama Wakamono no Subete ( 若者のすべて ) . The song was written while the group was on tour, was later voted in 2006 as fans No. 1 all-time favorite song on Music Station , and is currently the third highest selling drama tie-in single in Japan. The next single, " Everybody Goes (Chitsujo no Nai Gendai ni Drop Kick) " ( everybody goes -秩序のない現代にドロップキック- )

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