B'z

Overview

B'z (ビーズ) is a Japanese rock duo made up of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba, known for energetic hard rock. They are managed by VERMILLION and release music on VERMILLION RECORDS. They debuted on September 21, 1988, with the simultaneous release of the single "Dakara Sono Te o Hanashite" and the album B'z. On the Oricon charts they have scored 50 consecutive No. 1 singles, 27 No. 1 albums and 4 No. 1 EPs, and have sold more than 100 million records worldwide; their combined single and album sales exceed 83 million in Japan, making them the country's best-selling act by Oricon's count. In 2003 HMV Japan ranked them No. 30 among the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. In 2007 they became the first Asian act to have their handprints and signatures placed on Hollywood's RockWalk, and in 2008 they received a Guinness World Record for best-selling album act in Japan.

Career

Formation and debut (1988)

Matsumoto was a busy session and backing guitarist for Being-affiliated artists such as TM Network and Mari Hamada, and wanted a band of his own. In May 1988 Being president and producer Daiko Nagato gave him a demo tape of Inaba singing songs by T-Bone Walker, Led Zeppelin (Muddy Waters) and Billy Joel. Matsumoto decided on Inaba as his vocalist, and the two first played together at the Roppongi studio SOUND JOKER, jamming The Beatles' "Let It Be" and "Oh! Darling." An amp failure ended the session after two songs, but the partnership was settled almost at once. Though Japan was in the middle of a band boom, Matsumoto chose a two-man format to expand the possibilities of guitar and voice alongside computers and new equipment. Only about four months passed between their first meeting and debut.

Early works (1988–1990)

Their early sound used synthesizers and samplers heavily and was close to TM Network, very different from their later hard rock. Their second album, Off the Lock, arrived on May 21, 1989, along with their first live series, "Live-Gym," in Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo; tickets sold out on the first day. The first mini-album, Bad Communication (October 21), charted for 163 weeks on Oricon and remains a Live-Gym staple. Their third album, Break Through (February 1990), reached No. 3. The single "Taiyō no Komachi Angel" (June 13, 1990) gave them their first No. 1, starting a run of every single debuting at the top. The fourth album, Risky (November 1990), was their first No. 1 album and first million-seller, and the video compilation Film Risky was shot in New York and London. 1990 was their busiest year.

Transition to hard rock (1991–1992)

The 1991 single "Lady Navigation" became a million-seller. The fifth album, In the Life (November 27, 1991), marked a move away from digital sounds toward rock, and its tour ran 66 shows; they played over 100 Live-Gyms that year. In summer 1992 they staged the arena tour "B'z Pleasure '92 'Time'" with 12 shows in three cities, featuring a huge lighting rig called the "Starfish" and rotating seats. The sixth album, Run (October 28, 1992), was even more hard rock oriented, followed by the movie-soundtrack-like mini-album Friends in December.

Blues and open-air shows (1993–1994)

In March 1993 they released their twelfth and best-selling single, "Ai no mama ni Wagamama ni Boku wa Kimi dake o Kizutsukenai," certified double platinum by the RIAJ in 2003. On July 31 and August 1 they held their first open-air concert at Bentenjima in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, drawing 50,000 people per day. After the 1994 single "Motel," they dissolved their production collective B+U+M to take advantage of being a duo.

Later years

The 1998 compilation B'z The Best "Pleasure" became the first album in Japanese music history to pass 5 million copies, and together with B'z The Best "Treasure" sold about 10 million. In total, 15 singles and 19 albums have gone million. They founded VERMILLION in 2001, closed the Pleasure tour series in 2003, revived it in 2008 with "Pleasure 2008 -GLORY DAYS-," and marked their 25th anniversary in 2013 with "Endless Summer." They reached their 30th anniversary in 2018.

Recent activity (2021 onward)

In 2021 they released the singles "Kimi to Nara" (May), "Sexual Violet No.1" (July) and "UNITE" (October), then the album FRIENDS Ⅲ on December 8. In 2022 came "SLEEPLESS" (June) and, on August 10, "COMEBACK -Itoshiki Kakera-," "Liv" and the album Highway X with its title single. After "STARS" (July 2023), "Get Wild" (May 2024), "Illumination" (October 2024) and "Muchi" (January 2025), they issued "FMP" on November 1, 2025, and the album FYOP on November 12, 2025.

Musical style

Their early sound was digital with hard guitar, in the vein of TM Network, and the project was originally conceived with a TM-like concept. Because Matsumoto and Inaba shared favorite guitarists and goals, they kept a rock feel and an 8-beat groove, and the music grew steadily more rock-oriented. Built on hard rock, it absorbs acoustic, blues, jazz, soul, psychedelic, funk, heavy metal, reggae, Latin, march and kayokyoku influences. B'z is said to be nearly the only act in Japanese J-POP pursuing the top of the charts with a hard rock foundation.

Matsumoto composes and Inaba writes lyrics. Songs usually begin with Matsumoto's melodies and riffs, with lyrics added afterward; Inaba often draws words from Matsumoto's melodies and tones. Masao Akashi handled early arrangements, and Inaba received his first arranging credit on the 16th single "Negai." Recording is often done in Los Angeles and Tokyo, and outside producers such as Andy Johns have been used. The members say the name has no deep meaning; they wanted a symbol-like name that could be designed like a corporate logo. Their activity centers on annual album tours called Live-Gym, where the two perform energetically regardless of venue size.