NEWS

Overview

NEWS is a Japanese boy band signed to STARTO ENTERTAINMENT under the ELOV-Label. The name is an acronym for North, East, West and South, and also means "new information". The group formed on September 15, 2003, as the image characters for the Volleyball World Cup 2003, and today consists of Keiichiro Koyama, Takahisa Masuda and Shigeaki Kato. In 2008, NEWS became the second Japanese group after label-mates KinKi Kids to have ten consecutive number-one singles since their debut.

Career

Formation and debut (2003–2006)

NEWS was announced on September 15, 2003, at the Shin Takanawa Prince Hotel as a nine-member group centered on Tomohisa Yamashita, with Koyama, Masuda, Kato, Yuya Tegoshi, Hironori Kusano, Takahiro Moriuchi, Ryo Nishikido and Hiroki Uchi. They debuted on November 7 with the promotional single "NEWS Nippon", sold exclusively at 7-Eleven. Moriuchi left in December, leaving eight members. The group made its major debut on May 12, 2004, with "Kibō: Yell", which topped the Oricon chart. Their first album, Touch, also debuted at number one. In July 2005 Uchi was suspended indefinitely for underage drinking, and in January 2006 Kusano was suspended for the same reason, reducing NEWS to six members. The group went on hiatus from May 2006.

The six-member years (2007–2010)

On December 30, 2006, the group's return as six members was announced, and they came back on January 1, 2007, at Johnny's Countdown 2006-2007. Their comeback single "Hoshi wo Mezashite" followed on March 21, and served as the theme for the Japanese version of Happy Feet. In November 2007 they released the single "Weeeek" and the album Pacific simultaneously, and both reached number one. The NEWS Concert Tour Pacific 2007-2008 began on December 15, 2007, and brought their first Tokyo Dome shows on January 9 and 10, 2008. In 2008 they released "Taiyō no Namida" (the theme of the film Kurosagi), "Summer Time" and "Happy Birthday", followed by the album Color. In August 2009 the group hosted Nippon TV's 24-Hour Television, and in September 2010 they released their fourth album, LIVE.

Becoming a quartet (2011–2019)

On October 7, 2011, the departures of Ryo Nishikido and Tomohisa Yamashita were announced, leaving Koyama, Masuda, Kato and Tegoshi. Kato changed his stage name to Shigeaki Kato in November. NEWS released its first best album, NEWS BEST, on June 13, 2012, and the first four-member single, "Chankapana", on July 18, followed by NEWS LIVE TOUR 2012 Utsukushii Koi ni Suru yo. A tenth-anniversary event and live was held at the Tokyo Dome on September 7, 2013. Later albums included White (2015) and QUARTETTO (2016, with a tour of the same name). Members served as main personalities of 24-Hour Television in 2016 and 2017 (Koyama in 2017). In August 2018 they held NEWS 15th Anniversary LIVE 2018 "Strawberry" at Ajinomoto Stadium, and from December 31, 2018, to January 7, 2019, they performed NEWS DOME TOUR 2018-2019 EPCOTIA -ENCORE-, including their first standalone countdown concert at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

Becoming a trio (2020 onward)

On June 19, 2020, Yuya Tegoshi's contract ended, leaving NEWS as a trio of Koyama, Masuda and Kato. Masuda served as main personality of 24-Hour Television in August. After Koyama and Kato tested positive for COVID-19 in November, the streaming concert NEWS LIVE TOUR 2020 STORY, planned for December 12 and 13, was cancelled. The first single as a trio, "Beautiful/Chinchaumakka/Canary", came out on December 23, 2020. In May 2023 they played an outdoor festival for the first time at TOKYO METROPOLITAN ROCK FESTIVAL 2023. For their 20th anniversary they held NEWS 20th Anniversary LIVE 2023 NEWS EXPO and, on December 20 and 21, their first Tokyo Dome show as a trio, NEWS 20th Anniversary LIVE 2023 in TOKYO DOME BEST HIT PARADE!!!.

In 2024 NEWS opened an official YouTube channel and, from September 15 and October 1, made all singles (32 titles, 150 songs) and all albums (16 titles, 349 songs) available on streaming and download services. They released JAPANEWS (+ C/W BEST) in August and "Acchi Muite Hoi" in November 2024. In 2025 they released "Chankapana (English Version)" in June, and live footage from past releases became available exclusively on Prime Video, with live audio releases rolling out between July 4 and August 29.

Musical style

NEWS is a J-pop act that has performed many theme songs for volleyball tournaments, films and dramas, such as "BE FUNKY!" for the drama Trouble Man and "Taiyō no Namida" for Kurosagi. Members have also pursued unit activity, notably Tegomasu, the vocal duo of Masuda and Tegoshi.