SixTONES

Overview

SixTONES (ストーンズ, pronounced "Stones") is a six-member Japanese boy band under STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, with Sony Music Labels as its label. Formed on May 1, 2015, the group made its CD debut on January 22, 2020 with the single "Imitation Rain/D.D." The debut single sold 773,000 copies on its first day, entered the Oricon daily chart at No. 1, and passed one million copies by its third day. The group has sold over 6.24 million physical records in Japan.

Name

The name was given by Johnny Kitagawa. It evokes a "rough diamond" (原石), the six notes of the do-re-mi scale with "do" removed (a range in which each of the six members can show individuality), and the "six primary colors of sound" derived from "TONE." The name was first read "Six Tones," but Kitagawa found it too long and did not want it abbreviated, so it became "Stones," with the lowercase "ix" silent.

Career

Before formation (2011–2015)

In winter 2011 the members worked as backing dancers for A.B.C-Z and Hey! Say! JUMP. In February 2012 they appeared in the Nippon TV late-night drama Shiritsu Bakaleya Koko, earning the nickname "Bakareya-gumi," and the film version opened on October 13, 2012. During this period they petitioned Johnny Kitagawa directly to hold "Johnny's Jr. Johnny's Dome Theatre SUMMARY."

After a January 2013 performance of "Six Senses" on The Shounen Club, the six were split into two groups, Jesse and Matsumura on one side and Kyomoto, Kochi, Morimoto and Tanaka on the other, and rarely appeared together. They reunited after about a year and a half at "Gamushara J's party!! vol.4" to perform "Shake It Up," and later appeared together in vol.6. In January 2015 they performed KAT-TUN's "Hell, No" on The Shounen Club as six for the first time in two years.

At the time, Morimoto and Kyomoto had considered leaving the agency and Tanaka was uncertain about his path after high school. Jesse asked Kochi to bring everyone together because he wanted to work as six again, and the members then appealed to Kitagawa for "just one song." On May 1, 2015, at Johnny's Ginza 2015, the group's formation was announced.

Johnny's Jr. era (2015–2019)

In September 2015 the group co-starred with Snow Man in the stage play Shounentachi, a joint lead role they held for five years. They continued with Johnny's Ginza 2016, Shounentachi: Kiki Ippatsu! (2016), the East SixTONES × West Kansai Johnny's Jr. SHOW Battle, Johnny's Jr. Matsuri and Shounentachi Born Tomorrow (2017).

When Johnny's Jr.'s official YouTube channel opened on March 21, 2018, they were put in charge of Fridays. In October 2018 they were selected for YouTube's artist promotion campaign; in November they released the "JAPONICA STYLE" music video produced by Hideaki Takizawa, and on December 11 they closed YouTube FanFest Music at Makuhari Messe.

On August 8, 2019 at Tokyo Dome, they announced a simultaneous CD debut with Snow Man in 2020, and opened their own YouTube channel and Instagram account that day. They appeared on the 70th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen in December 2019.

Since debut

• 2020: The debut single "Imitation Rain/D.D." came out on January 22, followed by the radio show SixTONES no All Night Nippon Saturday Special in April, the second single "NAVIGATOR" in July and the third single "NEW ERA" in November. They topped Oricon's 2020 annual rookie artist sales ranking and made their first Kohaku appearance, singing "Imitation Rain."
• 2021: The first album 1ST arrived on January 6. The single "Boku ga Boku ja Nai mitai da" (theme of the film Liar × Liar) came out in February, and "Mascara," written and composed by Daiki Tsuneta, in August. A special anniversary month marked six years in May, and the group returned to Kohaku.
• 2022: The second album CITY was released on January 5; its lead track "Rosy" was the Japanese-dubbed theme of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The singles "Kyomei" (March) and "Watashi" (June) followed, then the group's first double A-side single "Good Luck!/Futari" on November 2. The regular show Value no Shinjitsu began in April, the official Twitter account opened on May 1, and the group opened Kohaku as the first performer.
• 2023: The third album Koe arrived on January 4, followed by the singles "ABARERO" (April), "Kokkara" (June) and "CREAK" (August). The "Kokkara" music video became the group's first to pass 100 million views.
• 2024: The fourth album THE VIBES was released on January 10. The charity song "WE ARE" by STARTO for you, whose proceeds went to victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake, was released digitally in April and on CD on June 12. The single "Neiro" (May 1) sold 523,000 copies in its first week, their first half-million seller since "NAVIGATOR." They played their first music festival, Gobugobu Festival, on May 12, released "GONG/Koko ni Kaette Kite" on July 10, aired their first commercial-TV show SixTONES no Kyo kara Producers! in September, and performed the acoustic show "MTV Unplugged: SixTONES" on December 26.
• 2025: The fifth album GOLD arrived on January 15, and the single "Barrier" (theme of the film Ojo to Banken-kun) on March 19. The regular show Golden SixTONES began on April 6. A livestream marking the 10th anniversary on May 1 announced that 66 songs would be released to streaming services on May 17. "BOYZ" and "Stargaze" followed in June and July.
• 2026: Single Collection and Single Collection -inSTrumentals- appeared in January alongside "Amazing!!!!!!", and "Ichibyo" was released on February 19.

Musical style

SixTONES frequently release singles tied to dramas, films and anime, and have worked with outside writers such as Daiki Tsuneta on "Mascara." Their name reflects an emphasis on each member's distinct tone and personality, and their live activity ranges from large stage productions to acoustic performances.

Annual leader

The group initially had no leader. On January 11, 2020, on the show Arashi ni Shiyagare, a vote prompted by Satoshi Ohno of Arashi made Kochi the first leader. In 2021 Matsumura took the role, and the leader has since often been chosen by rock-paper-scissors in the group's first YouTube livestream of the year.