the peggies

Overview

the peggies (ザ・ペギーズ) is a Japanese three-piece all-female rock band consisting of Yuho Kitazawa (vocals, guitar), Makiko Ishiwata (bass) and Miku Onuki (drums). They were managed by MAVERICK DC GROUP and signed to Epic Records Japan. Best known for their anime tie-in songs, the band went on indefinite hiatus on September 30, 2022. The name comes from the female name Peggy.

Members

• Yuho Kitazawa (born December 2, 1995, Tokyo): vocals and guitar; writes, composes and arranges the band's songs. She has also worked as the solo project Q.I.S. since 2023 and in July 2024 announced her first solo album and tour.
• Makiko Ishiwata (born August 27, 1995, Tokyo): bass. She announced her marriage to Shingo Anami of Ryokuoushoku Shakai on February 3, 2024.
• Miku Onuki (born April 23, 1995, Kanagawa): drums.
• Former member: Maiko Nagasaka (guitar).

Career

Formation and indie years

The band formed in 2009 when Kitazawa, then a second-year junior high student in the light music club at Japan Women's University's affiliated school, invited Ishiwata and Onuki to join. They began as a cover band; Nagasaka joined in May 2011 and the band started writing original songs, playing their first show in July 2011 at the Maple House live venue near Gakugei-daigaku Station. In February 2012 they won EMI Music Japan's "REVOLUTION ROCK" contest and opened EMI ROCKS at Saitama Super Arena, announcing there that they would be renamed the peggies.

They held a graduation show in March 2014 and released their first nationally distributed album, goodmorning in TOKYO, exclusively through Tower Records on November 19, 2014. Their first full album NEW KINGDOM followed in 2015, along with their first one-man show at Shibuya WWW on December 10. In 2016 they released their first single "Sputnik / LOVE TRIP" and announced their major debut for spring 2017. Kitazawa also appeared in the 2016 film Datsu Datsu Datsu Datsu 17.

Major debut and rise

Their major debut single "Dreamy Journey" arrived on May 10, 2017 as an ending theme for the anime BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS. "BABY!" followed on September 6, and on November 22 they released "I Onchu," a digital single whose lyrics were built solely from words found on test-writing paper in stationery shops.

The mini album super boy ! super girl !! (January 24, 2018) was supported by a national tour. The digital-only Natsumeki Summer EP came out on July 5, and the third single "Kimi no Sei" on November 7, its title track serving as the opening theme of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

Their first major full album, Hell like Heaven, was released on February 6, 2019 with a national tour, and the fourth single "Stand By Me," the ending theme of Sarazanmai, on May 29. Later releases included "Anemone" (March 2020; Anemone EP in April), "Centimeter" (August 2020), "Ashiato" (June 2021), "Dramatic" (September 2021), the album The GARDEN (October 20, 2021) and "Highlight Highlight" (April 2022). In 2020 the members appeared as themselves in a collaboration mini anime with Rent-a-Girlfriend.

Hiatus

On July 8, 2022 the band announced an indefinite hiatus starting in September. The best-of album MMY was released on September 7, followed by the final tour "the peggies tour 2022 'My White'" from September 13 across Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. They went on hiatus on September 30, 2022.

Musical style

Rooted in rock band sound, the peggies worked across J-pop and anime music, with Kitazawa handling most songwriting, composition and arrangement. She has also written songs for Argonavis, Maaya Uchida, Kessoku Band and halca.