Biography & Discography
Content will be modified soon.
KAT-TUN (カテゥーン katūn, sounding similar to "cartoon") is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (JE) in 2001 who releases records under their own label, J-One Records. The group's name is an acronym formed by the members' surname initials. Currently one of the most popular boy bands in Japan, all eight singles, three studio albums and six DVDs released by the group since their debut in 2006 have debuted at number one on the Oricon music and DVD charts.
Their debut was marked by a tripartite release, consisting of a single, an album and a DVD: Real Face, Best of KAT-TUN and Real Face Film. All three shattered records in sales.
History
2001 – 2006: Formation & Pre-Debut Activities
Before becoming KAT-TUN, each member belonged to different junior units within the company. In 2001, eight members were chosen to become a temporary dancing unit in order to support KinKi Kids member Koichi Domoto in the NHK music program, Pop Jam. Of these members, it did not include Tanaka; however, members were switched before it officially became KAT-TUN, with the current six members. Although the formation was only meant to be a temporary support unit, KAT-TUN gained a great deal of attention, so the formation was kept and KAT-TUN remains a solid unit.
In 2002, in response to many requests, KAT-TUN held their first concert, Okyakusama wa Kamisama - Concert 55man nin Ai no request ni Kotaete, making them the first JE group to hold their own concert before officially debuting. The concert was also released on DVD. That same year, they performed 11 shows in a day. This is the current record in Japan for the most performances in a day. Since then, KAT-TUN has held concerts in Japan almost every season.
In 2003-2004, their popularity rose to that of a debuted group, to the point where they performed on Music Station multiple times before debuting. In 2005, KAT-TUN released their first major DVD, LIVE KAIZOKUBAN, which topped the Oricon yearly chart for the best-selling DVD. At the 20th Japan Gold Disc Awards, LIVE KAIZOKUBAN placed on the Music Video Of The Year list.
2006: Debut
Their debut was announced on January 29, 2006 for March 22, 2006. This was a five-year long-awaited event for both the members and their fans. On the official date, KAT-TUN released their debut single Real Face, accompanied by an album, Best of KAT-TUN and a DVD Real Face Film. These were released on their own label, J-One Records. The group also went on a nationwide tour, Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face", in support of the album.
Within the first week, Best of KAT-TUN sold 556,548 copies, Real Face sold 754,234 copies and Real Face Film sold 374,202 copies. These releases topped all three weekly Oricon charts. They are the second artist to do so, the first being Ayumi Hamasaki. With these numbers, KAT-TUN holds the records for the highest weekly single debut sales as well as the record for highest weekly DVD debut sales. In addition, Real Face topped the Oricon charts for three weeks straight, making them the first artist in the millennium to do so in Japan. The single sold over a million copies in nine weeks, making Real Face the highest selling single of the year.
In March 2006, KAT-TUN became the first group to hold their own performances in Japan's most popular stadium, Tokyo Dome, before debuting. They performed to 110,000 people over two days and about 630,000 people in total during the tour. About three months after releasing Real Face, KAT-TUN released their second single, SIGNAL, on July 19, 2006. As expected from the media, it topped the Oricon weekly chart by exceeding 400,000 in sales.
On October 12, 2006, Akanishi announced a hiatus from the group in order to study linguistics abroad in the United States, leaving KAT-TUN as a five-member group for six months. The remaining members continued activities by releasing their third single, Bokura no Machi de (as the theme song to Kamenashi and Tanaka's drama, Tatta Hitotsu no Koi), and their second album, cartoon KAT-TUN II YOU, on December 7, 2006. Despite the fact that one of their lead vocalist was missing, the releases still topped the charts.
KAT-TUN is the first artist in Japan to have all three singles from debut to exceed 500,000 in yearly sales, taking first, fifth and 13th place on the yearly singles chart.
2007: Cartoon KAT-TUN II You
Under the same name as their second album, KAT-TUN started their second nationwide tour, TOUR 2007 cartoon KAT-TUN II You, still without Akanishi, on April 3, 2007. The next day, KAT-TUN began to host their own variety show cartoon KAT-TUN, which airs every Wednesday from 11:55 P.M. to 12:26 A.M..
Akanishi returned to Japan on April 19, 2007 and officially resumed work activities on April 20, 2007. His return excited a nationwide media frenzy. Akanishi joined the rest of KAT-TUN during their tour on April 21, 2007 in Sendai for the encore. The appearance marked his official return to KAT-TUN.
On June 6, 2007, KAT-TUN released their fourth single, Yorokobi no Uta, as the theme song to Tanaka's drama, Tokkyu Tanaka 3 Go. The single hit number one on the weekly chart. Although Yorokobi no Uta is KAT-TUN's official fourth single, it is speculated that YOU, the theme song to Kamenashi's drama, Sapuri, was supposed to be the fourth, but Akanishi's sudden hiatus delayed any production of YOU being a single.
On November 21, 2007, they simultaneously released their fifth single, Keep the faith, as the theme song to Akanishi and Taguchi's drama, Yukan Club, and the DVD to their TOKYO DOME Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face" concert. The DVD established their fifth consecutive release to top the Oricon musical DVD chart. It also set the opening week record for the year. In addition, KAT-TUN took the yearly number one position on the Oricon musical DVD charts for the third time in a row with the release. To add on to the number ones, Keep the faith also topped the weekly single charts.
After KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN is the second artist to have all singles since debut to exceed 300,000 in sales during their first week.
At the 21st Japan Gold Disc Awards, Real Face took Single of the Year. In addition to this, Real Face, SIGNAL and Bokura no Machi de were included in the list of The Best 10 Singles for 2007. Furthermore, their debut album, Best of KAT-TUN, placed in the The Best 10 Albums of 2007 and their DVD, Real Face Film, was also included on the The Best Music Videos of 2007 list.
2008 – present: -Queen of Pirates-
KAT-TUN released their sixth single, LIPS, on February 6, 2008, as the theme song to Kamenashi's drama, One Pound Gospel. The single topped at number one on the Oricon charts.
At the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards, Bokura no Machi de and Keep the Faith won two of the Best 10 Singles. Their concert DVD, Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face", had also won one of the three Best Music Videos awards.
On March 30, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN will hold their third nationwide tour, to start in Hiroshima on June 21, 2008.
On April 22, 2008 it was announced that KAT-TUN will release their third album, KAT-TUN III Queen of Pirates on June 4, 2008.
KAT-TUN released their seventh single, Don't U Ever Stop, on May 14, 2008 which topped the weekly Oricon chart. The release included three limited edition versions featuring the members' solos in pairs. The first with Kamenashi and Taguchi, the second with Akanishi and Tanaka, and the third with Ueda and Nakamaru. It sold more than the top 49 artists after them combined. Along with LIPS, KAT-TUN holds the records for the two highest first-week sales in 2008.
On May 15, 2008, during the MC segment of promoting Don't U Ever Stop on Music Station, Kamenashi announced that two days were added to their Tokyo Dome performances for their tour, resulting in a total of four consecutive days in the Dome. This marks a historic event in the Dome's history, which has been established since 1988, as KAT-TUN is the first artist to hold four consecutive days at the stadium. Other Japanese artists, such as SMAP, X Japan and Ayumi Hamasaki have had three consecutive days at the Dome, and Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson have had multiple days at the Dome as well, but they were not consecutive.
On December 3, 2008, KAT-TUN released White X'mas, their first Christmas single. The release consisted of a limited and regular edition, but both would only be sold during the holiday season. The single, with no drama tie-in and no B-side, still sold moderately well with 250,000 copies sold in its first week.
On December 21, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN will release a new single ONE DROP as a tie-in theme song to Kamenashi's new drama, Kami no Shizuku, just two months after their White X'mas single. The release consists of three versions: Limited Edition w/DVD, Regular Edition (First Press) and a Regular Edition. All three versions consists of different features.
On December 28, 2008, avex Taiwan announced on their website of an overseas (OS) press release of KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES on January 20, 2009, including traditional Chinese subtitles.
Before partaking in Johnny's annual countdown concert on December 31, 2008, KAT-TUN performed an unbroadcasted special medley for 10 minutes, consisting of Keep the faith, ONE DROP and Yorokobi no Uta. This was their first time performing ONE DROP publicly, debuting the song.
On January 1, 2009, it was announced that Kamenashi will continue starring in DREAMBOYS in September for 38 shows. The stage show is expected to continue for six more years. In addition, KAT-TUN released KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES DVD, featuring their last day of four in Tokyo Dome.
On March 11, 2009, KAT-TUN is to release a new single 'Rescue'.
Gave up on the idea of making a debut
Although KAT-TUN has been around for 5 years, watching 3 other groups Takki & Tsubasa, NEWS and Kanjani 8 make their debut one after another was painful for the members. At one time, they toyed with the idea of leaving the agency and work elsewhere. Some of them even felt that as long as they stayed on, the debut wasn't that important after all since they had lost hope in this possibility. However, Johnny-san told them suddenly in 2003 that the coming year would be important for them and the debut finally materialised 3 years later.
Shuuji to Akira's debut
At the time when the CD release of Shuuji to Akira was decided, KAT-TUN had to contend with two different types of feelings. They had just released a DVD and were feeling more positive about the future but the debut of Shuuji to Akira dashed their hopes of a CD debut. This led the members to wonder why the agency did this and Kamenashi even called Johnny-san personally to protest against this decision since he wanted KAT-TUN to release a CD first. However, Johnny-san said that his decision was final and he has separate plans for KAT-TUN. He ordered Kamenashi to follow the work arrangements instead of complaining.
Quarrels between the members
When KAT-TUN was initially formed, they had numerous quarrels and even fights among themselves about work issues or even trivial matters. During the time when they were having a 2-month run for a stage play, the 6 people were stuck in a small resting room which led to more intense quarrels. In particular, Akanishi and Taguchi got into arguments most often. Taguchi was said to be especially aggressive when he was playing games and would scream at people to die.
Quarrel which almost led to their disband
The furore arose because Nakamaru made a mistake on stage and the other members scolded Ueda for following Nakamaru's wrong move. Later, Kamenashi entered the backstage dressing room and joined the others in scolding him. That led to Ueda punching him and Kamenashi wanted out of the group. Kamenashi even went to look for Johnny-san personally for this. On the following day, Johnny-san complimented Kamenashi for having the guts to pick a fight which somehow made the latter cool down without KAT-TUN having to disband.
Problems with their seniors
When KAT-TUN was still doing back-up dances for their seniorss, it was normal for them to try showing their cool sides on screen to gain more attention. However, KAT-TUN was scolded by the seniors for various reasons e.g. they did not dance well and they were not synchronised at all. They were told to retreat to the back of the stage which made them feel worse.
KAT-TUN also mentioned during the programme that among their seniors, Takizawa Hideaki is the one who understands them most and would constantly praise and encourage them. Besides that, TOKIO also spoke good things of KAT-TUN during their concerts.
Although KAT-TUN did not mention which senior/group treated them badly, the only groups which they did back-up dancing for were KinKi Kids, V6, Arashi and Takki & Tsubasa. There were rumours of KAT-TUN fans disrupting order during Arashi and V6 concerts which may have led to problems.
