Back Number
Back Number (バックナンバー; Bakku Nambā) is a Japanese rock power trio formed in 2004. The band consists of Iyori Shimizu (lead vocals, guitar), Kazuya Kojima (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Hisashi Kurihara (drums, percussion). The group signed to independent record label Idolsmith Recordings in 2009 and released their debut EP Nogashita Sakana (逃した魚, Fish Set Free) (2009) and studio album Ato no Matsuri (あとのまつり, Too Late) (2010). They signed to Universal Sigma in 2011. The band have a major cult following in Japan. The group's biggest hit is "Christmas Song", which peaked at number-one for three weeks on the Japan Hot 100 chart, and was later certified million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Their first compilation album, Encore (2016), reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Album for two consecutive weeks in 2016 and also ranked number five on the Oricon yearly best-selling album chart of 2017. In 2018, back number successfully held a Dome Tour titled “stay with you”, including a 2-night-concert in Tokyo Dome. All tickets for 5 concerts are sold out within 2 hours, mobilized over 45,000 guests per concert.
Back Number | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Gunma Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels |
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| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | backnumber.info |
Back Number (バックナンバー; Bakku Nambā) is a Japanese rock power trio formed in 2004. The band consists of Iyori Shimizu (lead vocals, guitar), Kazuya Kojima (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Hisashi Kurihara (drums, percussion). The group signed to independent record label Idolsmith Recordings in 2009 and released their debut EP Nogashita Sakana (逃した魚, Fish Set Free) (2009) and studio album Ato no Matsuri (あとのまつり, Too Late) (2010). They signed to Universal Sigma in 2011. The band have a major cult following in Japan.
The group's biggest hit is "Christmas Song", which peaked at number-one for three weeks on the Japan Hot 100 chart,[4][5][6] and was later certified million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Their first compilation album, Encore (2016), reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Album for two consecutive weeks in 2016 and also ranked number five on the Oricon yearly best-selling album chart of 2017.[7] In 2018, back number successfully held a Dome Tour titled “stay with you”, including a 2-night-concert in Tokyo Dome. All tickets for 5 concerts are sold out within 2 hours, mobilized over 45,000 guests per concert.
Members
[edit]Current members
- Iyori Shimizu – lead vocals, guitar (2004–present)
- Kazuya Kojima – bass guitar, backing vocals (2005–present)
- Hisashi Kurihara – drums, percussion (2006–present)
Former members
- Makio Saito – guitar, backing vocals (2006–2007)
History
[edit]In 2004, Iyori Shimizu formed the band in Gunma Prefecture. The band was named "Back Number" because of a girl, who had dated Shimizu in high school, dated another musician. To her, Shimizu is an ex-boyfriend, a "back number". He wanted to make a "cooler" band than the musician's band with a hope that the girl might come back to him. It would take two years for the band, to form with other members (not the current members) in line. Then disagreements happened and the members' other work got in the way. The bassist at the time left and Kazuya Kojima, who is a childhood friend of Shimizu, joined the band and is now the current bassist. With Kojima joining, the band continued on, but the drummer also left the band. While looking for another drummer, Shimizu heard that the band of the guy who had taken his girlfriend had disbanded. Hisashi Kurihara, who was the drummer of that band and also went to the same high school as Kojima, was recruited to Back Number and has been the drummer ever since. After that, guitarist Makio Saito also left and the band became a trio, with its current line-up.
In November 2004, the band performed their first live show at Isezaki DUSTBOWL.
Since 2005, voluntary live performances were held annually in November (until 2007), following the release of the demo CD.
In 2007, the band performed a one-man live show, mobilized over 150 people and the tickets were sold out. In the same year, the band was chosen as the semi-best rocker (second place) from more than 100 bands at the band audition "ROCKERS 2007" sponsored by FM Gunma, which is a gateway for the northern Kanto band. It became well known in the local media.
In April 2008, their regular radio program "PIZZA SMALL WORLD" started broadcasting at the radio station FM TARO for an area of Ota City, Gunma Prefecture (broadcast ended in March 2014). In June 2008, the band won a qualifying competition from among 500 pairs of entries at the Shonan Music Festival Opening Act Audition and secured an appearance at the large outdoor festival Shonan Music Festival Vol. 2.
On February 18, 2009, the band released their first mini album, Nogashita Sakana, and became HMV push item "HOT PICKS", TOWER RECORDS push item "Tawareko Men" for the first time, selected as power play of FM station and Sony Ericsson CS commercial song, the band then was widely known throughout the country. On May 27, Tawareko, a back number free live with HMV as the co-ownership was held at SHIBUYA-BOXX, and more than 500 people joined, which exceeded the capacity of the regular entry. In June, the band finished a tour at the Ferrari Temple Park Outdoor Stage in Isezaki City with a crowd of 500 people. After that, the band also positively appeared in events such as "SAKAE-SPRING", "MINAMI WHEEL", "TREASURE", "MUSIC CUBE" all over the country, school festival, install alive, etc.
On June 2, 2010, released their first full-length album, Ato no Matsuri.
On April 6, 2011, the band made their major debut with the single "Hanabira".
On September 7, 2013, the band held a one-man live "back number live at Nippon Budokan - stay with us-" at Nippon Budokan.
From April 2014, the band was appointed as a regular personality of Nippon Broadcasting "All Night Nippon" on every Tuesday. On September 14, 2014, at the Yokohama Arena, the first arena performance "love stories tour 2014 - Yokohama love story 2 ~" was held.
On December 15, 2015, their fifth album, Chandelier, reached first place on the Oricon chart for two consecutive weeks.
On December 28, 2016, the band released their own all-time best album, Encore, which reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot Album for two consecutive weeks.
On December 20, 2017, the band released their 17th single, Mabataki , which reached number one on the Recochoku Weekly Download Charts for two weeks.[8]
Discography
[edit]| Back Number discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 7 |
| EPs | 1 |
| Compilation albums | 1 |
| Singles | 22 |
Albums
[edit]| Title | Details | Peak | Sales | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [9][A] | ||||
| Nogashita Sakana |
|
132 | ||
| Ato no Matsuri (後の祭り, "Too Late") |
|
55 | ||
| Super Star |
|
4 |
| |
| Blues |
|
7 |
| |
| Love Story |
|
2 |
| |
| Chandelier |
|
1 |
|
|
| Encore |
|
2 |
| |
| Magic |
|
1 |
| |
| Humor |
|
1 |
|
|
Independent production
[edit]| Release date | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | November 2005 | Gift×Life |
| 2nd | November 2006 | then Fish |
| 3rd | November 2007 | Distance Knock Tender |
Singles
[edit]| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Physical sales (JPN) | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN Oricon [23] |
JPN Hot [24] |
KOR [25] | |||||
| "Shiawase" | 2011 | — | 96 | — | Super Star | ||
| "Hanabira" | 45 | 13 | — | 3,000 |
| ||
| "Hanataba" | 18 | 3 | — | 13,000 |
| ||
| "Omoidasenaku Naru Sono Hi Made" | 24 | 1 | — | 5,000 |
| ||
| "Koi" | 2012 | 24 | 12 | — | 7,000 |
|
Blues |
| "Nichiyoubi" | 24 | 9 | — | 7,000 |
| ||
| "Watagashi" | 14 | 3 | — | 9,000 |
| ||
| "Aoi Haru" | 14 | 4 | — | 10,000 |
| ||
| "Takane no Hanako-san" | 2013 | 11 | 3 | — | 15,000 |
|
Love Story |
| "Fish" | 2014 | 4 | 5 | — | 21,000 |
| |
| "Tsunaida te Kara" | 9 | 6 | — | 11,000 |
| ||
| "Heroine" | 2015 | 6 | 2 | 55 | 43,000 |
|
Chandelier |
| "Sister" | 9 | 5 | — | 32,000 |
| ||
| "Tegami" | 4 | 2 | — | 29,000 |
| ||
| "Christmas Song" | 2 | 1 | — | 100,000 |
| ||
| "Boku no Namae wo" | 2016 | 6 | 1 | — | 33,000 |
|
Encore |
| "Happy End" | 5 | 4 | — | 59,000 |
| ||
| "Mabataki" | 2017 | 5 | 2 | — | 61,000 |
|
Magic |
| "Dai Fusekai" | 2018 | 3 | 2 | — | 45,000 |
| |
| "Old Fashion" | 4 | 1 | — | 65,000 |
| ||
| "Happy Birthday" | 2019 | 4 | 2 | — | 45,000[27] |
| |
| "Kiiro" | 2021 | 3 | 2 | — | 26,000 |
|
Humor |
| "Atarashii Koibitotachi ni" | 2024 | 6 | 1 | — | 24,843[29] |
|
Non-album single |
Digital singles
[edit]| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Hot 100 [30] | ||||
| "Kuroi Neko no Uta" | 2016 | 12 | Encore | |
| "Emerald" | 2020 | 7 |
|
Humor |
| "Kaito" | 2021 | 3 |
| |
| "Suiheisen" | 2 |
| ||
| "Velvet no Uta" | 2022 | 13 |
| |
| "I Love You" | 5 |
| ||
| "Kaiju no Size" | 2023 | 16 | Non-album singles | |
| "Fuyu to Haru" | 2024 | 9 |
| |
| "Blue Amber" | 2025 | 1 |
| |
| "Sincerely, from a Future" | 22 | |||
| "The Unveiling" | 7 | |||
| "Want Want Want" | 30 |
DVD
[edit]| Release date | Title | Highest rank (Oricon) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | February 25, 2015 | "Love stories tour 2014 ~ Yokohama love story 2 ~" | 3 |
| 2nd | November 15, 2017 | "All Our Yesterdays TOUR 2017 at SAITAMA SUPER ARENA" | 1 |
| 3rd | March 25, 2020 | "NO MAGIC TOUR 2019 at Osaka-jo Hall" | 2 |
| 4th | October 11, 2023 | "in your humor tour 2023 at Tokyo Dome" | 1 |
Live tour
[edit]- Bolded performances are additional performances.
| Schedule | Title | Conference venue |
|---|---|---|
| December 6 - December 22 | Super Tour 2011 | 4 locations nationwide, 4 shows
|
| March 16 - April 30 | Love is blind tour 2012 | 12 locations nationwide, 12 performances
|
| January 14 - March 30 | Back to the blues tour 2013 | 17 places nationwide, 19 performances
|
| May 14 - September 23 | Love stories tour 2014 | 22 places nationwide, 24 performances
|
| March 25 - June 7 | Urban Live Tour 2015 | 10 places nationwide, 16 performances
|
| January 24 - July 24 | Mirrorball and Chandelier Tour 2016 | 32 places nationwide, 39 performances
Hall performance
Arena performance
|
| February 25 - June 11 | Back number "All Our Yesterdays Tour 2017" | 15 places nationwide, 30 performances
|
Awards
[edit]- ROCKERS 2007 · Semi Best Rockers (2007)
- 4th CD Shop Awards · Finalist Award Super Star (2012)
- 5th CD Shop Awards · Finalist Award blues (2013)
- 7th CD Shop Awards · Finalist Award Love Story (2015)
- SPACE SHOWER MUSIC AWARDS - BEST GROUP ARTIST (2016)[32]
- The 87th Drama Academy Award "Christmas Song" (2016)
- The 58th Japan Record Awards · Excellent Album Award Chandelier (2016)
- DAM annual karaoke request ranking · First place (2016)
- Uta-Net annual lyrics browsing artist ranking: First place (2016)
- 8th CD Shop Awards · Finalist Award Chandelier (2017)
Notes
[edit]- ^ Sources for chart positions are as follows: Nogashita Sakana,[10] Ato no Matsuri,[11] Super Star[12] Blues[13] Love Story[14] Chandelier[15] Encore.[16]
- ^ Combined sales figures for Encore: 674,183 (physical sales) + 187,158 (digital sales).
- ^ Combined sales figures for Magic: 315,813 (physical sales) + 44,786 (digital sales).
References
[edit]- ^ Taylor, Ronald (17 January 2016). "Rockers back number slide toward becoming the go-to band for TV drama theme tunes". The Japan Times. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ "Japan's back number Shares '8-Year Engagement' Theme Song Video: Watch". Billboard. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ "Japan's back number Delivers Solid First Dome Tour Set in Tokyo". Billboard. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100 2015/11/30". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100 2015/12/7". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100 2016/1/1". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ "50th yearly chart of 2017, Oricon News" (in Japanese). 2017-12-23. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
- ^ "Recochoku's weekly download charts for 12/20~12/26". Tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. January 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ back numberのアルバム作品. Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "逃した魚". Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "あとのまつり". Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "週間 アルバムランキング 2011年11月07日付". Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "週間 アルバムランキング 2012年12月03日付". Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "週間 アルバムランキング 2014年04月07日付". Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "週間 アルバムランキング 2015年12月21日付". Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "週間 アルバムランキング 2017年01月09日付". Oricon. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^
- "2015年 年間音楽ランキングを発表！". Oricon. December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- "【2016年 年間音楽＆映像ランキング】嵐が前人未到の記録達成！AKB48がシングル年間V7!!". Oricon. December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ "【第50回 オリコン年間ランキング 2017】嵐が総合売上5年連続首位、AKB48がシングル年間V8達成!". Oricon. December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ^ 週間 CDアルバムランキング 2019年04月08日付 [Weekly CD Album Ranking on April 8, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). Retrieved April 3, 2019.
- ^ "一般社団法人 日本レコード協会". www.riaj.or.jp. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
- ^ 週間 CDアルバムランキング 2023年01月30日付 [Weekly CD Album Ranking on January 30, 2023] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ "Japanese album certifications – back number – Humor" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved February 17, 2023. Select 2023年1月 on the drop-down menu
- ^ "back numberのシングル売上" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ Back Number singles on the Billboard Japan Hot 100:
- "Shiawase": "Hot 100 [ 2025/12/31 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 7, 2026.
- "Atarashii Koibitotachi ni": "Hot 100 [ 2024/07/24 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "Digital Chart 2025 Week 51" (in Korean). Circle Chart. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
- ^ "Japanese single streaming certifications – Back Number – Heroine (ヒロイン)" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved April 28, 2025. Select 2025年3月 on the drop-down menu
- ^ 週間 CDシングルランキング 2019年03月11日付 [Weekly CD Single Ranking for March 11, 2019]. Oricon Style (in Japanese). Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ "一般社団法人 日本レコード協会". www.riaj.or.jp. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
- ^ オリコン週間 シングルランキング 2024年09月09日～2024年09月15日 [Oricon Weekly Single Ranking September 9, 2024 – September 15, 2024] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ Back Number digital singles on the Billboard Japan Hot 100:
- "Velvet no Uta": "Hot 100 [ 2022/09/07 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 29, 2023.
- "Blue Amber": "Hot 100 [ 2025/05/07 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved May 7, 2025.
- "Sincerely, from a Future": "Hot 100 [ 2025/07/02 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
- "The Unveiling": "Hot 100 [ 2025/08/13 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved August 13, 2025.
- "Want Want Want": "Hot 100 [ 2026/01/14 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ^ "Japanese single streaming certifications – Back Number – ベルベットの詩 (Velvet)" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved January 29, 2023. Select 2022年12月 on the drop-down menu
- ^ "SPACE SHOWER MUSIC AWARDS 2016【BEST GROUP ARTIST】にback numberがノミネート！". back number（バックナンバー）official web site (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-04-30.
External links
[edit]- Official website (in Japanese)
| Authority control databases: Artists |
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