, stylized as EMPiRE, was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

alternative idol An alternative idol (also known as an alt-idol or anti-idol) is a term used by overseas J-pop fans to describe idols that differ from the traditional Japanese idol scene typically by having a darker image and performing heavier genres of music. Alt ...

girl group formed between

WACK WACK (1420 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a full service format and licensed to Newark, New York, United States. The station is owned by Waynco Radio, Inc., and features programming from CNN Radio and Westwood One. WACK is the station wh ...

and Avex Trax in 2017. They have released three studio albums, two EPs and four singles since their formation. They disbanded in June 2022 and redebuted as

ExWhyZ ExWhyZ, formerly known as Empire (stylized as EMPiRE), is a Japanese idol, Japanese alternative idol girl group formed between WACK (music company), WACK and Avex Trax in 2017. They have released five studio albums, two EPs, and five singles sin ...

later that year.

History

2017: Formation and debut as Empire

On April 2, 2017,

announced a joint project with Avex Entertainment. On August 23, The group name was announced as Empire. By September 28, all members of the group had been revealed. The group's first song "Empire is Coming" was released on October 6, the song was later featured on ''WACK & Scrambles Works''.

2018: ''The Empire Strikes Start!!''

Empire's first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, '' The Empire Strikes Start!!'', was released on April 11, 2018. The song "Black to the dreamlight" was featured on '' Black Clover'' as an ending theme. The group held their first concert named after their debut album on May 1. That same day the group's first member, Yuina Empire transferred to Bis and new members Maho Empire and Mikina Empire joined the group. The Empire Next Edition Tour was held from July to September of the same year. On September 5, Empire released their first EP, ''

Empire Originals ''Empire Originals'' is the first extended play from Japanese girl group Empire. It was released on September 5, 2018, by Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded i ...

''.

2019–2020: ''The Great Journey Album''

On February 27, 2019, Empire's first single, "Pierce", was released. The song "Pierce" was featured on the final season of ''

Fairy Tail ''Fairy Tail'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from August 2006 to July 2017, with the individual chapters collected and published into 63 ' ...

'' as an ending theme. From March 3 to 4 Empire broadcast the 24-hour live event "Empire Presents Twenty Four Hour Party People". After the event, Yuka Empire left Empire to focus on academic work. On March 30, Now Empire was added as the group's new member. Empire embarked on their second concert tour, the New Empire Tour, from April to June. On July 17, Empire's second single, "Success Story", was released. On October 16, Empire's third single, "Right Now", was released. The song "Right Now" became Empire's second song to feature on ''Black Clover'', this time as an opening theme. Empire embarked on their third concert tour, Empire's Great Escape Tour, from November to December. Empire's second album, ''

The Great Journey Album ''The Great Journey Album'' is the second studio album from Japanese girl group Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subord ...

'', was released on December 18. The group was scheduled to hold their Super Feeling Good Tour from May to June 2020, however it was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. They released their second EP, ''

Super Cool EP ''Super Cool EP'' is the second extended play from Japanese girl group Empire. It was released on August 5, 2020, by Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988 ...

'', on August 5, 2020. They held the Empire Error Error Error Tour from November to December 2020.

2021–2022: ''Bright Future'' and disbandment

On March 17, 2021, Empire released a special single featuring new versions of "Don't tell me why" and "Tokyo Moonlight". Empire's fourth single, "Hon-no / Iza!!" was released on May 12. The song "Hon-no" was featured on ''

High-Rise Invasion is a Japanese manga series written by Tsuina Miura and illustrated by Takahiro Oba. The series was serialized online in DeNA's Manga Box app from December 2013 to April 2019, with Kodansha compiling it into twenty-one ''tankōbon'' volumes. T ...

'' as an opening theme. They held their Empire Ultra Vibes Tour from April to May 2021. Empire's third album, '' Bright Future'', was released on November 10, 2021. They will hold their Empire Dope Magic Tour from April to June 2022. On June 2, the group held their final concert as Empire. It was announced at the concert that they would re-debut as members of

under EMI Records later that year. Through July and August, Empire held their final tour. On August 17, the group's final music release as Empire, a digital EP titled ''The Final Empire'', was released.

Members

Final line-up

*Yu-ki Empire *Mayu Empire *Midoriko Empire *Maho Empire *Mikina Empire *Now Empire

Former

*Yuina Empire *Yuka Empire

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Collaborations

Filmography

DVDs

Blu-rays

Concerts and tours

Tours

* Empire Next Edition Tour (2018) * New Empire Tour (2019) * Empire's Great Escape Tour (2019) * Super Feeling Good Tour (2020; Cancelled) * Empire Error Error Error Tour (2020) * Empire Ultra Vibes Tour (2021) * Empire Dope Magic Tour (2022) * (2022)

Concerts

* The Empire Strikes Start!! (2018) * Empire Presents Twenty Four Hour Party People (2019) * New Empire Tour "Evolutions" (2019) * The End of Summer at Okinawa with Empire (2019) * Empire's Great Party Vol. 0 (2019) * Empire's Great Party Vol. 1 (2019) * Empire's Great Revenge Live (2020) * Empire Breaks Through The Limit Live (2020) * Empire's Greatest Party "Eat Sleep Empire Repeat" (2021) * Empire's Great Party Caravans (2021) * Empire's Super Ultra Spectacular Show (2021)

References

{{Authority control Japanese idol groups Japanese pop music groups Musical groups from Tokyo Musical groups established in 2017 2017 establishments in Japan Musical groups disestablished in 2022 2022 disestablishments in Japan