was a six-member Japanese

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

formed by

Johnny & Associates is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as . History 1962–1989 In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency re ...

. The group debuted on November 1, 1995, with the single "Music for the People", which was used as the image song for the World Cup of Volleyball in 1995. Their first four singles, including "Music for the People", were all

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s of the same-titled

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurore ...

songs composed by Italian producers such as Giancarlo Pasquini,

Andrea Leonardi Bratt Sinclaire (born Andrea Leonardi, 26 April 1967) is an Italian Eurobeat/ Italo disco producer. DiscogsBratt Sinclaire/ref> He has produced a countless number of tracks for the '' Super Eurobeat'' series, the world's longest running series ...

, Alberto Contini, Sandro Oliva. Similar to their agency seniors

Hikaru Genji is the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu's important Heian-era Japanese novel '' The Tale of Genji''. The story describes him as a superbly handsome man and a genius. Genji is the second son of a Japanese emperor, but he is relegated to civili ...

, the group is separated into two subgroups based on age. For V6, the group is split into 20th Century and Coming Century, which consists of the three oldest members and three youngest members respectively. The band sold more than 13.5 million albums and singles. As announced on March 12, 2021, V6 disbanded on November 1, 2021, their 26th anniversary since debut.

History

Name

In an interview on ''

Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ ''Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ'' was a Japanese music variety show on Fuji Television hosted by the comedy duo Downtown, which consists of Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada. It is a very popular show with comical hosts who like to pick on the ...

'', the group stated that the "V" in V6 also stood for "Versus" (20th Century versus Coming Century) at first. However, then-president

Johnny Kitagawa John Hiromu Kitagawa (Japanese name ; October 23, 1931 – July 9, 2019), known professionally as , was an American-born Japanese businessman and talent manager. He was the founder and president of Johnny & Associates, a production agency for nu ...

informed the group that the "V" had multiple meanings, such as "Volleyball", "Vegetable" (as Sakamoto's parents own a green grocers), "Bicycle" ("V" and "B" are indistinguishable in Japanese; Nagano's parents own a cycling store) and "Veteran".

1995–2021

From 1997 to 2008, V6 hosted their own variety show and is hosting ''Viva Viva V6'' since 2001 on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

. Along with their group shows, the members also have individual TV shows, dramas or radio programs. V6 celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2005, commemorating the event by holding about thirty

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide vari ...

in sold-out arenas all over Japan, holding 3 major "Thank You Events", releasing the movie ''Hold Up Down'' and releasing ''Musicmind'' as their new album. They also had a rare "Handshake Session" with hundreds of thousands of fans in Tokyo,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

. As separate bands, both of them performed the opening song for the anime, ''

Eyeshield 21 is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series tells the story of Sena Kobayakawa, an introverted boy who joins an American football club as a secretary, but after being coerced by quart ...

''. Coming Century performed "Breakthrough", the first opening theme song and 20th Century performed "Innocence", the second opening theme song. As V6, they performed "Chain of Power" as an insert song. They also sang "

Change the World "Change the World" is a song written by Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy, and Wayne Kirkpatrick and recorded by country music artist Wynonna Judd. A cover version was recorded by English singer Eric Clapton for the soundtrack of the 1996 film ''Ph ...

" and "Brand New World", the first opening and eighth ending themes, respectively of the popular anime ''

InuYasha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in fifty-six '' ...

'', as well as "Break Out", the 18th opening song of popular anime ''

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 ' ...

''. They later performed the 21st opening song of ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chap ...

'', "Super Powers". On May 3, 2017, they released the double A-side single titled "COLORS/Taiyou to Tsuki no Kodomotachi". The title track "COLORS" will be used as the theme song for member Yoshihiko Inohara's starring drama "Keishicho Sousa Ikka 9 Gakari season12" on TV Asahi. Meanwhile, "Taiyou to Tsuki no Kodomotachi" has been picked up for NHK's "Minna no Uta" for April and May. On March 12, 2021, Johnny & Associates announced V6 will disband on November 1, which is V6's 26th anniversary since debuting. In July, they announced that they will host their last concert tour ''LIVE TOUR V6 groove'' from September 4 to November 1, the first day and the last day of the live tour, which is the date of V6 formation and their debut date. Also, they will release their new album ''STEP'' on September 4. On October 26, 2021, V6 hosted their last TV variety show as a group. They also released their last best album ''Very6 BEST''.

Members

20th Century (Tonisen) Coming Century (Kamisen) Note: Colours based upon the concert ''Sexy.Honey.Bunny!'' which are their member colours.

Discography

Studio albums * ''Since 1995: Forever'' (1996) * ''Nature Rhythm'' (1997) * ''A Jack in the Box'' (1998) * ''"Lucky" 20th Century, Coming Century to Be Continued...'' (1999) * ''"Happy" Coming Century, 20th Century Forever'' (2000) * ''Volume 6'' (2001) * ''Seven'' (2002) * ''Infinity: Love & Life'' (2003) * ''Musicmind'' (2005) * ''Voyager'' (2007) * ''Ready?'' (2010) * ''Oh! My! Goodness!'' (2013) * ''The Ones'' (2017) * ''Step'' (2021) Compilation albums * ''Very Best'' (2001) * ''Very Best II'' (2006) * ''Super Very Best'' (2015) * ''Very6 Best'' (2021)

Videography

DVD/VHS

*1996: ''Live for the People'' *1997: ''Film V6: Clips and More'' *1998: ''Space (from V6 Live Tour '98)'' *1999: ''Film V6 Cct II: Clips and More'' *2001: ''Very Happy!!!'' *2002: ''Film V6 Act III: Clips and More'' *2002: ''Liv6'' *2003: '' Hard Luck Hero'' (movie) *2004: ''Love & Life (V6 Summer Special Dream Live 2003)'' *2005: ''Film V6 Act IV (Ballad Clips and More)'' *2005: ''Film V6 act IV (Dance Clips and More)'' *2005: ''Very Best Live (1995—2004)'' *2005: ''Hold Up Down'' (movie) *2006: ''10th Anniversary Concert Tour 2005: Musicmind'' *2008: ''V6 Live Tour 2007 Voyager (Boku to Bokura no Ashita)'' *2009: ''V6 Live Tour 2008 Vibes'' *2010: ''V6 Live DVD Asia Tour 2010 in Japan Ready?'' *2012: ''V6 Live Tour 2011 Sexy.Honey.Bunny!'' *2013: ''V6 Live Tour 2013 Oh! My! Goodness!'' *2016: ''V6 Live Tour 2015 -since 1995~forever-'' *2018: ''LIVE TOUR 2017 The ONES'' *2021: ''For the 25th anniversary'' *2022: ''LIVE TOUR V6 groove''

20th Century

*2009: ''20th Century Live Tour 2008 Ore Ja Nakya, Kimi Ja Nakya'' *2009: ''20th Century Live Tour 2009 Honey Honey Honey''

Coming Century

*1997: ''Sky'' *1998: ''Question'' *2003: ''Cosmic Rescue'' (movie) *2009: ''We are Coming Century Boys Live Tour 2009''

Other activities

As a group, the members of V6 have done dramas such as ''V no Honoo'' in 1995 and movies such as '' Hard Luck Hero'' in 2003 and ''Hold Up Down'' in 2005.

Films

V6

* (2003) * (2004) (Japanese Dub) * (2005)

Coming Century

* COSMIC RESCUE (2003)

Drama

* (1995, Fuji TV) - all members of V6 * PU-PU-PU- (1998, TBS) - members of Kamisen * (1999, NTV) - members of Kamisen * (Fuji TV) - members of Tonisen

Variety Shows

* (1996-1999, NTV) * (1997 - 2005, TBS) ** (2005 - 2008, TBS) ** (Nov 13, 2015, TBS) ** (Aug 30, 2017, TBS) ** (Sep 24, 2018, TBS) ** (Sep 23, 2019, TBS) ** (Nov 3, 2020, TBS) ** (Oct 26, 2021, TBS) * (NTV, 1998, 2000) * (1999 - 2000, Fuji TV) * (2000, Fuji TV) * (2000 - 2001, Fuji TV) * (2001, TBS) - Kamisen * (2001 - 2002, TBS) - Kamisen * (2002, TBS) - Kamisen * (2002 - 2004, TBS) * (2006 - 2007, TBS) - Tonisen * "VivaVivaV6" (2001 - 2010, Fuji TV) * (2008 - 2010, TBS) * (2010 - 2011, TBS) * (Oct 2011 - Oct 2012, TBS) * (Oct 2012 - Mar 2014, TBS) * (Apr 2013 - 2 Episodes Aired only TBS) * (Apr 2014 - Oct 2021, TBS)

References

External links

Official site on Avex TraxOfficial site on Johnny's netOfficial 26th Anniversary Special site on Avex Trax
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:V6 Avex Group artists Japanese pop music groups Japanese rock music groups Japanese idol groups Japanese boy bands Johnny & Associates Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups from Tokyo Musical groups disestablished in 2021