Ladybaby was a Japanese kawaii metalmusical group, which originally consisted of aspiring photographic models Rie Kaneko and Rei Kuromiya, as well as Ladybeard, the bearded crossdressing persona of Australian male professional wrestler Richard Magarey. On August 1, 2016, the group rebranded itself after Ladybeard's withdrawal from the group, going by "The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby", until they returned to the original Ladybaby moniker in 2018.
History
Wrestler Richard Magarey, originally from Adelaide, Australia, moved to China in 2006 to kickstart his martial arts stunt career in films, later becoming a hit in Hong Kong as a cross-dressing pro wrestler. In October 2013, he moved to Tokyo, Japan, to attempt a similar career there. He later formed the band with singers Rie Kaneko and Rei Kuromiya and released their first track and music video titled 'Nippon Manju' which is a song that covers all the things they love about Japan. Released in July 2015, the music video went viral on YouTube, at one point gathering 1 million views in 2 days. Their second single, released in Japan on 13 January 2016, debuted at number 15 in the daily Oricon charts. On August 1, 2016, the group re-branded itself after Ladybeard left, by changing the group's name to "The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby". The remaining members had a live concert on September 16, 2016 under the new branding. In 2017 they signed to JPU Records to release new single "Pelo" in Europe. They released another single, "Pinky! Pinky!", later that year. On 17 November 2017, Rei Kuromiya left the group, citing disillusionment with idol culture and throat problems caused by the extensive touring schedule. This led to the end of the band's time as "The Idol Formerly Known as Ladybaby. In January 2018, the group announced a memorial compilation album entitled Beside U, to be released in Japan on 7 March 2018. The international release on CD from JPU Records included an exclusive booklet design with English lyric translations and Romaji lyric transliterations. In February that year, they began teasing a new lineup, with Rie Kaneko being joined by new members Nana Ikeda, Emily Arima and Fuka Karasawa, subsequently announcing a tour through Spring 2018 in a return to the original Ladybaby moniker. They released a music video for their comeback single "Hoshi no Nai Sora" on 10 May 2018, with the single being officially released on 30 May. It has been confirmed that Ladybeard will return to the group to appear on one of the B-sides for the single. However, on October 29, 2019, it was announced that Ladybaby would suspend all activities on January 13, 2020, after their final show, with a compilation titled Reburn released the same day.
Members
Since developing into a 4-piece, the members have come to have specific roles within the band.
