SixTones


SixTones is a Japanese idol boy band formed by Johnny & Associates in 2015. The group was previously a sub-unit of Johnny & Associates' pre-debut trainee group, Johnny's Jr. SixTONES made their official debut on 22 January 2020.

Name

, the late president of Johnny & Associates had named the group "SixTONES." The group name was initially pronounced as "SixTONES" but later changed to be pronounced "Stones", with the 'ix' in SixTONES being silent. The "stones" pronunciation refers "diamond in the rough", where the group's potential is revealed after continual polishing and refining of the members' skills. The name also refers to the six members having six different tones, or unique personalities and sound range to the group..

History

2011-2015: Pre-group formation

In 2011, shortly after the debut of Sexy Zone, the members performed as back dancers for A.B.C-Z and Hey! Say! JUMP. In February 2012, the 6 members were selected to star in a Nippon TV drama during the period when they were back dancing in A.B.C-Z’s ABC Za stage play. The drama, Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou, was the first drama collaboration between Johnny's talents and AKB48's members. Although the drama was screened in the late-night time slot, it received a high average rating for the time slot of 2.8% and a movie sequel was decided. Members of the original cast reprised their roles in the sequel and the movie Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou: The Movie was released in the Japanese box office in October 2012. During this period, the 6 members were not formed officially as a unit. Fans of the 6 members addressed them as Bakareya6 or Bakareya-gumi unofficially during the airing of the drama.
In the same period, the 6 members had a direct discussion with Johnny Kitagawa, which led to the announcement of the Johnny's Jr. Johnny's Dome theater〜SUMMARY〜 shows. At the year-end's Fresh Johnny’s Jr. IN Yokohama Arena concert, clips of the Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou drama was shown together with its original soundtrack Shake It Up by Kis-my-ft2.
In January 2013, the 6 members performed a cover of SIX SENSES by KAT-TUN on . This was the last performance by the 6 members together before the “disbandment” of the unofficial Bakareya6 unit. In the following month, the group was split into a 2:4 formation, with Jesse and Hokuto Matsumura performing as a duo and the 4 members appearing in separate performances on The Shounen Club. Furthermore, the previously announced 6-member performance at the Live House Johnny’s Ginza was suddenly changed and the members were split into the same 2:4 formation. Afterward, the members were rarely seen together as 6 on shows or in magazine appearances.
5 of the members excluding Jesse, performed together at the "Johnny’s Ginza 2014" shows in August 2014. Around the same period, the 6 members performed Shake It Up by Kis-my-ft2 together at "Gamushara J's party‼ vol.4". This was their first performance as 6 after one and a half years. However, Hokuto Matsumura and Taiga Kyomoto talked about the complicated feelings they had during the show in a magazine interview afterward. Both felt that the show was a closure to their Bakareya episode.
However, Gamushara J's party!! vol.6 was announced in the following month. The members consisted of Genki Iwahashi, Yuta Jinguji and Yuta Kishi as well as the 6 members. Magazine reports of the shows were later published with mentioning of the “Bakareya-Gumi” and interviews of the 6 members for the first time in a long while.
When SixTONES talked about their group formation years later, they revealed that many of the members were planning to quit the agency at that point in time. Shintaro Morimoto was planning to further his studies to obtain a teaching license after graduating from high school. Yugo Kochi, Taiga Kyomoto and Juri Tanaka were considering their future paths too. SixTONES also revealed that during the period of stagnation, the members were brought back together by Jesse, who had expressed the desire to work together as six once again.

2015: Formation of official unit, SixTONES

In The Shounen Club episode broadcast in January 2015, the 6 members came together to perform a cover of Hell No by KAT-TUN. This was the first performance together as 6 on the show after a 2-year gap.
In April 2015, 5 of the members, excluding Taiga Kyomoto, performed in the Johnny's Ginza 2015 shows. Taiga Kyomoto was in the Elizabeth musical at that time and could not join the show. In order to announce their group name as 6, Taiga Kyomoto rushed over from the Imperial Theatre to the Theatre Creation on the 1 May 2015, where the 6 members announced their group formation as SixTONES.
On 1 May 2015, the formation of the group was announced at the Matinee performance of Johnny's Ginza 2015 as SixTONES .
Taiga Kyomoto, who was acting in the Elizabeth musical at that time, attended the afternoon Ginza show for the announcement of the group formation. The group name's pronunciation was later changed to be read as Stones and officially announced in Shounen Club on 10 June 2015. In September 2015, SixTONES starred as the main casts in the:ja:少年たち_#少年たち_世界の夢が・・・戦争を知らない子供達_|Shounentachi ~Sekai no Yume ga... Senso wo Shiranai Kodomotachi~ musical for the first time, together with Snow Man. They performed their first two original songs, Kono Hoshi No HIKARI and BE CRAZY'', in the Shounentachi musical.

2016

SixTONES held concerts as part of Johnny's Ginza 2016 from 27 to 30 May 2016. In September 2016, SixTONES starred as the main casts in the :ja:少年たち_#%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1_%E5%8D%B1%E6%A9%9F%E4%B8%80%E9%AB%AA%EF%BC%81|Shounentachi ~Kikippatsu!~ musical for the second time, together with Snow Man.

2017

From 18 to 26 February 2017, SixTONES and four Kansai Johnny's Jr. held joint concerts together as part of the East SixTONES × West Kansai Johnny's Jr. SHOW Battle. SixTONES also held concerts in the Summer Station ~ Kimitachi ga~ KING'S TREASURE shows from 1 to 3 August 2017. In September 2017, SixTONES starred as the main cast in the :ja:少年たち_#%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1_%E3%80%9CBorn_Tomorrow%E3%80%9C_|Shounentachi ~ Born Tomorrow~ musical with Snow Man for the third consecutive year. The two groups also had shows for :ja:少年たち_#%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1_LIVE_|Shounentachi LIVE in Aichi Prefecture, Hyōgo Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture and Hiroshima in the same year.

2018

Upon the opening of Johnny's Jr's official YouTube channel on 21 March 2018, SixTONES were announced to be in charge of each week's Friday contents for the channel. In July 2018, SixTONES held concerts as part of Summer Paradise 2018, with 4 additional shows later announced in August 2018.
In October 2018, it was announced that SixTONES were chosen to head YouTube first Japan's Artist Promotion Campaign, a promotional campaign for emerging artists that YouTube launched in several countries. The staff working with SixTONES on their weekly Johnny's Jr. Channel content had recommended them to be part of the campaign. The president of the YouTube headquarters in California then contacted Johnny & Associates directly to offer SixTONES the opportunity to be part of the campaign.
On November 5 2018, SixTONES released their first music video, "Japonica Style", as part of the campaign on the Johnny's Jr Channel. The music video was produced by Hideaki Takizawa while the costume and styling were provided by the woman's fashion magazine, CanCam. On November 16 2018, the group held its first YouTube Livestream at YouTube Space Tokyo, which was also the first YouTube Livestream held by talents of Johnny & Associates. SixTones later went on to perform at Japan's first YouTube FanFest Music on December 11.

2019

At the Johnny's Jr. 8.8 Festival~Tokyo Dome Kara Hajimaru~ on August 8 2019, it was announced that SixTONES will release their debut single in 2020. Additionally, the group also opened an official Instagram account and announced their graduation from Johnny's Jr. Channel with the opening of their own YouTube Artist Channel at 10 p.m. JST on the same day.
SixTONES is the first talent group of Johnny & Associates, together with Travis Japan, to open an official Instagram account as well as the first talent group of Johnny & Associates to have their own YouTube Channel.

2020 : Debut

SixTONES made their debut on Jan 22, 2020 with double A side CD with another Johnny's group Snow Man called "SixTONES vs Snow Man" with SixTONES' title track being "Imitation Rain". Imitation Rain was composed and arranged by X-Japan's YOSHIKI, and the CD had sales of 772,902 copies in single day, with it eventually crossing one million in next few days and topping the Oricon Chart.

Members

SixTONES' songs recorded on Official Website:
Pre-Debut
; 2015
; 2016
; 2017
;2018
;2019

Discography

Singles

Group Activities

Musicals

External Links