September 15th ♥ 嵐's Debut (1999)Debut Single: A・RA・SHI
- 大野智 (Ohno Satoshi) – 1980.11.26
- 櫻井翔 (Sakurai Sho) – 1982.01.25
- 相葉雅紀 (Aiba Masaki) – 1982.12.24
- 二宮和也 (Ninomiya Kazunari) – 1983.06.17
- 松本潤 (Matsumoto Jun) – 1983.08.30
In the midst of Voleyball World Cup 1999, the agency announced the debut of a group which members were yet to be announced. Few days before debuting, the 5 members were notified about the decision, thinking that it would be just a temporary thing they attended a press conference aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii. Releasing their first major hit, and making next releases top charts until 2002.
In 2002, their own record label was formed and their sells kept decreasing. They didn’t top charts for a few years. In 2003, Sakurai incorporated rap and his own lyrics to their singles. In 2004, they released the theme song of their second movie “Pika☆nchi Life is Hard Dakara Happy”, their lowest-selling single to date. Despite the bad times, they were thankful to the fans and made a few surprises for them during their 5th Anniversary.
In 2005, Matsumoto invented the “Johnny’s Moving Stage” to allow them to move closer to the audience seated at a distance from the main stage. A major improvement incorporated now to Johnny’s Concerts. Jun was also slowly getting recognized by his roles in doramas and this dragged attention to the others. Members started getting individual assignments and getting recognized, as well. Since 2006, their influence over the agency has exceeded expectations and they are considered a major national and international personality, participating and hosting Kouhaku Uta Gassen and 24hr Television in repeated ocassions.
Currently, because of renovations of the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo they will be having a different type of concerts from the usuals by listening to fans’ requests and performing according to that, they will hold「Arafes」concerts since Thursday.
Happy 13th Anniversary! 幸せな13周年記念！