2001 – 2006: Formation & Pre-Debut ActivitiesBefore becoming KAT-TUN, each member belonged to different junior
units within the company. In 2001, eight members were chosen to become
a temporary dancing unit in order to support
KinKi Kids member
Koichi Domoto in the
NHKmusic program, Pop Jam. Of these members, it did not include Tanaka;
however, members were switched before it officially became KAT-TUN,
with the current six members. Although the formation was only meant to
be a temporary support unit, KAT-TUN gained a great deal of attention,
so the formation was kept and KAT-TUN remains a solid unit.
In 2002, in response to many requests, KAT-TUN held their first concert,
Okyakusama wa Kamisama - Concert 55man nin Ai no request ni Kotaete,
which was later released on DVD. That same year, they performed 11
shows in a day. This is the current record in Japan for the most
performances in a day. Since then, KAT-TUN has held concerts in Japan
almost every season.
In 2003-2004, their popularity rose to that of a debuted group, to the point where they performed on
Music Station multiple times before debuting. In 2005, KAT-TUN released their first major DVD,
LIVE KAIZOKUBAN, which topped the Oricon yearly chart for the best-selling DVD. At the 20th
Japan Gold Disc Awards,
LIVE KAIZOKUBAN placed on the Music Video Of The Year list.
[12]2006: DebutTheir debut was announced on January 29, 2006 for March 22, 2006.
This was a five-year long-awaited event for both the members and their
fans. On the official date, KAT-TUN released their debut single
Real Face, accompanied by an album,
Best of KAT-TUN and a DVD
Real Face Film. These were released on their own label,
J-One Records. The group also went on a nationwide tour,
Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face", in support of the album.
Within the first week,
Best of KAT-TUN sold 556,548 copies,
Real Face sold 754,234 copies and
Real Face Film sold 374,202 copies.
[a] These releases topped all three weekly
Oricon charts. They are the second artist to do so, the first being
Ayumi Hamasaki.
With these numbers, KAT-TUN holds the records for the highest weekly
single debut sales as well as the record for highest weekly DVD debut
sales. In addition,
Real Face topped the Oricon charts for
three weeks straight, making them the first artist in the millennium to
do so in Japan. The single sold over a million copies in nine weeks,
making
Real Face the highest selling single of the year.
In March 2006, KAT-TUN became the first group to hold their own performances in Japan's most popular stadium,
Tokyo Dome,
before debuting. They performed to 110,000 people over two days and
about 630,000 people in total during the tour. About three months after
releasing
Real Face, KAT-TUN released their second single,
SIGNAL, on July 19, 2006. As expected from the media, it topped the Oricon weekly chart by exceeding 400,000 in sales.
On October 12, 2006, Akanishi announced a hiatus from the group in
order to study linguistics abroad in the United States, leaving KAT-TUN
as a five-member group for six months. The remaining members continued
activities by releasing their third single,
Bokura no Machi de (as the theme song to Kamenashi and Tanaka's drama,
Tatta Hitotsu no Koi), and their second album,
cartoon KAT-TUN II YOU, on December 7, 2006. Despite the fact that one of their lead vocalist was missing, the releases still topped the charts.
KAT-TUN is the first artist in Japan to have all three singles from
debut to exceed 500,000 in yearly sales, taking first, fifth and 13th
place on the yearly singles chart.
2007: Cartoon KAT-TUN II YouUnder the same name as their second album, KAT-TUN started their second nationwide tour,
TOUR 2007 cartoon KAT-TUN II You, still without Akanishi, on April 3, 2007. The next day, KAT-TUN began to host their own variety show
cartoon KAT-TUN, which airs every Wednesday from 11:55 P.M. to 12:26 A.M..
Akanishi returned to Japan on April 19, 2007 and officially resumed work activities on April 20, 2007.
[13]His return excited a massive nationwide media frenzy. Akanishi joined
the rest of KAT-TUN during their tour on April 21, 2007 in
Sendai for the encore. The appearance marked his official return to KAT-TUN.
On June 6, 2007, KAT-TUN released their fourth single,
Yorokobi no Uta, as the theme song to Tanaka's drama,
Tokkyu Tanaka 3 Go. The single hit number one on the weekly chart. Although
Yorokobi no Uta is KAT-TUN's official fourth single, it is speculated that
YOU, the theme song to Kamenashi's drama,
Sapuri, was supposed to be the fourth, but Akanishi's sudden hiatus delayed any production of
YOU being a single.
On November 21, 2007, they simultaneously released their fifth single,
Keep the faith, as the theme song to Akanishi and Taguchi's drama,
Yukan Club, and the DVD to their
TOKYO DOME Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face"concert. The DVD established their fifth consecutive release to top the
Oricon musical DVD chart. It also set the opening week record for the
year.
[14]In addition, KAT-TUN took the yearly number one position on the Oricon
musical DVD charts for the third time in a row with the release. To add
on to the number ones,
Keep the faith also topped the weekly single charts.
After KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN is the second artist to have all singles
since debut to exceed 300,000 in sales during their first week.
[15]At the 21st Japan Gold Disc Awards,
[16] Real Face took Single of the Year. In addition to this,
Real Face,
SIGNAL and
Bokura no Machi de were included in the list of The Best 10 Singles for 2007.
[16] Furthermore, their debut album,
Best of KAT-TUN, placed in the The Best 10 Albums of 2007
[16] and their DVD,
Real Face Film, was also included on the The Best Music Videos of 2007 list.
2008: -Queen of Pirates-KAT-TUN released their sixth single,
LIPS, on February 6, 2008, as the theme song to Kamenashi's drama,
One Pound Gospel.
[17] The single topped at number one on the Oricon charts.
At the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards,
Bokura no Machi de and
Keep the Faith won two of the Best 10 Singles
[18] Their concert DVD,
Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face", had also won one of the three Best Music Videos awards.
[19]On March 30, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN will hold their third nationwide tour, to start in Hiroshima on June 21, 2008.
On April 22, 2008 it was announced that KAT-TUN will release their third album,
KAT-TUN III Queen of Pirates on June 4, 2008.
KAT-TUN released their seventh single,
Don't U Ever Stop, on
May 14, 2008 which topped the weekly Oricon chart. The release included
three limited edition versions featuring the members' solos in pairs.
The first with Kamenashi and Taguchi, the second with Akanishi and
Tanaka, and the third with Ueda and Nakamaru. It sold more than the top
49 artists after them combined. Along with
LIPS, KAT-TUN holds the records for the two highest first-week sales in 2008.
On May 15, 2008, during the MC segment of promoting
Don't U Ever Stopon Music Station, Kamenashi announced that two days were added to their
Tokyo Dome performances for their tour, resulting in a total of four
consecutive days in the Dome. This marks a historic event in the Dome's
history, which has been established since 1988, as KAT-TUN is the first
Japanese artist to hold four consecutive days at the stadium. Other
Japanese artists, such as
SMAP,
X Japan and
Ayumi Hamasakihave had three consecutive days at the Dome, and Rolling Stones and
Michael Jackson have had multiple days at the Dome as well, but they
were not consecutive.
On December 3, 2008, KAT-TUN released
White X'mas,
their first Christmas single. The release consisted of a limited and
regular edition, but both would only be sold during the holiday season.
The single, with no drama tie-in and no B-side, still sold moderately
well with more than 250,000 copies sold in its first week.
On December 21, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN would release a new single
One Drop as a tie-in theme song to Kamenashi's new drama,
Kami no Shizuku, just two months after their
White X'mas single. The release consists of three versions: Limited Edition w/DVD, Regular Edition (First Press) and a Regular Edition.
On December 28, 2008,
avexTaiwan announced on their website of an overseas (OS) press release of
KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES on January 20, 2009, including
traditional Chinese subtitles.
Before partaking in Johnny's annual countdown concert on December
31, 2008, KAT-TUN performed an unbroadcasted special medley for 10
minutes, consisting of Keep the faith, ONE DROP and Yorokobi no Uta.
This was their first time performing ONE DROP publicly, debuting the
song.
2009: Break the Records: By You & For YouOn January 1, 2009, it was announced that Kamenashi will continue
starring in DREAMBOYS in September for 38 shows. The stage show is
expected to continue for six more years. In addition, KAT-TUN released
KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES DVD, featuring their last day
of four in Tokyo Dome.
On
February 11, 2009 KAT-TUN released
One Drop for
Kazuya Kamenashi's drama,
Kami no Shizuku. It became KAT-TUN's 9th consecutive number one single since debut, selling 281,359 copies in its first week.
[20]A month later, on
March 11, 2009, KAT-TUN released
Rescue for band member Nakamaru Yuichi's drama,
Rescue: Tokubetsu Kodo Kyujotai.
It became KAT-TUN's 10th consecutive number one single since debut,
selling 322,597 copies in its first week. With this achievement KAT-TUN
are now tied with their senpai NEWS for the 2nd most consecutive #1
singles from debut (Kinki Kids is #1 with 28).
[21] A week after the release of
Rescue, it was revealed through their official website that KAT-TUN would be releasing their fourth studio album.
On April 1, 2009 the title of the album, Break the Records: By You
& For You, as well as the track list for KAT-TUN's fourth studio
album were released; the release of the album itself is slated for
April 29, 2009.
[22]As far as news on KAT-TUN's concerts for 2009, it was announced on January 23 that KAT-TUN would hold 7 consecutive days at
Tokyo Dome,
Japan's largest and most prestigious arena. Also, making KAT-TUN the
first artists in history to do so. However, by the end of March, due to
the large number of pre-reserved tickets, KAT-TUN's record breaking
concert added extra tour dates. Making KAT-TUN's 2009 concert 8
consecutive days in Tokyo Dome from May 15 to the 22, 3 days in Osaka
from May 29 to the 31, and 2 more days in Tokyo Dome from June 14 to
the 15. For a total of 13 concert performances in two cities, and 10
days in total for Tokyo Dome.
[23][24]Sales for KAT-TUN's 8 consecutive days in Tokyo Dome concert went on
sale on April 4, 2009. On the very same day all 440,000 seats were sold
out.
[25]