2002–2005: Formation and career beginnings HIDE began his music career as a member of a
Japanese hardcore band in his junior high school. HIDE and navi formed duo "GReeeN" (the name was three e's sequence at that time) in 2002. Their music was influenced under Western rock bands such as
Sublime and
Sugar Ray. However, the group was renamed "Greeeen" in 2004 when 92 and SOH joined the group. SOH was a fan of
hip hop and
reggae. 92 came from
Okinawa Prefecture and had his musical roots in
Okinawan music.
2006–2007: Debut and career breakthrough After the group independently released their self-titled EP,
Greeeen on February 14, 2006, Universal Music Japan recruited them in March 2006. They were signed under
Nayutawave Records, a subsidiary label of Universal Music Japan. They debuted with the single "Michi" on January 24, 2007. "
Ai Uta" was released as their third single on May 16, 2007. It debuted and peaked at #2 on the
Oricon Daily Singles Chart. It debuted at #8 on the
Oricon Weekly Singles Chart and eventually peaked at #2 in its sixth week on the weekly chart. The song was certified Two Million by the
Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for 2,000,000 full-track ringtone digital downloads (
Chaku-Uta Full). Their debut album,
A, Domo. Hajimemashite, was released on June 28, 2007. It debuted at #2 on the
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart. The album was certified Triple Platinum by RIAJ for shipment of 750,000 copies.
2008–2009: Rise of popularity "
Kiseki" was released as their seventh single on May 28, 2008, and was used as a theme song for the drama,
Rookies. It topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart and sold over 500,000 copies. The song was also certified Two Million by the RIAJ for 2,000,000 full-track ringtone digital downloads (
Chaku Uta Full). The song topped the
Billboard Japan Hot 100 Year-End 2008 Chart. The song was certified Four Million by RIAJ for 4,000,000 single track downloads. Their second album
A, Domo. Ohisashiburi Desu. was released on June 25, 2008, and debuted at #1 on Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, beating out
Ayaka's second album
Sing to the Sky (2008). The album was certified Million by RIAJ for shipment of one million copies. Greeeen and
Back-On formed
supergroup Bareeeeeeeeeen, which released single "Ashiato" on October 1, 2008. On March 11, 2009, A monument "GReeeeN's Door" with a musical motif is installed in the station square of JR East Kōriyama station. Their follow-up singles "Tobira", "Ayumi", "Setsuna" and "Haruka" were certified Gold by RIAJ for shipments of 100,000 copies each. Their song "Haruka" debuted at the number-one position on the
RIAJ Digital Track Chart. The song was certified Million by RIAJ for 1,000,000 full-track ringtone digital downloads (
Chaku Uta Full). Their third album
Shio, Koshō was released on June 10, 2009, and debuted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart with the first-week sales of over 452,000 copies. It became their second album to be certified Million by RIAJ. On June 29, 2009, the
Guinness World Records certified their song "Kiseki" as the "best selling download single in Japan" with the full-track ringtone download sales of 2,301,674 copies of May 24, 2009. Greeeen released their
greatest hits double album
Ima Made no A Men, B Men Dest!? on November 25, 2009. On November 5, 2009, an article of
Nikkan Sports suggested that GReeeeN would disband after the release of the album. HIDE wrote on his blog that the rumours were false. On November 5, the official statement by Universal Music Japan also said that the report was false and that GReeeeN would still be releasing music after the release of the album
Imamade no A Men, B Men Desuto!?. It was announced that Greeeen would be teaming up with
Hudson Soft to create music for 2009
DS game. Hudson x GReeeeN Live!? DeeeeS!? was released on April 1, 2010, as their collaboration effort with Hudson Soft.
2011–2012: Return in music and Green boy project "Every" was released at
Chaku-Uta on April 12, 2011, as their first song since "Haruka" (2009). It was used for
Asahi Beer commercials. The song was included as a B-side for their single, "Hana Uta" released on June 22, 2011. "Green boys" was released on May 6, 2011, and was used as the theme song for the
NHK documentary show
Athlete no Tamashii. At that time, all members of GReeeeN, who witnessed the damage caused by the
2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in their hometown of
Fukushima, started this project with the idea that "At this moment, music may be able to help relax, warm, or encourage someone." GReeeeN launched the "Green boys project" with two challenges. First, "Green boys" will be distributed free of charge for a limited time (until September 30, 2011), as well as Japanese, English, Spanish, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean. Second, They started to make a music video of "Green boys" with everyone's feeling from solicit photos.
2013–2016: Departure from Kōriyama In 2013, GReeeeN was announced in the text on the CD that HIDE and navi will travel to Hokkaido. 92 will travel to Okinawa and SOH is still working in Kōriyama. In 2014, the band released their sixth studio album, "Ima kara Oyayubi ga Kieru Tejina Shimasu." One single released from the album, "Shinobi", was used as the opening theme for the Japanese dub of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All four members of the band were fans of the cartoon and expressed their excitement when they would be performing the opening theme for it. In March 2015, whiteeeen debuts as a sister group of GReeeeN with a single, "Aiuta~since 2007~ (愛唄〜since 2007〜)". In April 2015, GReeeeN was adopted for the departure melody of the Shinkansen and conventional lines at JR East Kōriyama station (Fukushima Prefecture), "Kiseki" will be played on the Shinkansen platform, and "Tobira" will be played on the conventional line platform. In March 2016, They released first novel "It's Kiseki ~The Story of GReeeeN~ (それってキセキ〜GReeeeNの物語〜)". In July 2015, "GReeeeN" first official app released on Google Play and App Store.
2017–present: 10th anniversary and new beginning On January 7, 2017, 10th Anniversary Live "あっ、リーナ、ども。はじめまして。『クリビツテンギョウ!? ル〜デル〜デ♪ 』" held at Saitama Super Arena. On January 24, 2017, GReeeeN released another greatest-hits compilation,
ALL SINGLeeeeS ~& New Beginning~. The band became fully inactive until March 19, 2024, when they announced a significant change by altering their name to GRe4N BOYZ upon leaving their previous agency, High Speed Boy. In 2024, they collaborated with
Tak Matsumoto, the guitarist from the
B'z, on a cover of "Mokuren no Namida" (originally performed by
Stardust Revue) which appeared on the
Kayōkyoku covers album
The Hit Parade II. ==Public image==