L'Arc-en-Ciel In February 1991, bassist Tetsuya (then known as "Tetsu") recruited vocalist
Hyde, guitarist Hiro and drummer Pero to form a band named
L'Arc-en-Ciel. After gaining popularity in their hometown of
Osaka, Hiro left the band in 1992 and Tetsuya convinced his friend
Ken to quit his university studies and join the band as their guitarist. However, Pero then left the group on December 30, 1992. The following year,
Sakura joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer. On April 1, 1993, the band released their debut album
Dune on the well-known independent record label
Danger Crue Records. The album was a success and caught the attention of some major labels. In 1994, L'Arc-en-Ciel signed a contract with
Sony Music Entertainment Japan's
Ki/oon division and released their major debut album
Tierra that same year. Their third studio album
Heavenly followed in 1995. In 1996, their fourth album,
True, became their first number one record on the
Oricon Albums Chart and sold over a million copies. However, Sakura was arrested for drug possession in early 1997, and the band took a hiatus. L'Arc-en-Ciel resumed activities as a trio with the October 1997 release of the single "
Niji". It features former
Zi:Kill and
Die in Cries drummer
Yukihiro as a support member. Sakura officially announced his departure from L'Arc-en-Ciel on November 4, and the band held their first concert back at the
Tokyo Dome on December 23, 1997, entitled Reincarnation. It was the band's first performance at the venue and had an attendance of 56,000 people, with the tickets sold out in a record-breaking four minutes. Yukihiro officially joined L'Arc-en-Ciel as their drummer on January 1, 1998. The single "
Winter Fall", which was released at the end of the month, became the group's first number one on the
Oricon Singles Chart. L'Arc-en-Ciel went on to become one of the
best-selling music artists in Japan. Their 1999 simultaneously-released albums
Ark and
Ray are each one of the
best-selling albums of all time in Japan. In 2003, L'Arc-en-Ciel were ranked number 58 on a list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by
HMV Japan. A
lifestyle brand called Stellage was also launched. On April 1, 2023, Tetsuya announced the formation of a L'Arc-en-Ciel cover band called Like-an-Angel (also written as "Like〜an〜Angel" or "Like-ən-Angel"). He explained that L'Arc-en-Ciel is only active once every few years due to the members having other projects. Because his solo activities are mostly vocal, Tetsuya said he does not have the opportunity to play bass live. "If I play L'Arc songs only once every few years, it takes time and rehabilitation to recall them. If I play in a copy band, I can smoothly get into it when L'Arc starts to move." The other members, vocalist Jekyll,
Vivid guitarist Reno and
Matenrou Opera drummer Hibiki, were not revealed until their first concert at Daikanyama Unit on May 30. Jekyll, who can not speak Japanese, writes the lyrics out in
rōmaji in order to memorize them. He also said he has people translate the lyrics so he can understand their meaning and therefore sing them with feeling. Like-an-Angel held their first tour between September and October 2024, with former L'Arc-en-Ciel drummer Sakura sitting in with the band for "
I'm So Happy" at the final show. Their first original song, "Angel Beside You", will be released on June 4, 2025. == Equipment ==