One Ok Rock
One Ok Rock is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalist Takahiro Moriuchi, guitarist Toru Yamashita, bassist Ryota Kohama, and drummer Tomoya Kanki. Former members include drummer Yu Koyanagi and guitarist Alexander "Alex" Reimon Onizawa. They play varied styles of music, with songs ranging from alternative rock and emo to post-hardcore and pop punk.
One Ok Rock was originally affiliated with Amuse since their debut in 2007. The band left Amuse on April 1, 2021, and established their own management agency, named 10969 Inc. They are signed with the Fueled by Ramen record label in the United States.
The band rose to international fame with their 2012 single "The Beginning" from their sixth album Jinsei×Boku=, which led them to concerts and music festivals outside of Asia. Following this success, One Ok Rock began releasing dual versions of subsequent albums, with two to three different tracks on each version. Their seventh studio album, 35xxxv, became the band's first to enter Billboard music charts in the US, peaking at No. 11 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 43 on Independent Albums, No. 23 on Hard Rock Albums, and No. 1 on the World Albums chart. The band's eighth album, Ambitions, which incorporated more arena rock and pop-rock, debuted at No. 106 on the Billboard 200 and entered several international charts as well. The band adopted a more electronic and pop sound on their ninth album Eye of the Storm. They experimented with a more rock-centered sound while still incorporating modern pop-rock for their 2022 album, Luxury Disease.
One Ok Rock won Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards for Eastern Breakthrough Male Band in 2016, and Rock Sound Awards for Best International Band in 2017 and Best Live Performance in 2018. The band was also nominated for two Alternative Press Music Awards – Best International Band in 2016 and Best Breakthrough Band in 2017.
History
2005–2006: Formation and early releases
The history of One Ok Rock began on July 29, 2005, when Toru Yamashita, a high school student, wanted to start a band. He invited his childhood friend Ryota Kohama, who was also a member of the hip-hop dance group HEADS they were both in years prior. He told Ryota to learn the bass and asked Alexander Onizawa, who was their senior in school, to join to be their guitarist and his classmate, Yu Koyanagi, to play drums. While searching for a vocalist, Toru found Takahiro Moriuchi, who was in a cover band called Chivalry of Music. Impressed by Taka's singing skills, Toru insisted he join One Ok Rock instead. At first, Taka refused, despite repeated attempts to sway him, but eventually, he joined the band. The band's name was suggested by Koyanagi and comes from "one o'clock", the time that the band used to practice their music on weekends. They chose to play at one o'clock in the morning because it was cheaper to use the rehearsal space during such hours. However, noticing that the Japanese language made no distinction between R's and L's, "O'CLOCK" transformed into "O'CROCK" or "O'KROCK", which later transformed into "OK ROCK". In addition, One Ok Rock can be expressed as "10969". It is also the name of their management agency they set up in 2021.The band released their self-produced demo CD "Do You Know A Christmas?" on December 21, 2005. In 2006, they released 2 EPs, "ONE OK ROCK" and "KEEP IT REAL".
After signing with Amuse, Inc., Yu Koyanagi left the band to pursue an acting career and was replaced by Tomoya Kanki who was a student at the ESP Musical Academy and was already in a band that was not going well. He then joined One Ok Rock in 2006 and became an official member when they debuted in 2007.
2007–2009: Debut album, ''Beam of Light'', ''Kanjo Effect'' and departure of Alex
In 2007, the band released their debut single, "Naihishinsho", reached number 48 on the Oricon Charts and sold 15,000 copies. Their second and third single, " Yume Yume" and "Et Cetera", replicated that success and charted at number 43 and 29, respectively. After those singles, they released their debut album Zeitakubyō on November 21, 2007, and had their first tour, the Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya Quattro Tour.They released their second album Beam of Light in May 2008. In an interview with Rockin'On Japan magazine in June 2012, the band said they did not count this album as an album, but rather as a part of growing up as a band. When they made the album, they had not been in the right mood, but felt that they had to make it to grow as a band. The band came up with many sound sources and ended up making a punk album. The album's confused origins were the reason why they would not play any songs from Beam of Light in live performances. Shortly after releasing Beam of Light, later they performed a gig at Shibuya AX.
They had planned to release two albums in that one year, so they released Kanjou Effect in November 2008. At this point the band had gained more experience and were able to do some more serious recording. They settled into the Western sound they were influenced by. They replaced all their engineers and introduced their music to new producers.
On April 5, 2009, Alex was arrested for groping the leg of a twenty-one-year-old female student on a train. He admitted to the charges and the case was settled out of court. The band reached their weakest point at this time. Ryota intended to leave bass and take up guitar. They felt it was impossible for them to add a new member. The band's next single, "Around the World Shounen", which was planned for a May 6 release as the theme song for the TV drama GodHand Teru, and their nationwide tour were both cancelled. In May 2009, it was announced that One Ok Rock would continue on as a 4-piece band without Alex, who went back to the United States. Toru took his place as lead guitar, and the band re-arranged their songs to be played for one guitar.
2013–2014: ''Jinsei×Boku='', ''Fool Cool Rock'', and Worldwide Tour
On January 9, 2013, One Ok Rock released the double single "Deeper Deeper/Nothing Helps", and hit 2nd place on the Oricon charts. The song "Nothing Helps" was used for the Japanese version of the video game DmC: Devil May Cry, and "Deeper Deeper" was used for the commercial of Suzuki Swift Sport in Japan. Their sixth full-length album Jinsei×Boku= was released on March 6, 2013, and managed to reach second place on the Oricon weekly chart. In October 2013 the band went on their first tour outside Asia and visited Europe for five concerts. Most of the concerts in Europe were sold out almost immediately.On January 12, 2014, their album producer John Feldmann related that One Ok Rock had already started recording their forthcoming album. In February 2014 they visited the US to hold two concerts in New York and Los Angeles and added two more dates in Philadelphia and Toronto in May. They also performed at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio, their first festival outside Asia. On May 16, the documentary film about their last Europe and Asia Tour, Fool Cool Rock, was released and played for a limited time of four weeks at select theaters. The film, directed by Hiroyuki Nakano, was released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2014, with promotional screenings in Bangkok, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
In June and July 2014 they joined Vans Warped Tour 2014 and performed in eighteen cities in North America. On July 30, 2014, One Ok Rock released the double A-side single "Mighty Long Fall/Decision", and while "Mighty Long Fall", was the theme song for the movie sequel of Rurouni Kenshin entitled Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno, the song "Decision" is the theme song for their documentary film Foo Cool Rock. The music video for "Decision" released on August 20, 2014, is a compilation of footage from their tours in Europe and Asia. In September 2014, the song "Heartache" became part of the Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends's soundtrack. Subsequently, in September 2014, One Ok Rock held a two-day stadium concert in Yokohama Stadium in front of 60,000 people called Mighty Long Fall Live at Yokohama Stadium 2014. This was their first time performing in a stadium.
One Ok Rock announced U.S., South American and European tours in late 2014. They performed at Knotfest, in both Japan and the United States, with an additional two dates for the United States in October. At the end of October 2014, the band started their first tour in Latin America visiting five countries. On November 27, they were a guest performer in Hoobastank's Japan tour and returned their tour, this time in Europe, performing in ten more countries in December.
2015–2016: ''35xxxv'' and international success
On October 9, 2014, the band announced that next album would be released in February 2015. The official website of the band was redesigned along with this announcement. Around December 16, 2014, the band revealed the cover and name of their new Japanese upcoming album, 35xxxv. The album peaked at #11 on Billboards Heatseekers Albums. This chart is for new and upcoming musicians, which is usually a stepping stone towards the Billboard 200. On the same week, it peaked at number 43 on Billboard Independent Albums. Then it peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums Chart and reached #1 on the Billboard World Albums Chart.In April 2015, they opened alongside Finch for Yellowcard's U.S. tour. Following that, the band returned to Japan for their extensive album tour starting from May to September. The final concerts included bands like Issues and Against the Current. In July 2015, One Ok Rock officially announced that they have signed with Warner Bros. Records and planned to re-release 35xxxv as a deluxe edition containing all English tracks on September 25, 2015. The band was set to have a North American tour in fall 2015 with a few selected cities as headlining artists, but was the opening act for All Time Low and Sleeping with Sirens for the most part. One Ok Rock also toured Europe and Asia to promote their album.
On October 17, 2015, 35xxxv debuted at No. 20 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums and its highest peak position is at No. 17.
One Ok Rock returned to Japan for their One Thousand Miles Tour 2016 concert along with All Time Low and PVRIS. In early 2016, it was announced that One Ok Rock would open for Issues and Crown the Empire on the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour to promote their English album in the U.S. They also continued to tour in Europe at different music festivals and solo shows.
On March 11, 2016, the band released a new song, "Always Coming Back", that was featured in NTT Docomo's phone commercial series, "Kanjou no Subete / Nakama". In mid-2016, One OK Rock joined 5 Seconds of Summer on the first North American leg of their Sounds Live Feels Live World Tour.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of My Chemical Romance's album The Black Parade, Rock Sound announced a special cover album, including One Ok Rock. The band covered the first track, "The End".
On September 10 and 11, the band held a special live concert at Nagisaen, Shizuoka, Japan for a crowd of 110,000 spectators. One Ok Rock also announced the digital single release of "Taking Off" on September 16, 2016, under Fueled by Ramen. The song was used as a theme song for the Japanese film Museum starring Shun Oguri. Later at a special live concert, Taka announced that their 8th studio album would be released the following year following an album tour.
On October 8, Sum 41 released the Japanese edition of their album, 13 Voices, including the song "War" featuring Taka. Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 mentioned to Alternative Press Japan that "It was great to collaborate with Taka on our new song called War. I am a huge fan of his voice and of One Ok Rock and I think that our voices work very well together".
On November 13, 2016, NHK held ONE OK ROCK 18 Festival where One Ok Rock and 1,000 youths sang together on one stage. On November 18, 2016, One Ok Rock released "Bedroom Warfare", the second single from the upcoming album. The third single, "I was King", was released on December 16, 2016.