Golden Bomber

Formed in 2004, Japanese rock band Golden Bomber is part of the visual kei genre, in which artists—often wearing glam rock-style costumes—don’t actually perform the music played at their live shows. ∙ Shō Kiryūin, Golden Bomber’s sole songwriter, was usually the only member performing live during their flamboyant concerts. ∙ Following numerous independent and online releases, the band issued four different best-of collections in a single year (2010), making them a fixture on the Japanese charts. ∙ Released in 2009, the single “Memeshikute” ultimately spent 84 weeks on the Japanese charts, becoming their most popular song. ∙ In 2013 and 2014, Golden Bomber released back-to-back No. 1 singles: the synthy romp “Dance My Generation” and the upbeat rocker “101 Kaime No Noroi (No Music No Weapon Ver).” ∙ In addition to songwriting, Kiryūin hosted the late-night radio program All Night Nippon and penned an autobiography, I’m Golden Bomber’s Vocalist, Are There Any Questions?. ∙ In 2019, just hours after the reign of new emperor Naruhito was announced as the Reiwa era, Golden Bomber released a new single and music video with the same name.