NEWS (band)

Japanese boy band (2003 )

NEWS (acronym for "North East West South") is a Japanese boy band consisting of Keiichiro Koyama, Takahisa Masuda and Shigeaki Kato. Formed in 2003 by Johnny Kitagawa as a nine member group under the label Johnny's Entertainment, NEWS released a promotional single "NEWS Nippon" (News ニッポン), which was used for the World Cup of Volleyball Championships. In 2004, Takahiro Moriuchi (present day Taka of One Ok Rock) left the group and the remaining eight members released their debut single, "Kibō: Yell" (希望 ~Yell~), which debuted atop the Oricon charts. In 2006, the group released their fifth consecutive number one single, "Sayaendō/Hadashi no Cinderella Boy" (サヤエンドウ/裸足のシンデレラボーイ), as a six member group due to the controversy surrounding then members Hiroki Uchi and Hironori Kusano. After a brief hiatus, they released their seventh number one single, "Hoshi o Mezashite" (星をめざして). In 2008, they performed at the Tokyo Dome for the first time, and released their tenth single, "Happy Birthday", which made NEWS the second Japanese group after label mates KinKi Kids to have ten consecutive number one singles since their debut. Before holding their first concert, NEWSnow Concert: News' Concert (NEWSnowCONCERT〜ニュースのコンサート〜), Takahiro Moriuchi left the group. NEWS later released their debut single, "Kibō: Yell", which topped the Oricon chart. Their next two singles, "Akaku Moyuru Taiyō" (紅く燃ゆる太陽) (2004) and Cherish (チェリッシュ) (2005), both debuted atop the charts, as did NEWS' first album, Touch, which sold 164,016 copies in its first week. In July 2005, Uchi Hiroki was caught for underage drinking and suspended indefinitely from both NEWS and Kanjani8, another group he was a part of. Despite having lost a member, NEWS released their fourth single, "Teppen" (てっぺん), which like its predecessors debuted at number one. In January 2006, NEWS was reduced to six members when Hironori Kusano was suspended indefinitely for the same charge as Uchi. On May 1, 2006, after NEWS finished their "NEWS Spring Tour", the group went on hiatus.

On December 30, 2006, it was announced that NEWS would make their return at Johnny's Concert Countdown 2006 2007 as a six member group, since Hiroki Uchi and Hironori Kusano had been demoted to trainees. To mark their return, NEWS embarked on a tour and released their sixth single "Hoshi wo Mezashite" (星をめざして). "Hoshi wo Mezashite" became their sixth number one single, which went on to be used as the theme song for the Japanese version of Happy Feet. On November 7, NEWS simultaneously released their seventh single, "Weeeek" and their second album, Pacific. Both releases debut topped their respective charts with "Weeeek" selling 263,000 copies in its first week and Pacific selling 196,000 copies in their first week. This marked the tenth in Oricon history that an artist had both their single and album debut top the charts simultaneously. To further support their album, NEWS went on a nationwide tour, NEWS Concert Tour Pacific 2007 2008, from December 15, 2007, to January 27, 2008. Because tickets were in such high demand, two more dates were added to the concert, which resulted in NEWS performing at the Tokyo Dome for the first time. In February 2008 NEWS released their eighth number one single, "Taiyō no Namida" (太陽のナミダ), which was used as the theme song for the movie Kurosagi, starring Tomohisa Yamashita. NEWS released two more number one singles, "Summer Time" (May 2008) and "Happy Birthday" (October 2008), before releasing their third studio album Color (November 2008). The release of "Happy Birthday" made NEWS the second group, after the KinKi Kids, to have ten consecutive number one singles since their debut. NEWS released their new single, "Koi no ABO" (恋のABO) on April 29, 2009. It became their 11th number one single. Their 12th number one single titled "Sakura Girl" was released on March 31, 2010. At the "Live! Live! Live! NEWS Dome Party 2010" concert at Tokyo Dome, it was announced that NEWS would be releasing their 13th single, "Fighting Man", on November 3.

On October 7, 2011, it was announced that both Ryo Nishikido and Tomohisa Yamashita left the group. The official press release from Johnny & Associates explained that Nishikido was leaving because scheduling conflicts made it difficult for him to be active in both NEWS and Kanjani8, while Yamashita was leaving to concentrate on solo projects. Nishikido continued his activities with Kanjani8 but not NEWS. NEWS continued as a four member group with Keiichiro Koyama, Takahisa Masuda, Shigeaki Kato and Yuya Tegoshi.

On April 15, 2012, a countdown appeared on the Johnny's Entertainment website, revealing the four current member's outlines, suggesting a comeback. On April 16, Johnny's special site for NEWS restarted its countdown, which hit "0:00:00" on April 18 (12 midnight, JST). The time coincided with NEWS' member Keiichiro Koyama's radio program "K chan NEWS" to start its broadcast. Koyama's special guests were co members Tegoshi Yuya, Takahisa Masuda, and Kato Shigeaki. Earlier, Keiichiro Koyama had mentioned something about a new single and best of album. Fans could participate in their Best of Album. Fans voted for their "Top Four Favorite NEWS songs" on Johnny's Entertainment site starting April 18 at 12 noon, JST. On May 7, JE side announced the new album titled NEWS Best. It was released on June 13. The album came in a regular edition and a limited edition version. Both versions included a CD containing all 15 of the group's A side singles. The regular edition included an extra CD with the group's top 15 non single songs as voted by fans. The limited edition included an extra CD with previously unreleased solo songs. On July 18, NEWS released "Chankapana", their first single as a quartet. The single is available in 5 different version and a limited box set collection of all versions. The music video premiered on TV on July 9, 2012. The single sold 121,097 on its first day and went on to become number one on Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. On July 17, 2013, NEWS released their fifth studio album of the same name. The album contains seventeen tracks, four of them being solo songs. The new tracks were used in the group's tenth anniversary tour. The group's logo, a purple square, a pink heart, a yellow triangle, and a green circle, was commonly used in this time period. Each shape and/or represents one member, along with one letter (N, E, W, or S).

On February 25, 2015, NEWS' released another album, White. Five more albums and 11 singles since then, including a single, "Top Gun/Love Story", which was released on June 6, 2019, and an album, Story, which was released on March 3, 2020. Yuya Tegoshi left the group on June 19, 2020.

On December 23, 2020, NEWS released "Beautiful / Chinchaumakka / Kanariya" their first single as a trio.