Artist info:
Also known as
Verified yes
GenrePop
Rank1,721 (new)
Albums7
Songs131
AboutBefore turning into "KAT-TUN", each member was part of a different Johnny's Junior unit.
In 2001, eight Jr. Members were chosen to become part of a temporary background dancing unit for Kinki Kids' member Domoto Koichi in the NHK music show "Pop Jam". Originally, Tanaka Koki was not included in this formation; however, the members were switched before it officially became the 6-member group "KAT-TUN".
Although the group was only meant as a temporary unit, they quickly gained a fair share of fans, so the formation was kept.
In 2002, KAT-TUN held their first pre-debute concert "Okyakusama wa Kamisama – Concert 550 000nin Ai no Request ni Kotaete" ((お客様は神サマーConcert 55万人愛のリクエストに応えて!! ). This concert name (lit. "Customer is King Concert – Response to the Love Request of 550 000 People") was chosen due to the fact that as many as 550 000 people tried to get a ticket to see their concert. This made KAT-TUN the first Johnny's group ever to hold their own concert before having officially debuted. Because of the success, the concert was also released on DVD.
Since then, KAT-TUN has held concerts in Japan almost every season.
Also in 2002, they performed 11 shows in 1 day, making them current record holders in Japan for the most performances in one day.
In 2003-2004, their popularity rose to that of a debuted group, to the point where they performed on Music Station multiple times before debuting, a first in JE history.
KAT-TUN released their first major DVD, "Live KAIZOKUBAN", which topped the Oricon yearly chart for the best-selling DVD. At the 20th Japan Gold Disc Awards, LIVE KAIZOKUBAN was placed on the Music Video Of The Year List.
After years of waiting, it was announced on January 29 2006 that KAT-TUN would officially debut on March 22 2006. On their debut day, "Real Face", KAT-TUN's debut single was released, together with the album "Best of KAT-TUN" and a DVD "Real Face Film", featuring behind the scenes footage of the "Real Face" PV filming.
To celebrate their official debut, a nationwide tour "Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face"" followed suit.
Within the first week, Best of KAT-TUN sold 556,548 copies, Real Face sold 754,234 copies and Real Face Film sold 374,202 copies. These releases topped all three weekly Oricon charts. They are the second artist to do so, the first being Ayumi Hamasaki. With these numbers, KAT-TUN holds the records for the highest weekly single debut sales as well as the record for highest weekly DVD debut sales (Arashi were the previous record holders with their debut single "Arashi" in 1999). In addition, Real Face topped the Oricon charts for three weeks straight, making them the first artist since KinKi Kids' debut single "Garasu no Shounen" 8 years and 8 months ago to achieve this. The single sold over a million copies in nine weeks, making Real Face the highest selling single of 2006.
In March 2006, KAT-TUN became the first group to hold their own performances in Japan's most popular stadium, Tokyo Dome, before debuting. They performed to 110,000 people over two days and about 630,000 people in total during the tour. About three months after releasing Real Face, KAT-TUN released their second single, SIGNAL, on July 19, 2006. As expected from the media, it topped the Oricon weekly chart by exceeding 400,000 in sales.
On October 12, 2006, Akanishi announced a hiatus from the group in order to study linguistics abroad in the United States, leaving KAT-TUN as a five-member group for six months. The remaining members continued activities by releasing their third single, Bokura no Machi de (as the theme song to Kamenashi and Tanaka's drama, Tatta Hitotsu no Koi), and their second album, cartoon KAT-TUN II YOU, on December 7, 2006.
KAT-TUN is the first group in Japan to have all three singles from debut to exceed 500,000 in yearly sales, taking first, fifth and 13th place on the Oricon yearly singles chart.
Under the same name as their second album, KAT-TUN started their second nationwide tour, TOUR 2007 cartoon KAT-TUN II You, still without Akanishi, on April 3, 2007. The next day, KAT-TUN began to host their own variety show cartoon KAT-TUN, which airs every Wednesday from 11:55 P.M. to 12:26 A.M..
Akanishi returned to Japan on April 19, 2007 and officially resumed work activities on April 20, 2007. His return excited a nationwide media frenzy. Akanishi joined the rest of KAT-TUN during their tour on April 21, 2007 in Sendai for the encore. The appearance marked his official return to KAT-TUN.
On June 6, 2007, KAT-TUN released their fourth single, Yorokobi no Uta, as the theme song to Tanaka's drama, Tokkyu Tanaka 3 Go. The single hit number one on the weekly chart. Although Yorokobi no Uta is KAT-TUN's official fourth single, it is speculated that YOU, the theme song to Kamenashi's drama, Sapuri, was supposed to be the fourth, but Akanishi's sudden hiatus delayed any production of YOU being a single.
On November 21, 2007, they simultaneously released their fifth single, Keep the faith, as the theme song to Akanishi and Taguchi's drama, Yukan Club, and the DVD to their TOKYO DOME Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face" concert. The DVD established their fifth consecutive release to top the Oricon musical DVD chart. It also set the opening week record for the year. In addition, KAT-TUN took the yearly number one position on the Oricon musical DVD charts for the third time in a row with the release. To add on to the number ones, Keep the faith also topped the weekly single charts.
After KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN is the second artist to have all singles since debut to exceed 300,000 in sales during their first week.
At the 21st Japan Gold Disc Awards, Real Face took Single of the Year. In addition to this, Real Face, SIGNAL and Bokura no Machi de were included in the list of The Best 10 Singles for 2007. Furthermore, their debut album, Best of KAT-TUN, placed in the The Best 10 Albums of 2007 and their DVD, Real Face Film, was also included on the The Best Music Videos of 2007 list.
KAT-TUN released their sixth single, LIPS, on February 6, 2008, as the theme song to Kamenashi's drama, One Pound Gospel. The single topped at number one on the Oricon charts.
At the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards, Bokura no Machi de and Keep the Faith won two of the Best 10 Singles. Their concert DVD, Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face", had also won one of the three Best Music Videos awards.
On March 30, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN would hold their third nationwide tour, to start in Hiroshima on June 21, 2008.
On April 22, 2008 it was announced that KAT-TUN will release their third album, KAT-TUN III Queen of Pirates on June 4, 2008.
KAT-TUN released their seventh single, Don't U Ever Stop, on May 14, 2008 which topped the weekly Oricon chart. The release included three limited edition versions featuring the members' solos in pairs. The first with Kamenashi and Taguchi, the second with Akanishi and Tanaka, and the third with Ueda and Nakamaru. It sold more than the top 49 artists after them combined. Along with LIPS, KAT-TUN holds the records for the two highest first-week sales in 2008.
On May 15, 2008, during the MC segment of promoting Don't U Ever Stop on Music Station, Kamenashi announced that two days were added to their Tokyo Dome performances for their tour, resulting in a total of four consecutive days in the Dome. This marked a historic event in the Dome's history, which has been established since 1988, as KAT-TUN is the first artist to hold four consecutive days at the stadium. Other Japanese artists, such as SMAP, X Japan and Ayumi Hamasaki have had three consecutive days at the Dome, and Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson have had multiple days at the Dome as well, but they were not consecutive.
KAT-TUN's third album, "KAT-TUN III Queen of Pirates" was released on June 4, 2008.
On December 3, 2008, KAT-TUN released White X'mas, their first Christmas single. The release consisted of a limited and regular edition, but both would only be sold during the holiday season. The single, with no drama tie-in and no B-side, still sold moderately well with 250,000 copies sold in its first week.
On December 21, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN will release a new single ONE DROP as a tie-in theme song to Kamenashi's new drama, Kami no Shizuku, just two months after their White X'mas single. The release consists of three versions: Limited Edition w/DVD, Regular Edition (First Press) and a Regular Edition. All three versions consisted of different features.
On December 28, 2008, avex Taiwan announced on their website of an overseas (OS) press release of KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES on January 20, 2009, including traditional Chinese subtitles.
Before partaking in Johnny's annual countdown concert on December 31, 2008, KAT-TUN performed an unbroadcasted special medley for 10 minutes, consisting of Keep the faith, ONE DROP and Yorokobi no Uta. This was their first time performing ONE DROP publicly, debuting the song.
On January 1, it was announced that Kamenashi would continue starring in Dream Boys in September for thirty-eight shows. The stage show is expected to continue for six more years. In addition, KAT-TUN released KAT-TUN Live Tour 2008 Queen of Pirates DVD, featuring their last day of four in Tokyo Dome.
On February 11, KAT-TUN released "One Drop". It became KAT-TUN's ninth consecutive number one single since debut, selling 281,359 copies in its first week.
A month later, on March 11, KAT-TUN released "Rescue" for member Nakamaru's drama, Rescue: Tokubetsu Kodo Kyujotai. It became KAT-TUN's tenth consecutive number one single since debut, selling 322,597 copies in its first week. With this achievement KAT-TUN tied with NEWS for the second most consecutive number one singles from debut (Kinki Kids is number one with twenty-eight consecutive number one singles). A week after the release of "Rescue", it was revealed through their official website that KAT-TUN would be releasing their fourth studio album.
On April 1, the title of the album, Break the Records: By You & For You, as well as the track list for KAT-TUN's fourth studio album were released; the album itself released on April 29.
It was announced on January 23 that KAT-TUN would hold seven consecutive concerts at Tokyo Dome, Japan's largest and most prestigious arena, making KAT-TUN the first artists in history to do so. However, by the end of March, due to the large number of pre-reserved tickets, KAT-TUN's record breaking concert added extra tour dates. KAT-TUN's 2009 concert scheduled eight consecutive days in Tokyo Dome from May 15 to the 22, three days in Osaka from May 29 to the 31, and two more days in Tokyo Dome from June 14 to the 15, for a total of thirteen concert performances in two cities, and ten days in total for Tokyo Dome.
Sales for KAT-TUN's eight consecutive days in Tokyo Dome concert went on sale on April 4. On the very same day all 440,000 seats were sold out.
On the last of their eight days at Tokyo Dome, it was announced that KAT-TUN would once again embark on another summer tour of Japan starting from July 7.
It was reported on May 24 that Johnny Kitagawa was after the acknowledgment of KAT-TUN's eight-day concerts at Tokyo Dome by the Guinness World Records company, for the record of the largest number of consecutive concerts at a stadium seating more than 50,000 spectators each day.
On February 10, KAT-TUN released their first single since March 2009, which was used for Kamenashi's live-action drama adaptation of Tomoko Hayakawa's manga series Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, which premiered January 15 on TBS.[24] The single, "Love Yourself (Kimi ga Kirai na Kimi ga Suki)", debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly singles chart, resulting in KAT-TUN's eleventh consecutive number one single since their debut. It became KAT-TUN's first single to sell more than 350,000 copies in its first week since the May 2008 release of their single "Don't U Ever Stop", which sold more than 381,000 copies in its first week.
On March 24, Johnny & Associates announced that KAT-TUN will go on their first Asia concert tour as a five-member group while Akanishi will hold his own solo concerts in The United States, making him the first Johnny's artist to perform solo in the United States. KAT-TUN is set to have their Asia Tour from early May to late August and although the majority of the concerts will be held in Japan, KAT-TUN will also be heading to Bangkok on July 31, Seoul from August 6 to 7, and Taipei from August 27 to 28; other sources say that a Hawaii concert is also being considered. Due to his absence from KAT-TUN's Asia concert tour and single promotions, Akanishi did not participate in the recording of KAT-TUN's twelfth single "Going!" set for release on May 12. Due to the political unrest in Thailand, Johnny & Associates announced on May 15 that KAT-TUN's concert in Bangkok would be indefinitely postponed.
KAT-TUN released their first 2010 album, No More Pain, on June 16 in two versions: a limited and regular edition that both include solo songs by each member. The limited edition contains thirteen songs and a bonus DVD with the PVs and making-of's the album's songs while the regular edition contains a bonus track.
Johnny & Associates announced on July 17 that Akanishi would leave the group in late 2010 to pursue a solo career while the rest of the members would continue to work as a five-member group. On July 21, Akanishi himself confirmed through the official Johnny's mobile site, Johnny's Web, that he would leave KAT-TUN to focus on his solo career, although he had not appeared on any event to his fans until October.
KAT-TUN continues as a group of five. On August 28, the last day of their World Big Tour 2010, KAT-TUN revealed about their 2011 tour plan to celebrate their fifth anniversary by performing at industrial complexes in five cities in Japan and expanding its overseas tour to five different countries including Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, China, and Hawaii. The Hawaii concert would make them the first Johnny artist to hold a concert in Hawaii. On October 13, KAT-TUN announced the release of their new single, "Change Ur World" which is KAT-TUN's 13th single and the first single after Akanishi's official departure, was released on November 17. The single debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly singles chart for selling 230,829 copies, resulting in KAT-TUN's thirteenth consecutive number one single since their debut plus all of their 13 singles sold over 200,000 copies in the first week.
On December 29, KAT-TUN released KAT-TUN -NO MORE PAIИ- WORLD TOUR 2010 DVD, featuring their last day in Japan leg of their successful World Big Tour 2010 at Kyocera Dome and more concert footages from their Korea and Taiwan legs.
The group announced a release of their 14th single on 2010's Christmas Eve, "Ultimate Wheels" on February 2, 2011 along with a tie-in CM of Suzuki Solio car that the group endorsed. On January 6, KAT-TUN announced its plan of KAT-TUN Live Tour 2011 during May to October. The tour includes the 5 big dome tour at Sapporo Dome, Tokyo Dome, Nagoya Dome, Yahoo Dome in Fukuoka, and Kyocera Dome in Osaka and a special live event in Kawasaki on July 17–19. KAT-TUN will become the fourth Johnny group to be able to conquer the 5 big domes in Japan after SMAP, Kinki Kids and Arashi. After October, the group will start their Asia Tour that includes Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea.
Unfortunately, due to the Great Tohoku Earthquake, all concert plans got postponed, and later on, cancelled.
"Ultimate Wheels" became their 14th straight No.1 single since their debut. The total number of copies sold in the first week was over 180,000 copies, reported by Oricon. Early March, KAT-TUN announced three new songs in three days, including "Perfect" for Kamenashi's new Aoki TV commercial, "White" for a Sofina commercial, and "Diamond" as the theme song of NTV telecasts of Yomiuri Giants baseball games.
It was announced on March 29 that Johnny's Company would start a new charity project called Marching J, a fundraising project for the Tohoku Earthquake victims. The first part of the project started as an event held from April 1 through April 3. From the company, SMAP, Tokio, Kinki Kids, V6, Arashi, Tackey and Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP and some Johnny's Juniors participated in this first event. The first event will be held at Tokyo, in front of the first Yoyogi gymnasium. Groups took turns according to their schedule and will have a talk session in front of the fans, also calling out for donations for the earthquake victims.
On May 18, KAT-TUN's 15th single "White" was released with "Perfect" as its coupling song. By this time, they also announced another two new songs, "Cosmic Child" for a Wing TV commercial, and "Run For You" for a New Suzuki Solio commercial. On May 29, KAT-TUN with all its five members joined another Marching J project, "Johnny's Charity Baseball Tournament" with other Johnny artists and juniors at Tokyo Dome, in which the ticket sales would be donated for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami victims.
It was announced in mid-June that members Kazuya Kamenashi, Koki Tanaka and Yuichi Nakamaru will star in this year's Dream Boy musicals as the leads, shows will commence from September 3rd to 25th. This year's shows commemorated the 100th anniversary of the venue Imperial Garden Theater, and will also be the last shows for Johnny's long-running Dream Boy musicals.
On September 8 2011, it was confirmed that KAT-TUN will host a new TV show titled KAT-TUN no Zettai Manetaku Naru TV, their first show since Cartoon KAT-TUN ended in March 2010. The new show is scheduled to begin airing on October 18 on NTV. During the broadcast of the first episode, it was revealed that the show will only air for a limited time until the end of December 2011 with a total of 10 episodes. On September 30 2011, KAT-TUN announced their 17th single "Birth" as the soundtrack to Kamenashi Kazuya's drama "Youkai Ningen Bem" would have been released on November 30."Birth"became their 17th straight No.1 single on the Oricon's weekly chart since their debut.
KAT-TUN began their new year with a special TV show titled "KAT-TUN no Sekaiichi Dame Yoru Ni", a one-off show broadcasted on the night of Jan 1 on TBS. A few weeks later they announced the release of their 6th album titled "CHAIN", scheduled for releasing on Feb 22.
On Jan 13, KAT-TUN endorsed the mobile game site "entag!" CM which used KAT-TUN's album track "SMILE FOR YOU" as a CM song and the first-ever KAT-TUN animation, "Ai wa KAT-TUN", voiced by KAT-TUN themselves, was launched on entag! site for a limited period.
On Feb 11, they kicked off their nationwide tour in 2 years "KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2012 CHAIN". This tour will cover most number of cities they've ever done, 12 cities including Sendai. The tour will start in Niigata and will end in Sendai. They will become the first Johnny to perform in affected area after the Earthquake and Tsunami disasder.
Music Station presented on Jan 13 with a special report 最強グループBEST20 or Most Powerful Group BEST 20 which the the Top 20 most powerful groups of all-time in term of physical single and album sales. KAT-TUN joined the Top 20 at No.16. With five year debut, 17 singles and 5 albums, together have made them over 8,450,000 copies sold. Music Station hints to this ranking included the debut single Real Face which become 2006's No.1 selling single and how they managed to hold 8 consecutive concert at Tokyo Dome. Among the groups in Top 20, KAT-TUN is apparently the newest group on the category.
Their fifth album "CHAIN" as released on February 22.
[Source]
In 2001, eight Jr. Members were chosen to become part of a temporary background dancing unit for Kinki Kids' member Domoto Koichi in the NHK music show "Pop Jam". Originally, Tanaka Koki was not included in this formation; however, the members were switched before it officially became the 6-member group "KAT-TUN".
Although the group was only meant as a temporary unit, they quickly gained a fair share of fans, so the formation was kept.
In 2002, KAT-TUN held their first pre-debute concert "Okyakusama wa Kamisama – Concert 550 000nin Ai no Request ni Kotaete" ((お客様は神サマーConcert 55万人愛のリクエストに応えて!! ). This concert name (lit. "Customer is King Concert – Response to the Love Request of 550 000 People") was chosen due to the fact that as many as 550 000 people tried to get a ticket to see their concert. This made KAT-TUN the first Johnny's group ever to hold their own concert before having officially debuted. Because of the success, the concert was also released on DVD.
Since then, KAT-TUN has held concerts in Japan almost every season.
Also in 2002, they performed 11 shows in 1 day, making them current record holders in Japan for the most performances in one day.
In 2003-2004, their popularity rose to that of a debuted group, to the point where they performed on Music Station multiple times before debuting, a first in JE history.
KAT-TUN released their first major DVD, "Live KAIZOKUBAN", which topped the Oricon yearly chart for the best-selling DVD. At the 20th Japan Gold Disc Awards, LIVE KAIZOKUBAN was placed on the Music Video Of The Year List.
After years of waiting, it was announced on January 29 2006 that KAT-TUN would officially debut on March 22 2006. On their debut day, "Real Face", KAT-TUN's debut single was released, together with the album "Best of KAT-TUN" and a DVD "Real Face Film", featuring behind the scenes footage of the "Real Face" PV filming.
To celebrate their official debut, a nationwide tour "Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face"" followed suit.
Within the first week, Best of KAT-TUN sold 556,548 copies, Real Face sold 754,234 copies and Real Face Film sold 374,202 copies. These releases topped all three weekly Oricon charts. They are the second artist to do so, the first being Ayumi Hamasaki. With these numbers, KAT-TUN holds the records for the highest weekly single debut sales as well as the record for highest weekly DVD debut sales (Arashi were the previous record holders with their debut single "Arashi" in 1999). In addition, Real Face topped the Oricon charts for three weeks straight, making them the first artist since KinKi Kids' debut single "Garasu no Shounen" 8 years and 8 months ago to achieve this. The single sold over a million copies in nine weeks, making Real Face the highest selling single of 2006.
In March 2006, KAT-TUN became the first group to hold their own performances in Japan's most popular stadium, Tokyo Dome, before debuting. They performed to 110,000 people over two days and about 630,000 people in total during the tour. About three months after releasing Real Face, KAT-TUN released their second single, SIGNAL, on July 19, 2006. As expected from the media, it topped the Oricon weekly chart by exceeding 400,000 in sales.
On October 12, 2006, Akanishi announced a hiatus from the group in order to study linguistics abroad in the United States, leaving KAT-TUN as a five-member group for six months. The remaining members continued activities by releasing their third single, Bokura no Machi de (as the theme song to Kamenashi and Tanaka's drama, Tatta Hitotsu no Koi), and their second album, cartoon KAT-TUN II YOU, on December 7, 2006.
KAT-TUN is the first group in Japan to have all three singles from debut to exceed 500,000 in yearly sales, taking first, fifth and 13th place on the Oricon yearly singles chart.
Under the same name as their second album, KAT-TUN started their second nationwide tour, TOUR 2007 cartoon KAT-TUN II You, still without Akanishi, on April 3, 2007. The next day, KAT-TUN began to host their own variety show cartoon KAT-TUN, which airs every Wednesday from 11:55 P.M. to 12:26 A.M..
Akanishi returned to Japan on April 19, 2007 and officially resumed work activities on April 20, 2007. His return excited a nationwide media frenzy. Akanishi joined the rest of KAT-TUN during their tour on April 21, 2007 in Sendai for the encore. The appearance marked his official return to KAT-TUN.
On June 6, 2007, KAT-TUN released their fourth single, Yorokobi no Uta, as the theme song to Tanaka's drama, Tokkyu Tanaka 3 Go. The single hit number one on the weekly chart. Although Yorokobi no Uta is KAT-TUN's official fourth single, it is speculated that YOU, the theme song to Kamenashi's drama, Sapuri, was supposed to be the fourth, but Akanishi's sudden hiatus delayed any production of YOU being a single.
On November 21, 2007, they simultaneously released their fifth single, Keep the faith, as the theme song to Akanishi and Taguchi's drama, Yukan Club, and the DVD to their TOKYO DOME Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face" concert. The DVD established their fifth consecutive release to top the Oricon musical DVD chart. It also set the opening week record for the year. In addition, KAT-TUN took the yearly number one position on the Oricon musical DVD charts for the third time in a row with the release. To add on to the number ones, Keep the faith also topped the weekly single charts.
After KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN is the second artist to have all singles since debut to exceed 300,000 in sales during their first week.
At the 21st Japan Gold Disc Awards, Real Face took Single of the Year. In addition to this, Real Face, SIGNAL and Bokura no Machi de were included in the list of The Best 10 Singles for 2007. Furthermore, their debut album, Best of KAT-TUN, placed in the The Best 10 Albums of 2007 and their DVD, Real Face Film, was also included on the The Best Music Videos of 2007 list.
KAT-TUN released their sixth single, LIPS, on February 6, 2008, as the theme song to Kamenashi's drama, One Pound Gospel. The single topped at number one on the Oricon charts.
At the 22nd Japan Gold Disc Awards, Bokura no Machi de and Keep the Faith won two of the Best 10 Singles. Their concert DVD, Live of KAT-TUN "Real Face", had also won one of the three Best Music Videos awards.
On March 30, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN would hold their third nationwide tour, to start in Hiroshima on June 21, 2008.
On April 22, 2008 it was announced that KAT-TUN will release their third album, KAT-TUN III Queen of Pirates on June 4, 2008.
KAT-TUN released their seventh single, Don't U Ever Stop, on May 14, 2008 which topped the weekly Oricon chart. The release included three limited edition versions featuring the members' solos in pairs. The first with Kamenashi and Taguchi, the second with Akanishi and Tanaka, and the third with Ueda and Nakamaru. It sold more than the top 49 artists after them combined. Along with LIPS, KAT-TUN holds the records for the two highest first-week sales in 2008.
On May 15, 2008, during the MC segment of promoting Don't U Ever Stop on Music Station, Kamenashi announced that two days were added to their Tokyo Dome performances for their tour, resulting in a total of four consecutive days in the Dome. This marked a historic event in the Dome's history, which has been established since 1988, as KAT-TUN is the first artist to hold four consecutive days at the stadium. Other Japanese artists, such as SMAP, X Japan and Ayumi Hamasaki have had three consecutive days at the Dome, and Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson have had multiple days at the Dome as well, but they were not consecutive.
KAT-TUN's third album, "KAT-TUN III Queen of Pirates" was released on June 4, 2008.
On December 3, 2008, KAT-TUN released White X'mas, their first Christmas single. The release consisted of a limited and regular edition, but both would only be sold during the holiday season. The single, with no drama tie-in and no B-side, still sold moderately well with 250,000 copies sold in its first week.
On December 21, 2008, it was announced that KAT-TUN will release a new single ONE DROP as a tie-in theme song to Kamenashi's new drama, Kami no Shizuku, just two months after their White X'mas single. The release consists of three versions: Limited Edition w/DVD, Regular Edition (First Press) and a Regular Edition. All three versions consisted of different features.
On December 28, 2008, avex Taiwan announced on their website of an overseas (OS) press release of KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2008 QUEEN OF PIRATES on January 20, 2009, including traditional Chinese subtitles.
Before partaking in Johnny's annual countdown concert on December 31, 2008, KAT-TUN performed an unbroadcasted special medley for 10 minutes, consisting of Keep the faith, ONE DROP and Yorokobi no Uta. This was their first time performing ONE DROP publicly, debuting the song.
On January 1, it was announced that Kamenashi would continue starring in Dream Boys in September for thirty-eight shows. The stage show is expected to continue for six more years. In addition, KAT-TUN released KAT-TUN Live Tour 2008 Queen of Pirates DVD, featuring their last day of four in Tokyo Dome.
On February 11, KAT-TUN released "One Drop". It became KAT-TUN's ninth consecutive number one single since debut, selling 281,359 copies in its first week.
A month later, on March 11, KAT-TUN released "Rescue" for member Nakamaru's drama, Rescue: Tokubetsu Kodo Kyujotai. It became KAT-TUN's tenth consecutive number one single since debut, selling 322,597 copies in its first week. With this achievement KAT-TUN tied with NEWS for the second most consecutive number one singles from debut (Kinki Kids is number one with twenty-eight consecutive number one singles). A week after the release of "Rescue", it was revealed through their official website that KAT-TUN would be releasing their fourth studio album.
On April 1, the title of the album, Break the Records: By You & For You, as well as the track list for KAT-TUN's fourth studio album were released; the album itself released on April 29.
It was announced on January 23 that KAT-TUN would hold seven consecutive concerts at Tokyo Dome, Japan's largest and most prestigious arena, making KAT-TUN the first artists in history to do so. However, by the end of March, due to the large number of pre-reserved tickets, KAT-TUN's record breaking concert added extra tour dates. KAT-TUN's 2009 concert scheduled eight consecutive days in Tokyo Dome from May 15 to the 22, three days in Osaka from May 29 to the 31, and two more days in Tokyo Dome from June 14 to the 15, for a total of thirteen concert performances in two cities, and ten days in total for Tokyo Dome.
Sales for KAT-TUN's eight consecutive days in Tokyo Dome concert went on sale on April 4. On the very same day all 440,000 seats were sold out.
On the last of their eight days at Tokyo Dome, it was announced that KAT-TUN would once again embark on another summer tour of Japan starting from July 7.
It was reported on May 24 that Johnny Kitagawa was after the acknowledgment of KAT-TUN's eight-day concerts at Tokyo Dome by the Guinness World Records company, for the record of the largest number of consecutive concerts at a stadium seating more than 50,000 spectators each day.
On February 10, KAT-TUN released their first single since March 2009, which was used for Kamenashi's live-action drama adaptation of Tomoko Hayakawa's manga series Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, which premiered January 15 on TBS.[24] The single, "Love Yourself (Kimi ga Kirai na Kimi ga Suki)", debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly singles chart, resulting in KAT-TUN's eleventh consecutive number one single since their debut. It became KAT-TUN's first single to sell more than 350,000 copies in its first week since the May 2008 release of their single "Don't U Ever Stop", which sold more than 381,000 copies in its first week.
On March 24, Johnny & Associates announced that KAT-TUN will go on their first Asia concert tour as a five-member group while Akanishi will hold his own solo concerts in The United States, making him the first Johnny's artist to perform solo in the United States. KAT-TUN is set to have their Asia Tour from early May to late August and although the majority of the concerts will be held in Japan, KAT-TUN will also be heading to Bangkok on July 31, Seoul from August 6 to 7, and Taipei from August 27 to 28; other sources say that a Hawaii concert is also being considered. Due to his absence from KAT-TUN's Asia concert tour and single promotions, Akanishi did not participate in the recording of KAT-TUN's twelfth single "Going!" set for release on May 12. Due to the political unrest in Thailand, Johnny & Associates announced on May 15 that KAT-TUN's concert in Bangkok would be indefinitely postponed.
KAT-TUN released their first 2010 album, No More Pain, on June 16 in two versions: a limited and regular edition that both include solo songs by each member. The limited edition contains thirteen songs and a bonus DVD with the PVs and making-of's the album's songs while the regular edition contains a bonus track.
Johnny & Associates announced on July 17 that Akanishi would leave the group in late 2010 to pursue a solo career while the rest of the members would continue to work as a five-member group. On July 21, Akanishi himself confirmed through the official Johnny's mobile site, Johnny's Web, that he would leave KAT-TUN to focus on his solo career, although he had not appeared on any event to his fans until October.
KAT-TUN continues as a group of five. On August 28, the last day of their World Big Tour 2010, KAT-TUN revealed about their 2011 tour plan to celebrate their fifth anniversary by performing at industrial complexes in five cities in Japan and expanding its overseas tour to five different countries including Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, China, and Hawaii. The Hawaii concert would make them the first Johnny artist to hold a concert in Hawaii. On October 13, KAT-TUN announced the release of their new single, "Change Ur World" which is KAT-TUN's 13th single and the first single after Akanishi's official departure, was released on November 17. The single debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly singles chart for selling 230,829 copies, resulting in KAT-TUN's thirteenth consecutive number one single since their debut plus all of their 13 singles sold over 200,000 copies in the first week.
On December 29, KAT-TUN released KAT-TUN -NO MORE PAIИ- WORLD TOUR 2010 DVD, featuring their last day in Japan leg of their successful World Big Tour 2010 at Kyocera Dome and more concert footages from their Korea and Taiwan legs.
The group announced a release of their 14th single on 2010's Christmas Eve, "Ultimate Wheels" on February 2, 2011 along with a tie-in CM of Suzuki Solio car that the group endorsed. On January 6, KAT-TUN announced its plan of KAT-TUN Live Tour 2011 during May to October. The tour includes the 5 big dome tour at Sapporo Dome, Tokyo Dome, Nagoya Dome, Yahoo Dome in Fukuoka, and Kyocera Dome in Osaka and a special live event in Kawasaki on July 17–19. KAT-TUN will become the fourth Johnny group to be able to conquer the 5 big domes in Japan after SMAP, Kinki Kids and Arashi. After October, the group will start their Asia Tour that includes Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea.
Unfortunately, due to the Great Tohoku Earthquake, all concert plans got postponed, and later on, cancelled.
"Ultimate Wheels" became their 14th straight No.1 single since their debut. The total number of copies sold in the first week was over 180,000 copies, reported by Oricon. Early March, KAT-TUN announced three new songs in three days, including "Perfect" for Kamenashi's new Aoki TV commercial, "White" for a Sofina commercial, and "Diamond" as the theme song of NTV telecasts of Yomiuri Giants baseball games.
It was announced on March 29 that Johnny's Company would start a new charity project called Marching J, a fundraising project for the Tohoku Earthquake victims. The first part of the project started as an event held from April 1 through April 3. From the company, SMAP, Tokio, Kinki Kids, V6, Arashi, Tackey and Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani8, KAT-TUN, Hey! Say! JUMP and some Johnny's Juniors participated in this first event. The first event will be held at Tokyo, in front of the first Yoyogi gymnasium. Groups took turns according to their schedule and will have a talk session in front of the fans, also calling out for donations for the earthquake victims.
On May 18, KAT-TUN's 15th single "White" was released with "Perfect" as its coupling song. By this time, they also announced another two new songs, "Cosmic Child" for a Wing TV commercial, and "Run For You" for a New Suzuki Solio commercial. On May 29, KAT-TUN with all its five members joined another Marching J project, "Johnny's Charity Baseball Tournament" with other Johnny artists and juniors at Tokyo Dome, in which the ticket sales would be donated for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami victims.
It was announced in mid-June that members Kazuya Kamenashi, Koki Tanaka and Yuichi Nakamaru will star in this year's Dream Boy musicals as the leads, shows will commence from September 3rd to 25th. This year's shows commemorated the 100th anniversary of the venue Imperial Garden Theater, and will also be the last shows for Johnny's long-running Dream Boy musicals.
On September 8 2011, it was confirmed that KAT-TUN will host a new TV show titled KAT-TUN no Zettai Manetaku Naru TV, their first show since Cartoon KAT-TUN ended in March 2010. The new show is scheduled to begin airing on October 18 on NTV. During the broadcast of the first episode, it was revealed that the show will only air for a limited time until the end of December 2011 with a total of 10 episodes. On September 30 2011, KAT-TUN announced their 17th single "Birth" as the soundtrack to Kamenashi Kazuya's drama "Youkai Ningen Bem" would have been released on November 30."Birth"became their 17th straight No.1 single on the Oricon's weekly chart since their debut.
KAT-TUN began their new year with a special TV show titled "KAT-TUN no Sekaiichi Dame Yoru Ni", a one-off show broadcasted on the night of Jan 1 on TBS. A few weeks later they announced the release of their 6th album titled "CHAIN", scheduled for releasing on Feb 22.
On Jan 13, KAT-TUN endorsed the mobile game site "entag!" CM which used KAT-TUN's album track "SMILE FOR YOU" as a CM song and the first-ever KAT-TUN animation, "Ai wa KAT-TUN", voiced by KAT-TUN themselves, was launched on entag! site for a limited period.
On Feb 11, they kicked off their nationwide tour in 2 years "KAT-TUN LIVE TOUR 2012 CHAIN". This tour will cover most number of cities they've ever done, 12 cities including Sendai. The tour will start in Niigata and will end in Sendai. They will become the first Johnny to perform in affected area after the Earthquake and Tsunami disasder.
Music Station presented on Jan 13 with a special report 最強グループBEST20 or Most Powerful Group BEST 20 which the the Top 20 most powerful groups of all-time in term of physical single and album sales. KAT-TUN joined the Top 20 at No.16. With five year debut, 17 singles and 5 albums, together have made them over 8,450,000 copies sold. Music Station hints to this ranking included the debut single Real Face which become 2006's No.1 selling single and how they managed to hold 8 consecutive concert at Tokyo Dome. Among the groups in Top 20, KAT-TUN is apparently the newest group on the category.
Their fifth album "CHAIN" as released on February 22.
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