Superfly is a Japanese rock act that debuted on April 4, 2007. Formerly a duo, the act now consists solely of lyricist and vocalist Shiho Ochi with former guitarist Kōichi Tabo still credited as the group's composer and part-time lyricist. Superfly's first two studio albums were certified double platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...

, and their first four consecutive albums (the third being classified as a "single" by the group) all debuted at the top of the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

Weekly Album Charts, a first for a female recording artist in Japan in over seven years.

History

2003–2006: Formation

met in 2003 while they were students at Matsuyama University. They were both members of a music circle that covered songs by Finger 5 and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. In 2004, the group formed the blues band "Superfly", naming themselves after

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

's song " Superfly". The group split up in 2005, with only Ochi and Tabo remaining when they went to Tokyo to seek out a label.

2007–2008: ''Superfly''

After a battle between recording labels, the duo debuted on

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

with their 2007 single " Hello Hello". This was followed by their

Shibuya, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,609 in 142,443 households ...

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...

performance and the subsequent EP '' Live from Tokyo''. On November 8, 2007, a few months after their second single "

Manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

" was released, Kōichi Tabo announced on their website that he stopped appearing on the stage to concentrate on composing the songs. Besides being active behind the scenes as Superfly's composer & arranger, Tabo has also written music for artists such as Charice Pempengco, Mai Fukui,

Yuna Ito is an American-born former pop singer and actress who was active in Japan. Ito made her musical debut in Japan with the single, " Endless Story", which was used as one of the theme songs for the popular 2005 film '' Nana''; she also starred in ...

Maaya Sakamoto is a Japanese actress and singer. She made her debut as a Voice acting in Japan, voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime ''Little Twins'', and became known as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in ''The Vision of Escaflowne''. Other ...

, BECCA, Saki Fukuda, and Asia Engineer. Later that month on November 28, 2007, Superfly released a single in collaboration with the Australian band Jet, titled " I Spy I Spy". Superfly's debut album '' Superfly'' was released on May 14, 2008, topping the Japanese

weekly album charts for two weeks. The release of the album was also celebrated with a free concert at

Yoyogi Park is a park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It is located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Yoyogikamizonochō. The park is a popular Tokyo destination, especially on Sundays when it is used as a gathering place for Japanese rock music ...

in Tokyo. Following its release, Ochi, who has a great admiration for

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

, was given the chance to travel to San Francisco in 2008 where she travelled through

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called the Haight and the Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the countercultu ...

and met up with Sam Andrew of

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company are an American rock band that was formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After ...

as part of a documentary titled ''Following the Steps of Janis'' on

Music On! TV , also known as , is a Japanese music cable television network operated by , a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Inc. (SMEJ). Its motto is We Believe in Music.

. Ochi also counts

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song " Midnight at the Oasis" and h ...

, and

as some of her other favorite artists. In June and July, Superfly did a national tour titled the Rock'N'Roll Show 2008 Tour

2008–2009: Woodstock and ''Box Emotions''

In 2009, the asteroid 91907 Shiho was named after Ochi since it was discovered at the Kuma Kogen Astronomical Observatory in

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

, her home prefecture. April also saw the release of the '' Rock'N'Roll Show 2008'' DVD set from the band's 2008 tour stop at the

NHK Hall The NHK Hall is a concert hall located at the NHK Broadcasting Center, the main headquarters of Japan's Public broadcasting, public broadcaster NHK. The hall is the main venue for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, but it has also played host to other e ...

. During the 2009 Heroes of Woodstock Tour for the tour's stop in

Bethel, New York Bethel is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was estimated at 3,959 in 2020 United States census, 2020. The town received worldwide attention after it served as the locati ...

, the site of the original

Woodstock Festival The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

, Ochi joined

on stage and performed " Down on Me" and "

Piece of My Heart "Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart ...

" as a follow-up to the previous documentary. The third single from ''Box Emotions'', " Alright!!", was used as the opening theme to the Japanese television drama, ''Boss'', starring Yuki Amami, which began airing on April 16, 2009, as well as its second season which aired in 2011. Superfly's second studio album, '' Box Emotions'', was released on September 2, 2009, which she celebrated by holding a free live show at the

Roppongi Hills is a development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartm ...

arena, which hosted 4000 people. ''Box Emotions'' debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly charts, with the first week sales of around 214,000 copies. For the Japanese iTunes Store Rewind of 2009, ''Box Emotions'' was the album of the year. Superfly went on tour from October through December to support the album in the "Superfly Box Emotions 2009 Tour". Ochi has also teamed up with fashion designer Manami Kobayashi for the A.I.C (Another Important Culture) brand to create a line of

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

and

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

subculture themed clothing called "Cosmic Market".

2010: "Wildflower and ''Cover Songs: Complete Best''"

Superfly's first single since ''Box Emotions,'' titled " Dancing on the Fire", won Best Rock Video at the 2010

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online vo ...

. April saw the release of '' Dancing at Budokan!!'', Superfly's second video album featuring the band's performance at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

in 2009. Her first release of 2010, "Tamashii Revolution", was used as

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

theme song, and was released digitally on June 18, 2010. "Tamashii Revolution" was later included as a B-side on the single and cover album compilation "

Wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...

" & '' Cover Songs: Complete Best 'Track 3''', which became Superfly's third album to debut at number 1 on the Oricon. On November 30, 2010, Superfly performed at the

Zepp The Zepp music halls are a group of Japanese music venues covering every area of the country. They play host to many international tours and are a popular stop among Japanese musicians. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in whic ...

Tokyo arena alongside a session band called "The Lemon Bats" (consisting of Mo'Some Tonebender's Kazuhiro Momo and Superfly's touring & recording guitarist Yoshiyuki Yatsuhashi on guitar, record producer Koichi Tsutaya on keyboard, Straightener's Hidekazu Hinata on bass, and Tatsuya Nakamura on drums) in a show called the ''Switch 25th Anniversary presents Superfly & The Lemon Bats Special Live "Rock'N' Roll Muncher"''. Performing as "Superfly & The Lemon Bats", Ochi performed covers of " Dr. Feelgood", "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produced by Quincy Jones, and co-produced by Jackson. Jones encouraged Jackson to ...

", "

Barracuda A barracuda is a large, predatory, ray-finned, saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldw ...

", "

White Room "White Room" is a song by British rock band Cream, composed by bassist Jack Bruce with lyrics by poet Pete Brown. They recorded it for the studio half of the 1968 double album '' Wheels of Fire''. In September, a shorter US single edit (witho ...

", " I Saw Her Standing There", "

Land of a Thousand Dances "Land of a Thousand Dances" or "Land of 1000 Dances" is a song written and first recorded by the American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. It later became a bigger hit in versions by Cannibal & the Headhunters and Wilson Pickett. ...

", and " Born to Lose", in addition to covers of her own songs "Tanjō", "Manifesto", "Free Planet", "Alright!!", " Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo", and " Bitch".

2011: ''Mind Travel''

Superfly's song " Beep!!" was used as the theme for the film '' Manzai Gang'', and was on a double A-side single with " Sunshine Sunshine", a song used for the

KDDI () is a Japanese telecommunications operator. It was established in 2000 through the merger of , , and . In 2001, it merged with a subsidiary named Au, which was formed through the merger of seven automotive and mobile phone companies from t ...

"Meet the Music 2011" campaign. It was intended that she was to perform "Sunshine Sunshine" live at the Okinawa Namura Hall in

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

, on March 20, 2011, with the performance broadcast live over FM52 radio stations

Tokyo FM (abbreviation:TFM) is a radio station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flagship station of the Japan FM Network (JFN). Timeline The station's forerunner, FM Tokai (FM東海, abbreviated FMT), owned by Tokai University, was launched on ...

J-Wave J-Wave is an commercial radio station based in Tokyo, Japan, broadcasting on 81.3 FM from the Tokyo Skytree to the Tokyo area. J-Wave airs mostly music, including J-pop, C-pop, and Western music, covering a wide range of formats. The station i ...

, and FM Okinawa. This performance, however, was postponed due to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

. In response, Ochi recorded an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

version of "Sunshine Sunshine" which she posted on her blog on March 18, 2011, and wrote the new song " You & Me", which she posted on her official blog four days later. "You & Me" was subsequently made available for purchase on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

, Recochoku, and wamo! digital music stores and all proceeds went to the

Japanese Red Cross The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan has traditionally supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters ...

's relief efforts in Tōhoku. By May, the song had raised ¥7,831,780 (approx. US$96.8k, €68k, or £59.4k) for the Red Cross. Superfly also had a national tour in 2011, visiting 32 cities and 35 venues. The tour, dubbed "Mind Traveler", supported the group's third studio album '' Mind Travel'', which was released on June 15, 2011. Superfly also held a free concert at the

Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse The is a historical building that is used as a complex that includes a shopping mall, banquet hall, and event venues. The complex, officially known as the , was originally used as customs buildings, and has two sections: Warehouse No.1 and No.2. ...

to celebrate the release, and did a free stream on Ustream.tv. On June 21, 2011, ''Mind Travel'' topped the Oricon's weekly album charts having sold over 166,000 copies, making it Superfly's fourth consecutive album to debut at number 1, a feat not duplicated by a female artist since

Hikaru Utada , also known mononymously as Utada, is a Japanese and American singer, songwriter, and producer. She is considered to be one of the most influential and best-selling musical artists in Japan. She is best known by international audiences for w ...

in 2004. In August 2011, Superfly announced that the band would go on an arena tour titled "Shout in the Rainbow!!", with shows at the

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Chūō-ku, Saitama (city), Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum capa ...

, the

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

Nippon Gaishi Hall , formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall, is an indoor sports arena located in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. From April 1, 2007, its name was changed to Nippon Gaishi Hall, to reflect the sponsorship of the NGK Insulators. The capacity of the arena is 10,000 peop ...

, and the

Osaka-jō Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Kyōbashi, Osaka, Kyōbashi area of Osaka, Japan. The hall opened in 1983 and can seat up to 16,000 people. Built on a site area of , part of its form uses stone walls, modeled after those of Osaka Castle ...

. This news was followed by the release of the band's 14th single " Ai o Kurae", a song for their upcoming 4th album.

2012: ''Force''

In 2012, Superfly participated in the JAPAN UNITED event with MUSIC 30-member supergroup in recording a cover of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "

All You Need Is Love "All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967, with "Baby, You're a Rich Man" as its A-side and B-side, B-side. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lenn ...

" to raise money for reconstruction efforts regarding the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. For the band's 5th anniversary, Superfly released the '' Shout in the Rainbow!!'' video album featuring performances from the band's December 2011 arena tour stop at Osaka-jō Hall. Limited editions of the video release included a CD featuring the previously unreleased track . While doing a special live broadcast on

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to the IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest office ...

and

Nico Nico Douga , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, according to Alexa Internet. ...

to celebrate the ''Shout in the Rainbow!!'' release, Superfly announced that they would be releasing a fourth studio album titled ''

Force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...

'' on September 19, 2012. To commemorate the band's five-year anniversary, a special edition of the album including a bonus CD, a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

copy of the album, and a commemorative poster Was released along with a standard single-CD edition, a limited two CD edition, and an edition exclusively released through Lawson convenience stores. One week later, ''Shout in the Rainbow!!'' would top the Oricon's Blu-ray weekly rankings, making Superfly the fourth ever solo artist to top those charts. After a free live concert at Tokyo's Yoyogi Park with livecasts on various internet services on the release date, ''Force'' was supported by a 35-stop concert hall tour called "Superfly Tour 2012 'Live Force'", starting on October 26, 2012. Superfly has also recorded a duet with Tortoise Matsumoto titled "

STARS A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

" which will be used by

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

as its theme song for its broadcasts of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. It was released to truetone distributing stores on May 11, 2012, and was released as a single on July 25, 2012. The release of "STARS" was followed by the double A-side single " Kagayaku Tsuki no Yō ni" / " The Bird Without Wings", with its title tracks used as the theme songs for the television drama ''Summer Rescue'' and the film '' Ushijima the Loan Shark'', respectively. ''Force'' sold 119,000 units in its first week, placing it at number 1 on the Oricon's Weekly charts, making Superfly one of only 4 female solo artists to have five consecutive number 1 debuts on the charts; she is included amongst

Namie Amuro Namie Amuro ( ; ; born September 20, 1977) is a retired Japanese singer. She rose to prominence as a Japanese idol, teen idol, and transitioned into a leading Pop music, pop artist due to her versatility across music styles and visual presentatio ...

(fifth No. 1 in February 2000), Mai Kuraki (January 2004), and

(June 2006).

2013–2014: Fifth anniversary, ''Superfly Best'', "White Light"

The group announced it would release their first

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

album on September 25, 2013. During this time, Superfly recorded "Starting Over" which is used by

J-WAVE J-Wave is an commercial radio station based in Tokyo, Japan, broadcasting on 81.3 FM from the Tokyo Skytree to the Tokyo area. J-Wave airs mostly music, including J-pop, C-pop, and Western music, covering a wide range of formats. The station i ...

as the theme song for their 25th anniversary. The album was then announced to be simply titled '' Superfly Best'', and includes the 26 singles Superfly has released since their major debut and three new songs: "Starting Over", "Always", and "Bi-Li-Li Emotion". The album sold 157 thousand copies in its first week, earning the number 1 spot on the

. ''Superfly Best'' became Superfly's 6th consecutive number 1 album, making Shiho Ochi only the second solo female artist to achieve such a goal. In May 2014, Superfly was chosen to perform the theme song "

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

" "for the sequel of the film adaptation of '' Ushijima the Loan Shark''. In September, Superfly performed the theme song for the '' Tales of Zestiria'' video game, titled " White Light". Superfly released their 18th single " Ai o Karada ni Fukikonde" in November 2014.

2015: ''White''

After the digital release of "White Light" in January 2015, it was announced that Superfly's 5th studio album, ''

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

'', would be released on May 27, 2015.

2017: 10th Anniversary ''Love, Peace & Fire''

In April 2017, Superfly released the 10th Anniversary 3-CD greatest hits set ''Love, Peace, and Fire,'' which contained 39 songs selected from 127 tunes by fan voting. A condensed single-disc edition was released in December 2017, with an orchestral version of "Ai wo Komete Hanataba wo".

2020: ''0''

In January 2020, Superfly's sixth album ''0'' was released, which included "Ambitious", the theme song for the TBS drama '' Watashi, Teiji de Kaerimasu''. The album's limited edition also included a Blu-ray of selected songs from "Superfly Arena Tour 2019 '0'", filmed on October 27, 2019, at Saitama Super Arena.

2021–2024: Transfer to Universal Sigma, ''Heat Wave''

In April 2021,

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in Japan regarding music distribution. The company is responsible ...

announced Superfly would transfer from Warner Music Japan to Universal Sigma. The first single under the label, "Voice", was released in April 2022. Superfly's second single "Dynamite" was released in May 2022. In July 2022, it was announced Superfly's song "Presence" would serve as the opening theme for '' Aoashi''. In August 2022, a remix of "Dynamite" by R3hab was released. In November 2022, Warner Japan released a live performance greatest hits album, ''15th Anniversary Live Best''. The live album includes Superfly's performances from their major tours while under Warner. In December 2022, Superfly released the song "Farewell". In March 2023, Superfly's seventh studio album, ''Heat Wave'', was announced for release in May 2023. The Japanese dub of ''Elemental'' features a new version of their song "Yasashii Kimochide" as the ending theme.

2025: Concert tour and first cover album

Near the end of 2024, Superfly announced a concert tour in Japan. A cover album was also announced, including covers of songs from Super Beaver, Back Number and One Ok Rock. The lead single "Irodori", originally recorded by Mr. Children, was released in April. A second single, a cover of Super Beaver's "Hito to Shite", was released the next month. The name of the album, ''Amazing'', and the track listing was later announced. ''Amazing'' is slated for release digitally on June 16 while its physical release will be on June 18. A cover of Mrs. Green Apple's "Boku no Koto" was released as a pre-release promotional single.

Discography

*'' Superfly'' (2008) *'' Box Emotions'' (2009) *'' Mind Travel'' (2011) *''

'' (2012) *''

'' (2015) * ''0'' (2020) * ''Heat Wave'' (2023) * ''Amazing'' (2025)

References

External links

Official Superfly Website (Japanese)Superfly｜Warner Music JapanOfficial YouTube ChannelSuperfly
– Facebook
Superfly_Official
(Superfly_staff) – Twitter
Tabo's Ramblings
– Koichi Tabo's Official Blog
Koichi Tabo's Official Website
{{Authority control Japanese rock music groups Musical groups established in 2007 2007 establishments in Japan People from Imabari, Ehime Musical groups from Ehime Prefecture Warner Music Japan artists Universal Music Japan artists Female-fronted musical groups