About L’Arc~en~Ciel (ラルク アン シエル)

L’Arc~en~Ciel (ラルク アン シエル, L’Arc~en~Ciel), also known as L’Arc or Laruku (ラルク, Laruku) to their fans, is one of the most popular Japanese rock bands. L’Arc en Ciel translates from French as the rainbow. They have sold over 25 million copies of singles and albums in Japan alone.

Members
Hideto Takarai (HYDE) as Vocalist
Tetsuya Ogawa (TETSUYA) as Bassist and Leader
Ken Kitamura (Ken) as Guitarist
Yukihiro Awaji (Yuki) as Drumer

Ex-Memebers
Sakura, Ex Drumer
Hiro, Ex Guitaris
Pero, Ex Drumer

LABEL

Danger Crue, Ki/oon/SMEJ, Tofu, Gan-Shin

History of L’Arc~en~Ciel

Formation

In February of 1991, bassist Tetsuya Ogawa (tetsu), later band leader, recruited vocalist hyde (his real name has never been disclosed officially, however, fans have rumoured it to be Hideto Takarai) along with guitarist hiro and drummer pero, and formed a band under the name of L’Arc~en~Ciel, inspired by a French movie of the same name. After a year of gaining notoriety in their hometown of Osaka, hiro left the band on June 12, 1992. pero soon followed on December 30 of the same year, supposedly to join up with his friend hiro again. To replace the two, tetsu convinced his friend Ken Kitamura (ken) to quit his university studies in architectural design and join the band as the guitarist. Later, a new drummer, Yasunori Sakurazawa, was recruited after tetsu saw him perform in a few shows.