#yuimetal #moments

Babymetal, Japanese: ベビーメタル, is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal" and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse talent agency. Their vocals are backed by heavy metal instrumentation, performed by a group of session musicians known as the "Kami Band" at performances.

The band was formed in 2010, with the original lineup of Su-metal, Moametal, and Yui Mizuno as "Yuimetal", with the concept of creating a fusion of the heavy metal and Japanese idol genres. Originally a sub-unit of the Japanese idol group Sakura Gakuin, Babymetal became an independent act in 2013, following Nakamoto's departure from Sakura Gakuin. Babymetal released their eponymous debut album in February 2014. Their second album Metal Resistance was released worldwide in April 2016. Babymetal has also embarked on several tours, with a majority of their tour dates taking place outside of Asia. The group released their third album Metal Galaxy in October 2019.

On October 19, 2018, Babymetal announced that Yui Mizuno had decided to leave the band due to poor health, following her absence from live performances since December 2017. Since her departure, the band has performed with backup dancers at live performances. In 2019, the band introduced three backup dancers called "Avengers" who performed in rotation at each live show to form a trio with Moametal and Su-metal.

Yui Mizuno, 水野 由結, born June 20, 1999 is a Japanese musician, singer, model, and actress. She is a former member of the kawaii metal group Babymetal and the idol group Sakura Gakuin. In October 2018, she left Babymetal due to an undisclosed illness. She is managed by the Amuse, Inc. talent agency.
On August 2, 2010, at the age of 11, Mizuno joined Sakura Gakuin, an idol group managed by the talent agency Amuse, Inc. She joined at the same time as another future Babymetal member, Moa Kikuchi. Sakura Gakuin had not yet released its debut single. During their audition, Mizuno and Kikuchi performed a duo dance cover of "Over The Future" by Karen Girl's, two former members of which, Ayami Mutō and Suzuka Nakamoto, had also recently joined Sakura Gakuin.

Besides performing as a whole group, Sakura Gakuin members were also divided into smaller subgroups known as "clubs." Each club had its own musical group that recorded its own songs. Mizuno and Kikuchi first became members of the "Baton Club" and its musical group Twinklestars. As backing singers and dancers, they were later teamed with lead singer Suzuka Nakamoto in a "Heavy Music" club, with the associated music group being named Babymetal. Before the formation of this club, none of the three members knew what heavy metal was.

Babymetal became an independent recording group in 2012. Mizuno "graduated" from Sakura Gakuin in 2015,and from then on performed with Babymetal exclusively. Mizuno and Kikuchi have a writing credit under the name "Black Babymetal" on the first Babymetal album in 2014, having written "Song 4" together during a bus trip. The second Babymetal album, Metal Resistance, was released in 2016.

Following a leave from the show Legend "S" Baptism XX, Mizuno was absent from Babymetal's tour of the United States in May 2018, with no advance warning. Amid fan speculation on Mizuno's status with the group, a representative of 5B Management, the American management company representing Babymetal, replied to an inquiry from Alternative Press Magazine by saying that "Yuimetal remains a member of the band, but she is not on this current U.S. tour." However, she was also absent from Babymetal's European tour in June 2018. On October 19, 2018, Babymetal officially announced that Yuimetal would not be joining the band for the next phase of their tour and would no longer be a member of the group due to poor health. Mizuno released a statement shortly after about her decision to leave Babymetal, explaining that she may go on to pursue a solo career in the future.
#babymetal #mizunoyui #yuimetal #水野 由結