BABYMETAL-CLASSIC-X-MAS

Babymetal (Japanese: ベビーメタル, Hepburn: Bebīmetaru) is a Japanese kawaii metal band. The band consists 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 (vocal and dance), Moametal (scream and dance), and Yui Mizuno as "Yuimetal" (scream and dance), 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.

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.

Kobametal, the band's producer and long-time heavy metal enthusiast, started planning to launch an idol/heavy metal fusion group in 2009 after he was impressed by Suzuka Nakamoto's performance with her previous group, Karen Girl's, thinking she was suitable to be the lead vocalist for the new group. The band was formed in 2010 in Tokyo, Japan, as the heavy music club (重音部, Jūonbu), or sub-unit, of the female idol group Sakura Gakuin, which was also newly formed that year.The band's name is a combination of "baby" (ベビー, bebī) and "heavy metal" (ヘビーメタル, hebī metaru), and the Japanese pronunciation rhymes with "heavy metal". According to Kobametal, Yui Mizuno and Moa Kikuchi were added to complement Nakamoto's "unique stage presence" with their smaller statures, dancing around her "like angels". None of the three members were familiar with metal music before the inception of the band.

Babymetal's first live appearance was on November 28, 2010, at Sakura Gakuin's first solo concert, Sakura Gakuin Festival ☆ 2010. In July 2011, Babymetal premiered the song, "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" ("No More Bullying"), at a Sakura Gakuin concert, but it would only be performed during live concerts for the time being. The band's first single, "Doki Doki Morning", originally appeared on Sakura Gakuin's debut album Sakura Gakuin 2010 Nendo: Message, released on April 27, 2011. A music video for the song was uploaded to Toy's Factory channel on YouTube on October 12, 2011, and was released as a DVD single in late 2011, under the independent Toy's Factory sublabel Juonbu Records. The music video totaled over 1 million views by the end of 2012.

Babymetal's first CD single was a collaboration with the band Kiba of Akiba, titled "Babymetal / Kiba of Akiba". Released in March 2012 by Juonbu Records, the single ranked at number three on the Oricon weekly indie chart, and number one in the Tower Records Shibuya weekly indie ranking. In the summer of 2012, the band released a music video for their next single, "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!", directed by Hidenobu Tanabe. In August 2012, Babymetal debuted at Japan's Summer Sonic Festival,becoming the youngest act ever to perform at the festival, at the average age of 12. The same year, Babymetal performed outside of Japan for the first time at the 2012 Anime Festival Asia in Singapore.

On January 9, 2013, the band debuted on a major record label with "Ijime, Dame, Zettai". Released under the main Toy's Factory label and Juonbu Records, it sold 19,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number six in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.
In the spring of 2013, Nakamoto graduated from junior high school and therefore had to "graduate" from Sakura Gakuin . However, their management decided that Babymetal would not dissolve and would continue its activities as a band. The group released its next single, "Megitsune", on June 19, 2013, under Toy's Factory and the band's new sublabel BMD Fox Records.
On August 10 and 11, 2013, Babymetal again took part in the Summer Sonic Festival, performing in Tokyo and Osaka. Later, in October, Babymetal also became the youngest artists ever to perform at the heavy metal music festival Loud Park. In November, Babymetal released a promo video for the Japanese premiere of Metallica's movie Through the Never, and released its first live music video Live: Legend I, D, Z Apocalypse, which debuted at seventh place in the weekly Oricon Blu-ray Disc charts, and at second place among music Blu-rays.
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