Greeeen is a Japanese pop rock/hip hop/breakbeat vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the all-male four members Hide, Navi, Kuni, and Soh. They made their debut with Universal Music in 2007. Their logo image is of a mouthful of teeth, and the four Es indicate the number of members. The sound production is handled by Hide's older brother JIN, a former guitarist of Pay money To my Pain. According to their website at Universal Music Japan, their catch phrase is "Rock 'n' Breakbeats with Four Microphones". One notable characteristic is that none of the members have ever shown their faces in the public sphere as a part of GReeeeN, whether in their promotional videos, CDs, television performances, or the Internet. In their only performance on TV-U Fukushima's music show Music Bar Palo Palo, the group even went as far as censoring their faces during the performance. GReeeeN cites keeping their professional lives in dentistry compatible with their musical ventures as the reason, but one of the members, Hide, has hinted that after all of the members pass the prefectural examination in dentistry and receive permission from the directors of the hospitals they work for, the group may consider a public appearance. All members studied at the dentistry department at Ohu University in Koriyama City, and the group debuted while still in school in 2007. In 2019, they were named as 'Frontier Ambassadors' for the city. The members' identities are still unknown, as their faces have never been made public. At first, the group stated that they would wait until all of the members passed the exam before revealing their faces, but in 2009 they indicated that they will still keep their identities secret to avoid any interference with their careers as dentists.
History
Formation and career beginnings
Hide began his music career as a member of a Japanese hardcore band in his junior high school. Hide and Navi formed duo "GReeeN" in 2002. Their music was influenced under Western rock bands such as Sublime and Sugar Ray. However, the group was renamed "Greeeen" in 2004 when 92 and Soh joined the group. Soh was a fan of hip hop and reggae. 92 came from Okinawa Prefecture and had his musical roots in Okinawan music.
2006–2007: Debut and career breakthrough
After the group independently released their self-titled EP, Greeeen on February 14, 2006, Universal Music Japan recruited them in March 2006. They were signed under Nayutawave Records, a subsidiary label of Universal Music Japan. They debuted with the single "Michi" on January 24, 2007. "Ai Uta" was released as their third single on May 16, 2007. It debuted and peaked at #2 on the Oricon Daily Singles Chart. It debuted at #8 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart and eventually peaked at #2 in its sixth week on the weekly chart. The song was certified Two Million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for 2,000,000 full-track ringtone digital downloads. Their debut album, A, Domo. Hajimemashite, was released on June 28, 2007. It debuted at #2 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart. The album was certified Triple Platinum by RIAJ for shipment of 750,000 copies.
2008–2009: Rise of popularity, ''Bareeeeeeeeeen''
"Kiseki" was released as their seventh single on May 28, 2008, and was used as a theme song for the drama, Rookies. It topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart and sold over 500,000 copies. The song was also certified Two Million by the RIAJ for 2,000,000 full-track ringtone digital downloads. The song topped the BillboardJapan Hot 100 Year-End 2008 Chart. The song was certified Four Million by RIAJ for 4,000,000 single track downloads. Their second album A, Domo. Ohisashiburi Desu. was released on June 25, 2008, and debuted at #1 on Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, beating out Ayaka's second album Sing to the Sky. The album was certified Million by RIAJ for shipment of one million copies. Greeeen and Back-On formed supergroup Bareeeeeeeeeen, which released single "Ashiato" on October 1, 2008. Their follow-up singles "Tobira", "Ayumi", "Setsuna" and "Haruka" were certified Gold by RIAJ for shipments of 100,000 copies each. Their song "Haruka" debuted at the number-one position on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart. The song was certified Million by RIAJ for 1,000,000 full-track ringtone digital downloads. Their third album Shio, Koshō was released on June 10, 2009, and debuted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart with the first-week sales of over 452,000 copies. It became their second album to be certified Million by RIAJ. On June 29, 2009, the Guinness World Records certified their song "Kiseki" as the "best selling download single in Japan" with the full-track ringtone download sales of 2,301,674 copies of May 24, 2009. Greeeen released their greatest hits double album Ima Made no A Men, B Men Dest!? on November 25, 2009. On November 5, 2009, an article of Nikkan Sports suggested that GReeeeN would disband after the release of the album. Hide wrote on his blog that the rumours were false. On November 5, the official statement by Universal Music Japan also said that the report was false and that GReeeeN would still be releasing music after the release of the album Imamade no A Men, B Men Desuto!?. It was announced that Greeeen would be teaming up with Hudson Soft to create music for 2009 DS game. Hudson x GReeeeN Live!? DeeeeS!? was released on April 1, 2010 as their collaboration effort with Hudson Soft.
2011: Return in music
"Every" was released at Chaku-Uta on April 12, 2011, as their first song since "Haruka". It was used for Asahi Beer commercials. The song was included as a B-side for their single, "Hana Uta" released on June 22, 2011. "Green Boys" was released on May 6, 2011, and was used as the theme song for the NHK documentary show Athlete no Tamashii. It was part of the Green Boys Project to help the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
