YOASOBI Perform in U.S. For the First Time at Head in the Clouds L.A. As 'Idol' Continues to Break Records

Fresh off the success of their smash hit single “Idol”, J-pop superstar duo YOASOBI recently made their U.S. live debut at Head In The Clouds Festival in Los Angeles.

They performed a number of their biggest songs, including “祝福(Blessing)”, “夜に駆ける(Into The Night)”, “群青(Blue)”, amongst others. During the finale, for “怪物(Monster),” ikura was joined on stage by Indonesian rapper Warren Hue. The duo also performed “アイドル(Idol)” alongside Japanese group ATARASHII GAKKO.

“Idol” continues to break the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 (currently at 17 weeks and counting) on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, becoming one of the most successful Japanese songs of all time.

The song has taken the charts by storm since its release, also breaking the record for the fastest single to reach 200 million streams on the Billboard Japan chart and surging to #1 on the Billboard Global Excel U.S. chart, which made it the first song originally performed in Japanese to top this chart.The cumulative number of streaming views has exceeded 300 million and counting, also the fastest in history.

The theme song for popular anime series “Oshi no Ko,” YOASOBI released an English version of “Idol” in celebration of its success which has accumulated over 23 million views on the music video.

The duo continues to go from strength to strength and will be opening for Coldplay on their “Music of the Spheres World Tour,” November 7 and 8 at Tokyo Dome. The band won “Artist of the Year” at MTV’s 2021 Music Video Awards Japan.

Last year they released an English language EP, E-Side 2, of which Teen Vogue raved, “Ayase and ikura have become permanent fixtures on Japan’s music charts while also making waves internationally.”

In August of last year, the duo performed at major summer festivals in Japan, and in December performed at their first overseas festivals in Jakarta and Manilla. Currently, YOASOBI are on their first arena tour across Japan, which includes stops in Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai and more.

Comprised of composer Ayase and vocalist ikura, YOASOBI is known for turning novels into music. In 2021, YOASOBI released E-Side as well as their Japanese album THE BOOK 2. Last year, they released E-Side 2 as well as “好きだ [Sukida],” a song which was part of their ongoing collaboration with Naoki Award-winning authors Rio Shimamoto, Mizuki Tsujimura, Miyuki Miyabe and Eto Mori.

“好きだ [Sukida]” is based on Mori’s original novel, Hikari No Tane (Seed of Light) A Story to Read When You First Profess Your Love, which tells the story of a high school student professing her love to her childhood best friend.

Photo credit: 88rising/HITC (@88rising,＠hitcfestival) Lindsey Blane