, formerly simply J Soul Brothers and also known as Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, are a J-pop vocal and dance group formed by Exile ex-leader and producer Hiroyuki Igarashi in Japan in 1991. Sandaime J Soul Brothers are managed by Hiroyuki's talent agency LDH and are a part of the supergroup, Exile Tribe. Reformed exclusively by Exile's Vocal Battle Audition in 2010, Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their first single "Best Friend's Girl" in November 2010, which peaked at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart. Their self-titled debut album J Soul Brothers, released in 2011, also peaked at number three. In 2013, they achieved their first number-one record with their third album Miracle.
Sandaime J Soul Brothers were propelled to commercial and critical success following the release of their 2014 single "R.Y.U.S.E.I.", which won the Japan Record Award, the highest honor at the 56th Japan Record Awards. The group's fifth studio album Planet Seven was the second best-selling Japanese album and the third best-selling Asian album of 2015, selling a total of 871,000 physical copies in Japan alone. The album would later attain a Million certification by the RIAJ for having over one million physical copies sold. Additionally, Recochoku revealed the group as the best selling artist of the year with R.Y.U.S.E.I reported as the best selling song for both Recochoku and Billboard year end charts.
By December 2019, Sandaime J Soul Brothers had sold a total of more than 11.15 million records including over 7.25 million singles sales in Japan alone since their debut in late 2010. The group was reported to have earned an estimated total gross of $63.1 million (¥6.85 billion) in 2015 with a total of $76 million (¥8.25 billion) and $53.6 million (¥5.82 billion) earned in the years of 2016 and 2018 respectively.
History
1991–2001: Group origins Hiroyuki Igarashi, who debuted as a member of pop music group Zoo in 1989, first conceptualized the idea of a vocal and dance unit called Japan Soul Brothers in 1991. When ZOO disbanded in 1995, Hiroyuki formed J Soul Brothers, and they released their first self-titled single in 1999. J Soul Brothers halted activities following the departure of their vocalist Sasa in 2001, who wanted to pursue a solo career. The remaining members of J Soul Brothers then changed the group's name to Exile. The reformation into a new group marked the cessation of activities by the original J Soul Brothers before the group would be rebooted for a second generation in 2007.
2007–2009: Second generation and lineup changes In January 2007, Exile announced that it would hold an audition to recruit new members for the second generation of J Soul Brothers. Nesmith and Shokichi, finalists of the Exile Vocal Battle Audition, were the first members to join the new generation in August 2007. Performers Kenchi, Keiji, and Tetsuya were soon added. Three months later, performers Naoto and Naoki were added, and they gave their debut performances at Color's 2007 nationwide tour, Live Tour 2007: Blue. The second generation, called the Nidaime J Soul Brothers, released their debut single "We!" in May 2008 under the indies label, Rhythm Republic. Nidaime J Soul Brothers announced their hiatus after the release of their first self-titled album J Soul Brothers in February 2009. A month later, the Nidaime members joined the lineup of Exile. Members Naoto and Naoki stayed behind to re-join J Soul Brothers' third generation.
2010: Sandaime J Soul Brothers' debut In July 2010, Japanese music dance group Exile announced on their variety show Shuukan EXILE that the J Soul Brothers would be returning with new members. The new generation, called Sandaime J Soul Brothers, would be led by Exile members Naoto and Naoki Kobayashi, both who were also members of the previous J Soul Brothers lineup. ELLY, a member of the Exile theater group Gekidan EXILE, was announced to be the first new member.
To select a main vocalist for the group, Exile monitored the contestants in the singing competition, Vocal Battle Audition 2. Created by Exile's Hiro in 2006, the Vocal Battle Audition is held every few years to find new talents for their management agency, LDH. Ryuji Imaichi from Kawasaki participated in the first Vocal Battle Audition in 2006, but failed to pass the second screening. Imaichi tried his luck again four years later with the second series of Vocal Battle Audition, auditioning against 30,000 applicants. He finished first place with Hiroomi Tosaka from Tokyo.
In September 2010, Exile confirmed the final new members of Sandaime J Soul Brothers at their concert in Aichi: Gekidan EXILE member Kenjiro Yamashita, new recruit Takanori Iwata, and Vocal Battle Audition 2 winners, Imaichi and Tosaka. Exile then revealed that the new group were in the midst of preparing two debut singles.
Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their debut single, "Best Friend's Girl", on November 10, debuting at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart. It was used as a theme song for Meiji Meltykiss. The single was mildly successful, selling about 83,000 physical copies by 2011. However, the single was more well-received digitally, and went to receive the platinum digital certification by the RIAJ in 2013.
Their second single "On Your Mark ~Hikari no Kiseki~", released on December 1, also debuted at number three. It was used as the opening theme song for the Japanese television drama Kenji Kijima Heihachiro and sold about 59,000 physical copies.
2011–2013: J Soul Brothers, Tribal Soul and Miracle In May 2011, Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their third single "Love Song". Debuting at number seven and selling only about 44,000 copies, it was the group's lowest-selling single. Despite the slow decline in sales, the group released their debut studio album, self-titled J Soul Brothers, to mild commercial success in June 2011. The album debuted at number three on the Oricon Albums Chart, selling 93,548 copies in the first week of release. It charted for 30 weeks, selling 137,366 physical copies by the end of the year. From 28 June 2011, alongside Nidaime J Soul Brothers, Sandaime J Soul Brothers held their first tour, Exile Tribe Nidaime J Soul Brothers VS Sandaime J Soul Brothers Live Tour 2011 〜Inheritance〜 , attracting 150 thousand audiences with 15 shows in 2 cities.
In July, 2011, LDH announced that Sandaime J Soul Brothers would perform the theme song for the Japanese television drama Rokudenashi Blues, a live adaptation of the manga series of the same name. A series of PVs for the drama, titled "Fighters", was revealed online. The single was released on September 7, and became the group's first single to debut at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, selling 83,000 copies on the first week. Their fifth single "Refrain", released in November 2011, and debuted at number two.
Sandaime J Soul Brothers' second studio album, Tribal Soul, was released in December 2011. It debuted at number two and charted for 45 weeks, selling 156,894 physical copies.
The group released three singles in 2012, all debuting at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart. Their seventh single "0 ~Zero~", which included Sandaime J Soul Brothers' major hit "Hanabi", was released in August 2012, which became their first single to sell over 100,000 copies. In September, Sandaime J Soul Brothers held their first solo tour, Sandaime J Soul Brothers Live Tour 2012 '0～ZERO～'. At the end of the year, they appeared for the first time on the stage of NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen with their single "Hanabi.
On January 1, 2013, Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their third studio album, Miracle, which became their first album to debut at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart and received a platinum certification by the RIAJ, selling 264,345 copies.
2014–2015: R.Y.U.S.E.I and Planet Seven In 2014, Sandaime J Soul Brothers' first best-of album and fourth original album The Best／Blue Impact topped Oricon Single Charts for four continual weeks after release on 1 January. Their second solo tour Sandaime J Soul Brothers LIVE TOUR 2014 BLUE IMPACT was held from January 8 to April 20 and attracted more than 400.000 attendants during 34 shows. In February, LDH announced that Sandaime J Soul Brothers would release a four "seasonal" single series from the beginning of the year till the very end of it with each single representing the spring, summer, fall and winter seasons thorough the year. The first single "S.A.K.U.R.A" was released in March 2014 and debuted at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart.
During the following months it was revealed that the group went to Los Angeles for the shooting of the MV of the new single. Producer STY was accredited with the production of the song and member ELLY made the choreography. Their new single "R.Y.U.S.E.I" was set to be released on June 25. The song topped the Oricon Single Charts at number one selling 162,174 copies on its first week. "R.Y.U.S.E.I" gained media attention for its different approach, visuals and refreshing EDM style which earned recognition to Sandaime J Soul Brothers for the following months until their nomination to the Japan Record Award, later winning the highest honor and skyrocketing the group to mainstream success for its following year too. Besides, with their video album for live tour 2014 "Blue impact" released on the same day with "R.Y.U.S.E.I" in both DVD and Blu-ray, they became the third artists in history to gained three No.1 in the same week on Oricon's Charts.
After their return to Japan, Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their next single C.O.S.M.O.S. ~Akizakura~ (秋桜) on October 15. The single sold a total of 147,059 on its first month and went gold on digital sales. Finally O.R.I.O.N, the last single for the winter season was released. O.R.I.O.N topped both Recochoku and iTunes weekly single charts in its first week of release, and ranked #2 in Oricon weekly single chart, selling 190,261 physical copies.
In late December the details of their new album were released. The album would be titled PLANET SEVEN and it would be released on January 28, 2015 JST. In 2015 Sandaime J Soul Brothers's fifth studio album PLANET SEVEN was released in five editions and sold 508,337 on its first week once again gaining the number one spot at the Oricon Album Charts. PLANET SEVEN stayed in the top five position for over a month and amassed at total of 855,215 physical copies sold and was certified for selling 1 million copies by the RIAJ.
In March 2015 it was revealed that the group would release two new singles in the month of April. The first single "starting over" sold 439,067 copies on its first week. The latter major maxi single STORM RIDERS featured Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. The song sold 107,685 copies on its first week too. Additionally the group released a promotional music video for the B-side track "J.S.B Dream" to promote the launch of their website and clothing apparel brand JSB. From May 2015, Sandaime J Soul Brothers started their first dome tour, Sandaime J Soul Brothers Live Tour 2015 Blue Planet，which attracted more than 1.2 million audiences.
On July 8 Sandaime J Soul brothers was set to release their new single "Summer Madness" which was a collaboration with DJ and producer Afrojack. Previous collaborator STY also took part on the production of the song. "Summer Madness" sold 194,883 copies on its first week and remained on the Oricon charts for the next four weeks. The song was also featured on the set of Afrojack at Ultra Music Festival Japan. Ultimately the single sold a total of 233,768 physical copies and was certified double platinum by the RIAJ for both digital and physical sales.