Kobukuro

コブクロ

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Biography

Kobukuro (コブクロ) is a Japanese band, which formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two members' family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda.

Members

* Kentarō Kobuchi (小渕健太郎, Kobuchi Kentarō, b. March 13, 1977); guitars and vocals)
* Shunsuke Kuroda (黒田俊介, Kuroda Shunsuke, b. March 18, 1977); vocals)

The band's visual appearance is unusual; they have only two members, and Kuroda stands over 193cm (6'4") tall.

History

In 1998, Kobuchi and Kuroda met each other in Sakai. Kobuchi was a salesman at the time who made music as a hobby. Kuroda was a physical education teacher, who made and performed music on the street for fun. They became close friends and formed Kobukuro.
The first song they created together was Sakura, which was re-recorded in 2005. Kobukuro received moderately successful ratings for their first three indie albums - Saturday 8: PM (July 1999), Root of My Mind (March 2001), and ANSWER (December 2000). Kobukuro signed with Warner Music Japan in 2001, and made their debut with the hit single, Yell which reached #4 on the Oricon Charts. The duo won the coveted "Grand Prix" awards in December 2007 at the 49th Annual Nihon Record Taishou.

They have sung many songs for dramas, such as [i]Aoku Yasashiku[/i] for the drama Dream Again.

They also collaborated with other artists. They have released 2 singles with label-mate Ayaka, [i]Winding Road[/i] and [i]Anata to[/i].