SixTones

 is a Japanese idol boy band formed by Johnny & Associates in 2015. The group was previously a sub-unit of Johnny & Associates' pre-debut trainee group, Johnny's Jr. SixTones made their official debut on 22 January 2020. SixTones makes the best selling debut group since KAT-TUN in 2006. Their sold in Japan 4.37 million physical copies.
Name.
Johnny Kitagawa, the late president of Johnny & Associates had named the group "SixTones". The group name was initially pronounced as "Six Tones" but later changed to be pronounced "Stones", with the 'ix' in SixTones being silent. The "stones" pronunciation refers to "diamond in the rough", where the group's potential is revealed after continual polishing and refining of the members' skills. The name also refers to the six members having six different tones, with unique personalities and sounds in the group.
History.
2011–2015: Pre-group formation.
In 2011, shortly after the debut of Sexy Zone, the members performed as back dancers for A.B.C-Z and Hey! Say! JUMP. In February 2012, the 6 members were selected to star in a Nippon TV drama during the period when they were back dancing in "A.B.C-Z’s ABC Za (Stars)" stage play. The drama, Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou (lit. "Private Bakaleya High School"), was the first drama collaboration between Johnny's talents and AKB48's members. Although the drama was screened in the late-night time slot, it received a high average rating for the time slot of 2.8% and a movie sequel was decided. Members of the original cast reprised their roles in the sequel and the movie "Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou: The Movie (2012)" was released in the Japanese box office in October 2012. During this period, the 6 members were not formed officially as a unit. Fans of the 6 members addressed them as Bakareya6 or Bakareya-gumi unofficially during the airing of the drama.
In the same period, the 6 members had a direct discussion with Johnny Kitagawa, which led to the announcement of the "Johnny's Jr. Johnny's Dome theater〜SUMMARY〜" shows. At the year-end's "Fresh Johnny’s Jr. IN Yokohama Arena" concert, clips of the "Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou" drama was shown together with its original soundtrack "Shake It Up" by Kis-my-ft2.
In January 2013, the 6 members performed a cover of "SIX SENSES" by KAT-TUN on The Shounen Club. This was the last performance by the 6 members together before the “disbandment” of the unofficial Bakareya6 unit. In the following month, the group was split into a 2:4 formation, with Jesse and Hokuto Matsumura performing as a duo and the 4 members appearing in separate performances on "The Shounen Club". Furthermore, the previously announced 6-member performance at the "Live House Johnny’s Ginza" was suddenly changed and the members were split into the same 2:4 formation. Afterward, the members were rarely seen together as 6 on shows or in magazine appearances.
5 of the members excluding Jesse, performed together at the "Johnny’s Ginza 2014" shows in August 2014. Around the same period, the 6 members performed "Shake It Up" by Kis-my-ft2 together at "Gamushara J's party‼ vol.4". This was their first performance as 6 after one and a half years. However, Hokuto Matsumura and Taiga Kyomoto talked about the complicated feelings they had during the show in a magazine interview afterward. Both felt that the show was a closure to their Bakareya episode.
However, "Gamushara J's party!! vol.6" was announced in the following month. The members consisted of Genki Iwahashi, Yuta Jinguji and Yuta Kishi as well as the 6 members. Magazine reports of the shows were later published with mentioning of the “Bakareya-Gumi” and interviews of the 6 members for the first time in a long while.
When SixTones talked about their group formation years later, they revealed that many of the members were planning to quit the agency at that point in time. Shintaro Morimoto was planning to further his studies to obtain a teaching license after graduating from high school. Yugo Kochi, Taiga Kyomoto and Juri Tanaka were considering their future paths too. SixTones also revealed that during the period of stagnation, the members were brought back together by Jesse, who had expressed the desire to work together as six once again.
2015: Formation of official unit, SixTones.
In "The Shounen Club" episode broadcast in January 2015, the 6 members came together to perform a cover of "Hell No" by KAT-TUN. This was the first performance together as 6 on the show after a 2-year gap.
In April 2015, 5 of the members, excluding Taiga Kyomoto, performed in the Johnny's Ginza 2015 shows. Taiga Kyomoto was in the Elizabeth musical at that time and could not join the show. In order to announce their group name as 6, Taiga Kyomoto rushed over from the Imperial Theatre to the Theatre Creation on the 1 May 2015, where the 6 members announced their group formation as SixTones.
The group name was later changed to be SixTones and read as Stones and officially announced in Shounen Club on 10 June 2015. In September 2015, SixTones starred as the main casts in the musical for the first time, together with Snow Man. They performed their first two original songs, "Kono Hoshi No HIKARI" and "BE CRAZY", in the Shounentachi musical.
2016.
SixTones held concerts as part of "Johnny's Ginza 2016" from 27 to 30 May 2016. In September 2016, SixTones starred as the main casts in the musical for the second time, together with Snow Man.
2017.
From 18 to 26 February 2017, SixTones and four Kansai Johnny's Jr. (Daigo Nishihata, Kōji Mukai, Ryusei Onishi and Ryūta Muro) held joint concerts together as part of the "East SixTones × West Kansai Johnny's Jr. SHOW Battle". SixTones also held concerts in the "Summer Station ~ Kimitachi ga~ KING'S TREASURE" shows from 1 to 3 August 2017. In September 2017, SixTones starred as the main cast in the musical with Snow Man for the third consecutive year. The two groups also had shows for in Aichi Prefecture, Hyōgo Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture and Hiroshima in the same year.
2018.
Upon the opening of Johnny's Jr's official YouTube channel on 21 March 2018, SixTones were announced to be in charge of each week's Friday contents for the channel. In July 2018, SixTones held concerts as part of Summer Paradise 2018, with 4 additional shows later announced in August 2018. 
In October 2018, it was announced that SixTones were chosen for YouTube first Japan's Artist Promotion Campaign, a promotional campaign for emerging artists that YouTube launched in several countries. The staff working with SixTones on their weekly J"ohnny's Jr. Channe"l content had recommended them to be part of the campaign. The president of the YouTube headquarters in California then contacted Johnny & Associates directly to offer SixTones the opportunity to be part of the campaign.
On November 5, 2018, SixTones released their first music video, "Japonica Style", as part of the campaign on the Johnny's Jr Channel. The music video was produced by Hideaki Takizawa while the costume and styling were provided by the woman's fashion magazine, "CanCam". On November 16, 2018, the group held its first YouTube Livestream at YouTube Space Tokyo, which was also the first YouTube Livestream held by talents of Johnny & Associates. SixTones later went on to perform at Japan's first YouTube FanFest Music on December 11.
2019.
At the "Johnny's Jr. 8.8 Festival~Tokyo Dome Kara Hajimaru~" on August 8, 2019, it was announced that SixTones will release their debut single in 2020. Additionally, the group also opened an official Instagram account and announced their graduation from Johnny's Jr. Channel with the opening of their own YouTube Artist Channel at 10 p.m. JST on the same day.
SixTones is the first talent group of Johnny & Associates, together with Travis Japan, to open an official Instagram account as well as the first talent group of Johnny & Associates to have their own YouTube Channel.
2020: Debut.
SixTones made their debut on January 22, 2020, with a double A-side CD single with another Johnny's group Snow Man called "SixTones vs Snow Man" with SixTones' track being "Imitation Rain". "Imitation Rain" was composed and arranged by X Japan's Yoshiki, and the CD had sales of 772,902 copies in a single day, with it eventually crossing one million in the following few days and topping the Oricon Chart. On July 22, 2020, SixTones released another album single titled "Navigator", which was used as the opening of '. Another song, "New Era", was released on November 11, 2020, and was used as the first opening of '.
Original songs.
SixTones' pre-debut songs recorded on JASRAC Official Website: