Southern All Stars

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Southern All Stars (サザンオールスターズ, Sazan Ōru Sutāzu?) is a Japanese pop rock band formed in Kanagawa, fronted by lead singer and singer-songwriter Keisuke Kuwata.
Members are: Keisuke Kuwata, Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Yuko Hara, Hiroshi Matsuda, Hideyuki "Kegani" Nozawa. Former member is Takashi Omori.
Since their debut in 1978, they have produced numerous Oricon top 3 hits and million-selling singles, such as "Itoshi no Ellie"(1979), "Chako no Kaigan Monogatari"(1982), "Namida no Kiss"(1992), "Erotica Seven"(1993), "Summer Heartbreak"(1995), "Spiritual Message"(1996) and others. "Tsunami"(2000) is the third best-selling single in Japan.
Their songs have often made successful cover versions by other performers. The cover version of "Natsu o Akiramete" by Naoko Ken is well-known as one of her hit singles. In 1989, Ray Charles sang "Itoshi no Ellie" in English as the background music of a Japanese whiskey company TV advertisement. It was released as a Japan-only bonus track for his 1990 album Would You Believe? and also became a single, reached top 3 on the Japanese charts and became the top-selling single by a non-Japanese artist released in that year.In early 1990s, Chinese singer Jacky Cheung covered their song "Manatsu no Kajitsu" as "Loving You More Each Day", and it was an enormous success in several Asian countries.
On January 26, 2000, their 44th single, "Tsunami" was released. It was used as theme song of "Mirai Nikki III"; a popular part of the TBS program called Un-nan no Hontoko!, and made a strong impression on many people. In October of 2006, their latest double-album Killer Street was released. This album has already sold over million sets.

Official Website