Sandaime J Soul Brothers

2010: Group formation and 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.

2011–13: 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.

The following month, 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. In July, 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, 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~", released in August 2012, became their first single to sell over 100,000 copies. Their third studio album, Miracle, debuted at number one on the Oricon Album Chart and received a platinum certification by the RIAJ, selling 264,345 copies in 2013.

2014–15: R.Y.U.S.E.I and PLANET SEVEN

In February 2014 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.

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.

On 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 moth and amassed at total of 855,215 physical copies sold and 1 million digital sales. A promotional music video was released in early January for the track "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe!". Even though the video wasn't an actual single it gathered 8 million views on YouTube on its first month and currently has over 20 million views.

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.

In 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 went Double Platinum on the RIAJ digital sales.

Almost two weeks after releasing 'Summer Madness' Sandaime announced their next single titled "Unfair World" which was tied up with the movie UNFAIR. The song would be a ballad, meaning it would be around a year since their last ballad C.O.S.M.O.S. ~Akizakura~ (秋桜). On the 2nd of September "Unfair World" was released selling 179,822 copies on its first week and selling a reported total of 204,588 copies. The song was later nominated at the Japan Record Awards for the grand prize which the group won with an excellence award in addition. This was the second year in a row Sandaime J Soul Brothers won the top award over other veteran artists such as AKB48, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and AAA.

2016–present:Born in the EXILE and THE JSB LEGACY

In early 2016, it was announced that a documentary film featuring the members of Sandaime J Soul Brothers would be screened in major theaters in Japan in the 12th of February. The documentary titled "Born in the EXILE" would include footage from their previous 'BLUE PLANET' tour as well as extra footage describing the group's history and the members outlook on their activities and grow so far as a group. A song under the same title "Born in the EXILE" was used as the official theme song and was written and composed by both vocalists Hiroomi Tosaka and Ryuji Imaichi. In late February, Avex released a teaser through JSB's official website and YouTube announcing their new album titled 'THE JSB LEGACY'. The album track list includes previous singles; "starting over", "Storm Riders", "Summer Madness" and "Unfair World". The album peaked at number one selling 476,120 copies on its first week and by the end of the year it sold 643,115 physical copies and was certified triple platinum for selling over 750,000 copies in total. The JSB Legacy is the fourth consecutive studio album by the group to chart at the top position on the charts.

On November 9, Sandaime's 20th single 'Welcome to TOKYO' was released. This single would be their first and only to be released in 2016, a year and two months after their previous release 'Unfair World' in September 2015. The single charted at number two on the weekly single charts selling 158,936 physical copies on its first week and also served as the theme song for the group's dome tour METROPOLIZ which was scheduled to take place between the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017.

Members

*While Tosaka and Imaichi are the official vocalists for the group, performer Elly has been irregularly performing as the rapper of the group too. Leading member Naoto has also rapped in separate projects such as the rap unit 'Honest Boyz' but has never taken part on any song throughout Sandaime's discography remaining as a performer.

Other ventures

Sandaime J Soul Brothers have appeared in several advertisements and television commercials throughout their career. Nike, All Nippon Airways, Samantha Thavasa and Glico are among many important brands and companies involved with public merchandising supported by the group.

Subunit

In late 2015, members Hiroomi Tosaka, Naoki Kobayashi and Takanori Iwata were endorsed in a promotional campaign with Glico's Pocky product line. The members formed the sub unit called THE Sharehappi from Sandaime J Soul Brothers and released the digital single 'Share The Love' as a commercial song for the endorsement. 'Share The Love' topped the Japanese iTunes store for four weeks and was certified platinum by the RIAJ.