Explainer | Who are Babymetal? Ahead of world tour 2023 date in Hong Kong, what you need to know about the Japanese music sensation
- Blending heavy metal and J-pop in a sound known as ‘kawaii metal’, Babymetal will perform at Asia World-Expo, Hong Kong in May as part of their 2023 world tour
- The group was established as a subunit of the Japanese female idol group Sakura Gakuin, or ‘Cherry Blossom Academy’, a school-themed girl group founded in 2010
Heavy metal and Japanese pop might seem an unusual pairing. But Babymetal have successfully blended the two genres, with listeners around the world lapping up their “kawaii (cute) metal” energy.
Now fans in Hong Kong will get to see them perform in the city for the first time with a show at AsiaWorld-Expo on May 31, part of the group’s first tour across Asia and Australia, after a two-year hiatus from live performances.
Comprising three core singers aged 20 to 25, supported with instrumentation from a group of session musicians, Babymetal are credited as the creator of kawaii metal – also known as kawaiicore – and have shaken up music scenes worldwide with their unconventional combination of heavy metal and Japanese idol genres.
Formed in 2010, they played at Japan’s annual Summer Sonic Festival in August 2012 when the three singers’ average age was just 13. The same year, the group had their first overseas performance, at the 2012 Anime Festival Asia in Singapore.
In 2014, Babymetal played at the UK leg of Europe’s touring rock music festival, Sonisphere, after a successful fan-driven campaign.
The same year, the group were the opening act to five of Lady Gaga’s concerts in her ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour along the western United States.
Performances at rock music festivals around the world followed, from Canada’s Heavy Montreal in 2014, where they played alongside big names such as Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, to Germany’s sister festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, in 2018, which boasted Foo Fighters, Avenged Sevenfold and Deftones in their line-ups.
It’s been a high-flying journey for the group, which was established as a subunit of the Japanese female idol group Sakura Gakuin, or “Cherry Blossom Academy”, a school-themed girl group founded in 2010.
Sakura Gakuin worked on a system in which the line-up changed as older members graduated from junior high school in real life – they would “graduate” from the “academy” and embark on new chapters of their careers, with new members recruited at the beginning of each school year.
In its 11 years of being active, the group had a total of 36 members.
Babymetal began as one of the designated “extracurricular clubs” derived from the “academy”, but broke away as an independent act in 2013 when one of its core members became of age and departed Sakura Gakuin.
Despite their humble beginnings, Babymetal have outlasted their parent group, which disbanded in 2021.
The group’s original line-up comprised Su-metal (real name Suzuka Nakamoto), Moametal (real name Moa Kikuchi) and Yuimetal (real name Yui Mizuno). In 2018, the band announced Yuimetal’s departure due to an undisclosed illness.
In 2019, Momoko Okazaki, who also started her musical career at Sakura Gakuin, joined Babymetal’s touring line-up as an “Avenger” (support dancer). In April 2023, during a performance in Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture, she was officially introduced as a new core member, adopting the stage name Momometal.
Babymetal were slated to perform in Hong Kong at the 2019 Clockenflap music and arts festival, which was cancelled due to widespread anti-government protests in the city at the time. Further Asia tours were cancelled due to the pandemic.
Babymetal World Tour 2023 Live in Hong Kong, Asia-World Expo, May 31. Tickets start from HK$880, with a VIP package priced at HK$1,480, available at Hong Kong Ticketing.
