L'Arc-en-Ciel

L'Arc-en-Ciel
L'Arc-en-Ciel performing at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2012.
Background information
Also known as	P'unk-en-Ciel, The Zombies, D'ark-en-Ciel
Origin	Osaka, Japan
Genres	Alternative rock pop rock post-punk (early)
Discography	L'Arc-en-Ciel discography
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Night Gallery Danger Crue Ki/oon Tofu (US) Gan-Shin (EU)
Members	Tetsuya Hyde Ken Yukihiro
Past members	Hiro Pero Sakura
Website	www.larc-en-ciel.com

L'Arc-en-Ciel (Japanese: ラルク アン シエル, Hepburn: Raruku an Shieru, French for "The Rainbow"^[1]), stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist Tetsuya and vocalist Hyde. Following the departure of original members Hiro and Pero, guitarist Ken and drummer Sakura were recruited to replace them in 1992 and 1993, respectively. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, L'Arc-en-Ciel have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994.^[2][3] Sakura left the band in 1997 and was replaced by Yukihiro in January 1998, completing the current line-up.

With a reported 40 million records sold, L'Arc-en-Ciel are one of the best-selling music artists in Japan. Their 1999 simultaneously-released albums Ark and Ray are each one of the best-selling albums of all time in Japan. L'Arc-en-Ciel have had seven number one studio albums and 21 number one singles. They were ranked number 58 on a 2003 list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by HMV Japan, and were the first Japanese act to headline Madison Square Garden in New York City.