L'Arc~en~Ciel

L'Arc~en~Ciel (ラルク アン シエル, L'Arc~en~Ciel?), also known as L'Arc or Laruku (ラルク, Laruku?) to their fans, are a popular Japanese rock band. L'Arc en Ciel translates f

L'Arc~en~Ciel (ラルク アン シエル, L'Arc~en~Ciel?), also known as L'Arc or Laruku (ラルク, Laruku?) to their fans, are a popular Japanese rock band. L'Arc en Ciel translates from French as "the rainbow". They have sold over 30 million copies of singles and albums in Japan alone.[citation needed]

In February of 1991, bassist Tetsuya Ogawa (tetsu), later band leader, recruited vocalist Hyde along with guitarist Hiro and drummer Pero, and formed a band under the name of L'Arc~en~Ciel, inspired by a French movie of the same name. After a year of gaining notoriety in their hometown of Osaka, Hiro left the band on June 12, 1992. Pero soon followed on December 30 of the same year, supposedly to join up with his friend Hiro again. To replace the two, tetsu convinced his friend Ken Kitamura (Ken) to quit his university studies in architectural design and join the band as the guitarist. Later, a new drummer, Yasunori Sakurazawa, was recruited after tetsu saw him perform in a few shows.