CDJapan : RIP Yusuke Chiba

Yusuke Chiba acted as a vocalist of bands such as THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT, ROSSO, The Birthday, and more.

Chiba made his major debut in 1996 as a member of THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT (often abbreviated to TMGE).

THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT's debut song "Sekai no Owari"

TMGE features punk, pub rock, and garage rock as well as blues and rockabilly band sound under the influences of The Roosters, Dr. Feelgood, The Damned, and more.
In Japan, many independent bands were formed in the "Japanese band boom" trend from the late 1980s.
In this trend, TMGE was formed in 1991 by Chiba, Futoshi Abe, Koji Ueno, and Kazuyuki Kuhara.

TMGE participated in the 1998 Fuji Rock Festival.
It is still talked about how the crowd became so enthusiastic that they had to stop in the middle of the song "G.W.D."

Music Video For "G.W.D" by THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT

TMGE released 16 singles and eight original albums before their disbandment in 2003.

THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT Related Products

After TMGE was disbanded, Chiba formed and participated in some bands such as ROSSO, Raven, Midnight Bankrobbers, and The Birthday.
The Birthday formed with Kazuyuki Kuhara and more is the band that Chiba was active in before his death.

In 2009, the band performed at the Fuji Rock Festival, just after the sudden death of Futoshi Abe, a member of THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT.
At the beginning of the concert, Chiba said that he dedicated today's concert to their great friend, Futoshi Abe.

The band made some representative songs such as "Namida ga Koboresou," "Sayonara Saishuuheiki," and more.

Live Video Of "Namida ga Koboresou" by The Birthday

In 2022, The Birthday released the single "LOVE ROCKETS," which is the theme song for the movie "The First Slam Dunk."
This single became the last single before Chiba died.