L'Arc-En-Ciel Biography

In February 1991, tetsu and hyde, along with Hiro (guitar) and pero (drums), formed the band and named it after a film that tetsu had seen. 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 that same year, supposedly to join up with his friend Hiro again. tetsu convinced his friend ken to quit his studies in architectural design and join the band. A new drummer, sakura, was recruited after tetsu saw him play. In 1993, the band released their debut album, Dune under the indies label Danger Crue, which was met with plenty of success and rose to number one on the Oricon indies charts.
This caught the attention of some major labels, so in 1994, they signed for Sony's Ki/oon division, releasing their second album, Tierra (Spanish for "Earth") that same year. Heavenly followed in 1995, and True, their first million seller, in 1996.
In 1997, sakura was arrested for heroin possession and quit the band. This became lowest point in the band's history. When news of sakura's arrest became public every ounce of Laruku's popularity was stripped. Just as they had reached a peak in their career, CDs were being pulled off the shelves, and any songs that were used as theme songs were quickly replaced. There was no evidence of the band's existence, and their next single "The Fourth Avenue Cafe" was indefinitely postponed and has never been released. Many believe that the whole incident was blown tremendously out of proportion.
L'Arc-en-Ciel was quiet for a little while, but they were not ready to give up. They continued to be featured on magazines, but as a three-man band L'Arc-en-Ciel. They then created a "L'Arc-en-Ciel cover band", "The Zombies", which was the three-man band L'Arc-en-Ciel themselves covering and making fun of their own songs. They also covered artists such as Marilyn Manson.
In 1998, they released their first single since sakura left 「虹」 (Niji — Rainbow). yukihiro was the drummer for this release, but was only listed as a support member. However, the band members were quickly impressed with his drumming skills and made him the official drummer not long after niji's release. L'Arc-en-Ciel was back, and what better way to prove themselves then by organizing a concert, aptly titled "Reincarnation"; this was the reincarnation of L'Arc-en-Ciel.
The first concert date of the new tour in Tokyo Dome had an attendance of 56,000 and sold out in four minutes, a Tokyo Dome record as well as a testament to their popularity. Their next album was Heart, in 1998, which, like their second major album "Heavenly" is seen as a transitional album: trying to forget the past, but also trying to maintain their originality and success.
L'Arc-en-Ciel released three more albums of new material during the next few years. Ark and Ray which were released simultaneously in 1999, and were the first Japanese albums to be released the same day in many different Asian countries. The release of Ark and Ray marked the high point of their career, with each selling over two million copies (no other release from the band managed to reach two million). Real followed in 2000, which was the last CD of new material for some time, although many more compilation and remix albums would follow. L'Arc-en-Ciel also composed several theme songs for various anime series, including DNA², Rurouni Kenshin, Great Teacher Onizuka, and Fullmetal Alchemist. They also created the ending theme song to the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.