ZARD 20th Anniversary
ZARD is a Japanese pop group. Originally a group of 5 members, with lead vocalist Izumi Sakai as group leader.The gourp made their debut in February 10, 1991 with a single Good-bye My Loneliness. By their third album, it appears that the only member left in ZARD was Izumi Sakai, and from that point on, she has been the only member in that group. While she is the only member left, the band’s name did not change.Sakai is also a very prolific songwriter. She has written alost of lyrics from their first album, and has released several books of poetry as well.
ZARD is one of the most successful female singers in the 1990s, with her record sales being #1 for female singers, and #3 for overall total, just behind the groups B’z and Mr. Children. She has had 11 singles reach the #1 spot on the Oricon Singles Charts, and 9 albums reach the #1 spot on the Oricon Album Charts.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the debut of the beloved pop group ZARD, so naturally several projects are in the works to honor the occasion. One of those is another set of memorial concerts for vocalist Izumi Sakai, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 40.
Several memorial concerts for ZARD were held in 2007 after her death, with so many fans attending that the concerts went on tour. Additional memorial concerts were held in 2008 and 2009. This year, a concert will be held on May 27 (Sakai’s death anniversary) at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, followed by another on May 29 at the Osaka International Convention Center.
Like the previous shows, these will incorporate large screens displaying footage of Sakai singing (some of it previously unreleased), accompanied live by a group of guest musicians. One representative from ZARD’s agency says that they are thinking of making this 20th anniversary concert the last one.
There will also be a few ZARD releases in the upcoming months: a 6-CD box set containing 99 songs (February 10), four separate photobooks (also on February 10), and three separate DVDs of the past memorial concerts (April).
A special exhibit about Sakai’s 20-year career featuring photos, videos, and possessions will be doing a 4-city tour, starting in February. The Tokyo exhibit will take place on May 25-30 at the Takashimaya building in Shinjuku.
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