Explainer | Who are Babymetal? Ahead of world tour 2023 date in Hong Kong, what you need to know about the Japanese music sensation
- Blending heavy metal and J-pop in a sound known as ‘kawaii metal’, Babymetal will perform at Asia World-Expo, Hong Kong in May as part of their 2023 world tour
- The group was established as a subunit of the Japanese female idol group Sakura Gakuin, or ‘Cherry Blossom Academy’, a school-themed girl group founded in 2010
Heavy metal and Japanese pop might seem an unusual pairing. But Babymetal have successfully blended the two genres, with listeners around the world lapping up their “kawaii (cute) metal” energy.
Now fans in Hong Kong will get to see them perform in the city for the first time with a show at AsiaWorld-Expo on May 31, part of the group’s first tour across Asia and Australia, after a two-year hiatus from live performances.
Comprising three core singers aged 20 to 25, supported with instrumentation from a group of session musicians, Babymetal are credited as the creator of kawaii metal – also known as kawaiicore – and have shaken up music scenes worldwide with their unconventional combination of heavy metal and Japanese idol genres.
Formed in 2010, they played at Japan’s annual Summer Sonic Festival in August 2012 when the three singers’ average age was just 13. The same year, the group had their first overseas performance, at the 2012 Anime Festival Asia in Singapore.
In 2014, Babymetal played at the UK leg of Europe’s touring rock music festival, Sonisphere, after a successful fan-driven campaign.
