is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalist Takahiro Moriuchi, guitarist Toru Yamashita, bassist Ryota Kohama, and drummer Tomoya Kanki. Former members include drummer Yu Koyanagi and guitarist Alexander "Alex" Reimon Onizawa. They play varied styles of music, with songs ranging from alternative rock and emo to post-hardcore and pop-punk.
One Ok Rock was originally affiliated with Amuse since their debut in 2007. The band left Amuse on April 1, 2021, and established their own management agency, named 10969 Inc. They are signed with the Fueled by Ramen record label in the United States.
The band rose to international fame with their 2012 single "The Beginning" from their sixth album Jinsei×Boku=, which led them to concerts and music festivals outside of Asia. Following this success, One Ok Rock began releasing dual versions (Japanese-English and full English) of subsequent albums, with two to three different tracks on each version. Their seventh studio album, 35xxxv, became the band's first to enter Billboard music charts in the US, peaking at No. 11 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 43 on Independent Albums, No. 23 on Hard Rock Albums, and No. 1 on the World Albums chart. The band's eighth album, Ambitions, which incorporated more arena rock and pop-rock, debuted at No. 106 on the Billboard 200 and entered several international charts as well. The band adopted a more electronic and pop sound on their ninth album Eye of the Storm (2019). They experimented with a more rock-centered sound while still incorporating modern pop-rock for their 2022 album, Luxury Disease. They continued to experiment with pop-rock for their 2025 album Detox.
One Ok Rock won Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards for Eastern Breakthrough Male Band in 2016, and Rock Sound Awards for Best International Band in 2017 and Best Live Performance in 2018. The band was also nominated for two Alternative Press Music Awards – Best International Band in 2016 and Best Breakthrough Band in 2017.
History
2005–2006: Formation and early releases The history of One Ok Rock began on July 29, 2005, when Toru Yamashita, a high school student, wanted to start a band. He invited his childhood friend Ryota Kohama, who was also a member of the hip-hop dance group HEADS they were both in years prior. He told Ryota to learn the bass and asked Alexander Onizawa, who was their senior in school, to join to be their guitarist and his classmate, Yu Koyanagi, to play drums. While searching for a vocalist, Toru found Takahiro Moriuchi, who was in a cover band called Chivalry of Music. Impressed by Taka's singing skills, Toru insisted he join One Ok Rock instead. At first, Taka refused, despite repeated attempts to sway him, but eventually, he joined the band. The band's name was suggested by Koyanagi and comes from "one o'clock", the time that the band used to practice their music on weekends. They chose to play at one o'clock in the morning because it was cheaper to use the rehearsal space during such hours. However, noticing that the Japanese language made no distinction between R's and L's, "O'CLOCK" transformed into "O'CROCK" or "O'KROCK", which later transformed into "OK ROCK". In addition, One Ok Rock can be expressed as "10969" (wan-ō-ku-ro-ku). It is also the name of their management agency they set up in 2021.
The band released their self-produced demo CD "Do You Know A Christmas?" on December 21, 2005. In 2006, they released 2 EPs, "ONE OK ROCK" Alt URL and "KEEP IT REAL".
After signing with Amuse, Inc., Yu Koyanagi left the band to pursue an acting career and was replaced by Tomoya Kanki who was a student at the ESP Musical Academy and was already in a band that was not going well. He then joined One Ok Rock in 2006 and became an official member when they debuted in 2007.
2007–2009: Debut album, Beam of Light, Kanjo Effect and departure of Alex In 2007, the band released their debut single, "Naihishinsho", reached number 48 on the Oricon Charts and sold 15,000 copies. Their second and third single, " Yume Yume" and "Et Cetera", replicated that success and charted at number 43 and 29, respectively. After those singles, they released their debut album Zeitakubyō on November 21, 2007, and had their first tour, the Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya Quattro Tour.
They released their second album Beam of Light in May 2008. In an interview with Rockin'On Japan magazine in June 2012, the band said they did not count this album as an album, but rather as a part of growing up as a band. When they made the album, they had not been in the right mood, but felt that they had to make it to grow as a band. The band came up with many sound sources and ended up making a punk album. The album's confused origins were the reason why they would not play any songs from Beam of Light in live performances. Shortly after releasing Beam of Light, later they performed a gig at Shibuya AX.
They had planned to release two albums in that one year, so they released Kanjou Effect in November 2008. At this point the band had gained more experience and were able to do some more serious recording. They settled into the Western sound they were influenced by. They replaced all their engineers and introduced their music to new producers.
On April 5, 2009, Alex was arrested for groping the leg of a twenty-one-year-old female student on a train. He admitted to the charges and the case was settled out of court. The band reached their weakest point at this time. Ryota intended to leave bass and take up guitar. They felt it was impossible for them to add a new member. The band's next single, "Around the World Shounen", which was planned for a May 6 release as the theme song for the TV drama GodHand Teru, and their nationwide tour were both cancelled. In May 2009, it was announced that One Ok Rock would continue on as a 4-piece band without Alex, who went back to the United States. Toru took his place as lead guitar, and the band re-arranged their songs to be played for one guitar.
2010–2012: Niche Syndrome, music festivals, and Zankyo Reference With the new four-member formation, One Ok Rock released the single "Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer" on February 3, 2010. The song peaked at number nine on the Oricon Singles Chart in Japan. After four months, the band released their fourth studio album titled Niche Syndrome. Released on June 9, 2010, the album peaked at number three on the Billboard's Top Albums Sales chart. For the promotion of Niche Syndrome, One Ok Rock embarked on the "This is my own judgement!" tour initially in five Zepp music halls across the nation in 6 days, starting Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and ending in a 2-day concert in Tokyo. The second part the tour took place at sixteen different venues until December 11, 2010. They held a final performance in Nippon Budokan, Tokyo on November 28, followed by the release of a concert DVD This is My Budokan?! on February 16, 2011. On August 6, 7 and 8, One Ok Rock headlined Rock in Japan Festival and Summer Sonic Festival, followed by Rising Sun Rock Festival, Monster Bash, Treasure05X, Mad Ollie, Countdown Japan 2010/2011, and Radio Crazy. The band supported Pay Money to My Pain in their 2010 Stay Real tour, The Hiatus in their Anomaly 2010 tour, and Totalfat in their Overdrive tour.
On February 16, 2011, the band released the single "Answer is Near", later, from April to June of the same year, they performed the "Answer is Alive 2011 tour". After that, One Ok Rock released their first double A-side single "Re:make/No Scared" on July 20, 2011. "No Scared" was the main theme for the Black Rock Shooter: The Game video game. The band's fifth album, Zankyo Reference, was released on October 5, 2011. One Ok Rock announced fourteen dates between November and December 2011 for the Zankyo Reference Tour. The band also announced their final performance for this album as a two-day concert in Yokohama Arena on January 21 and 22, 2012. This was their first time playing in Yokohama Arena, the biggest venue in the Kantō region. The concert was sold out with more than 24,000 attendees. Later, the documentary of the Zankyo Reference Tour and the performance from the second night in Yokohama Arena was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 30, 2012.
During 2011, One Ok Rock headlined many music festivals, including Jisan Valley Rock Festival in South Korea. In July the band performed at Setstock 2011, followed by Rock in Japan Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, Summer Sonic Festival, Monster Bash, Sky Jamboree, and Space Shower's Sweet Love Shower. At the end of the year, they headlined Radio Crazy and Countdown Japan once more.
The band declared their first overseas tour in Start Walking The World on May and June 2012, covering Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. They headlined Rock in Japan Festival on the main stage, as well as Summer Sonic 2012, and additionally, Oga Namahage Rock Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, and Sweet Love Shower. Their next single, "The Beginning", was chosen as the theme song for the live action movie adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin manga, and was released on August 22, 2012, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. Later, "The Beginning" won two awards: Best Rock Video from the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan and a second award as Best Your Choice in Space Shower Music Video Awards.
2013–2014: Jinsei×Boku=, Fool Cool Rock, and Worldwide Tour On January 9, 2013, One Ok Rock released the double single "Deeper Deeper/Nothing Helps", and hit 2nd place on the Oricon charts. The song "Nothing Helps" was used for the Japanese version of the video game DmC: Devil May Cry, and "Deeper Deeper" was used for the commercial of Suzuki Swift Sport in Japan. Their sixth full-length album Jinsei×Boku= was released on March 6, 2013, and managed to reach second place on the Oricon weekly chart. In October 2013 the band went on their first tour outside Asia and visited Europe for five concerts. Most of the concerts in Europe were sold out almost immediately.
On January 12, 2014, their album producer John Feldmann related that One Ok Rock had already started recording their forthcoming album. In February 2014 they visited the US to hold two concerts in New York and Los Angeles and added two more dates in Philadelphia and Toronto in May. They also performed at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio, their first festival outside Asia. On May 16, the documentary film about their last Europe and Asia Tour, Fool Cool Rock, was released and played for a limited time of four weeks at select theaters. The film, directed by Hiroyuki Nakano, was released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2014, with promotional screenings in Bangkok, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
In June and July 2014 they joined Vans Warped Tour 2014 and performed in eighteen cities in North America. On July 30, 2014, One Ok Rock released the double A-side single "Mighty Long Fall/Decision", and while "Mighty Long Fall", was the theme song for the movie sequel of Rurouni Kenshin entitled Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno, the song "Decision" is the theme song for their documentary film Foo Cool Rock. The music video for "Decision" released on August 20, 2014, is a compilation of footage from their tours in Europe and Asia. In September 2014, the song "Heartache" became part of the Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Endss soundtrack. Subsequently, in September 2014, One Ok Rock held a two-day stadium concert in Yokohama Stadium in front of 60,000 people called Mighty Long Fall Live at Yokohama Stadium 2014. This was their first time performing in a stadium.