King Gnu is a Japanese band formed in 2013. It consists of Daiki Tsuneta (vocalist and guitarist), Satoru Iguchi (vocalist and keyboardist), Kazuki Arai (bassist) and Yu Seki (drummer). The band's main songwriter is Daiki Tsuneta, who also performs as part of the creative collective Millennium Parade.

Career In 2013, Mrs.Vinci was formed, later going by Srv.Vinci. Their first song was "ABUKU(泡)" released under the creative label Perimetron.

In 2017, they renamed themselves to King Gnu. They then performed at the Fuji Rock Festival in 2017 and 2018. On October 25, 2017, the band released their first album under the name King Gnu, Tokyo Rendez-Vous. The track "Vinyl" was used in a Persol Tempstaff advertisement released on January 25 the next year.

In January 2019, the band released Sympa, their first release under a major label after signing to Ariola Japan. The following month, King Gnu released hit song "Hakujitsu", which ranked No.4 in the year-end chart of Billboard Japan Hot 100. In October, they released "Kasa" and achieved their first No.1 on the Billboard Japan Download Chart. On December 31, King Gnu performed "Hakujitsu" at the 70th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, their debut performance on the program.

Their third album Ceremony, released on January 15, 2020, was a commercial success, peaking atop the Japanese Oricon albums chart, the Billboard Japan albums chart, and was one of the 10 best-selling albums of 2020 worldwide by selling over one million copies. A nationwide tour for the album was scheduled but all performances were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band held their first online live concert in August. On September 8, it was announced that King Gnu would be the first Japanese artist to sign a partnership agreement with Red Bull.

In August 2021, it was announced that King Gnu would perform the opening theme song "Boy" for the anime adaptation of Ranking of Kings; the song was released in October. In December, MAPPA released a few movie trailers promoting the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 anime film adaptation, which King Gnu have made 2 new songs for the film. The songs are and , which are the opening and ending themes for the Jujutsu Kaisen movie. The two songs were released together as Ichizu/Sakayume. In March 2022, they released , which is the theme for Japanese television drama Don't Call It Mystery, adapted from the manga of the same name. In November 2022, they played one of the biggest concerts of their career, performed in two days concerts with attended more than 100,000 fans at Tokyo Dome.

King Gnu held their biggest tour ever in Japan "Closing Ceremony" on May and June 2023, which saw them play at stadiums five years after their debut for the first time in Nagai Stadium and Yokohama Nissan Stadium. They released "Specialz" as the opening theme for the Shibuya Incident Arc, the second part of the second season of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime on September 1.

In March 2025, it was announced that King Gnu would perform the ending theme for Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback, "Twilight!!!".

In September 2025, King Gnu released the song "So Bad", created as the exclusive official theme for Universal Studios Japan’s Zombie de Dance: Halloween Horror Nights event.

On January 9, 2026, King Gnu released their single "Aizo", to serve as the opening theme for Jujutsu Kaisen's Culling Game Arc. On July 29, they released their single "Go Ghost", to serve as the opening theme for The Ghost in the Shell.

Discography Studio albums Title Details Peak chart positions Sales Certifications JPNJPN Hot Srv. Vinci Mad Me More SoftlyReleased: September 16, 2015 Label: Perimetron Formats: CD, digital download, streaming — — King Gnu Tokyo Rendez-VousReleased: October 25, 2017 Reissued: January 16, 2019 Label: Perimetron, Ariola Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming 46 14 JPN: 1,184 RIAJ: Gold SympaReleased: January 16, 2019 Label: Ariola Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming 4 4 JPN: 23,211 Ceremony Released: January 15, 2020 Label: Ariola Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming 1 1 WW: 1,000,000 JPN: 500,000 JPN: 87,000 RIAJ: 2× Platinum The Greatest Unknown Released: November 29, 2023 Label: Ariola Japan Formats: CD, digital download, streaming 1 1 JPN: 203,406 RIAJ: Platinum "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Extended plays Title EP details Srv. Vinci Tokyo Chaotic Released: September 14, 2016 Label: Perimetron Formats: CD, digital download

Singles + List of singles, showing year released, selected chart positions, sales, certifications, and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Certifications Album JPN JPNHot USRock WW*"Sanmon Shosetsu": "Boy": "Ichizu" and "Sakayume": "Chameleon": "Specialz": "Twilight!!!": "Aizo": "Flash!!!" 2018 — 97 — — RIAJ: Gold Sympa "Prayer X" 31 40 — — RIAJ: Gold Platinum "Hakujitsu" () 2019 — 2 — — JPN: 411,084 RIAJ: Platinum Diamond Ceremony "Hikōtei" () — 10 — — RIAJ: Gold 2× Platinum "Kasa" () — 9 — — RIAJ: Gold Platinum "Sanmon Shousetsu" () 2020 2 4 — 151 RIAJ: Gold Gold Platinum The Greatest Unknown "Senryou Yakusha" () 12 — — RIAJ: Gold Gold "Abuku" ()2021 — 18 — — "Boy" 4 9 — 164 JPN: 27,261 RIAJ: Platinum "Ichizu" () 1 1 — 78 JPN: 81,869 RIAJ: Gold Platinum 3× Platinum "Sakayume" () 2 — 90 RIAJ: Gold Platinum 3× Platinum "Chameleon" () 2022 2 1 — 63 JPN: 28,041 RIAJ: Gold 3× Platinum "Ame Sansan" () — 8 — — RIAJ: Gold Platinum "Stardom" 5 5 — — JPN: 27,136 RIAJ: Gold "Specialz" 2023 4 2 — 28 JPN: 32,085 RIAJ: Gold 3× Platinum RIAA: Gold "Mascara" 2024 — 29 — — rowspan="6" "Nekko" () — 7 — — JPN: 12,706 RIAJ: Platinum "Twilight!!!" 2025 — 4 — 183 RIAJ: Platinum "So Bad" — 14 — — "Aizo" 2026 2 1 40 30 JPN: 64,784 RIAJ: Gold Platinum "Go Ghost" — 9 — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Promotional singles + List of promotional singles, showing year released, select chart positions, certifications, and album name Title YearPeak chart positions Certifications Album JPNHot WWExcl. US "Tokyo Rendez-Vous" 2017 — — Tokyo Rendez-Vous "McDonald Romance" — — "Vinyl" 90 —RIAJ: Platinum "Slumberland" 2018 53 —RIAJ: Gold Sympa "Teenager Forever" 2019 5 — RIAJ: Gold 2× Platinum Ceremony "Glass Window" () 2023 16 161 RIAJ: Gold The Greatest Unknown "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Other charted and certified songs + List of songs not released as singles, showing year released, selected chart positions, certifications, and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album JPNHot "Sorrows" 2019— RIAJ: Gold Sympa "It's a Small World" — RIAJ: Gold "The Hole"57 RIAJ: Gold 31Yōsui Inoue Tribute 2020 81 Ceremony 6RIAJ: Platinum 26 RIAJ: Gold 77 25 RIAJ: Gold "Overflow" 41 66 "F.O.O.L" 2021 76 Boy 2023 42 The Greatest Unknown "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Kōhaku Uta Gassen appearances YearNo.SongNotes 2019 70th "Hakujitsu" 2022 73rd "Stardom"

Awards and nominations Year Award ceremony Category Nominee / Work Result 2019 MTV Video Music Awards Japan Best Video of the Year "Hakujitsu" Best New Artist Video 61st Japan Record Awards Excellence Album Award Sympa MTV Europe Music Awards Best Japanese Act King Gnu Mnet Asian Music Awards Best New Asian Artist – Japan 2022 MTV Video Music Awards Japan Best Art Direction Video "Sakayume" 2024 Berlin Music Video Awards Best Editor "Specialz" 2025 Music Awards Japan Best J-Rock Artist King Gnu Best J-Rock Song "Specialz" Best Japanese Song in Europe Best Japanese Song in North America Best Japanese Song in Latin America Best of Listeners' Choice: Japanese Song "Nekko" 2026 Music Awards Japan Top Japanese Song in Asia "Aizo" Top Japanese Song in Europe Top Japanese Song in North America

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