When BABYMETAL burst onto the international music scene with "Gimme Chocolate!!" in 2015, they unleashed a frenetic fusion of perky J-Pop and menacing metal that the world didn't know it needed.
Their simultaneously euphonious and brutal sound could have just become a one-hit novelty, but the group — Su-metal (Suzuka Nakamoto), Moametal (Moa Kikuchi), and newest member Momometal (Momoko Okazaki) — have blossomed into a perennially popular act in their native Japan and well beyond. While their musical mashup might sound like an oddball idea if one hasn't heard it, it has endeared BABYMETAL to even jaded, middle-aged metalheads who thought they'd heard and seen it all.
BABYMETAL's legend has been built on performance, whether in their intricately choreographed and high-energy shows or their conceptual, striking music videos. Their talents and prowess culminated in their biggest world tour to date in 2023 and 2024, which is now cemented on the silver screen with BABYMETAL Legend - 43 The Movie.
Marking the trio's first American cinema release, BABYMETAL Legend - 43 — which documents their performance in Okinawa, Japan — will be in select theaters nationwide on Dec. 11 and 15. The nearly 85-minute concert film showcases the group's musical rambunctiousness and the intensity of their show, complete with pyro, massive video projections, a hyperkinetic light show, and even a giant fox head (more on that later).
As their 98-date world tour proved, BABYMETAL's reach is cross-cultural, with their radiant vocals and striking choreography endearing them to legions of fans around the globe. And as their global appeal continues to grow, it seems BABYMETAL's future is brighter than ever.
To celebrate the release of BABYMETAL Legend - 43 The Movie, get to know the band and their impact with these seven facts.
They Started As A Subset Of A Japanese Idol Group
Before the world got to know BABYMETAL independently, Su-metal, Moametal and Yuimetal (Yui Mizuno, who retired in 2018) were first members of the Japanese J-pop collective Sakura Gakuin, which was created by the talent agency Amuse Inc. The teenage girl group was broken into subunits, with BABYMETAL forming as the "Heavy Music Club" of the initial group.
The trio made their official debut at the Sakura Gakuin Festival in 2010, giving a taste of the merry mayhem that was to come. They dressed in more traditional schoolgirl outfits and did not yet have a backing band, but they released a few songs while still members of Sakura Gakuin.
BABYMETAL began their arc as an official separate group in 2013 upon Su-metal's graduation from Sakura Gakuin. Though Moa and Yui didn't graduate from Sakura Gakuin until 2015, BABYMETAL released their debut studio album in 2014.
Fox God Mythology Is At The Core Of Their Artistry
After he brought BABYMETAL together and later helped them strike on their own, producer Key Kobayashi (aka Kobametal) created the mythology of the Fox God, the deity that assembled the three women of BABYMETAL and imbued them with musical powers to fight those "power idols" who would suppress forms of music they didn't like. BABYMETAL were created to unleash a metal resistance — fittingly, the title of their sophomore album.
Fox lore is incorporated into several facets of their artistry, from fox head props on stage to their signature hand signal. It's also been tied into various mini-movies shown on stage, and the greater story is encapsulated in 2018's Z2 Comics graphic novel Apocrypha: The Legend Of BABYMETAL.
Apocrypha tells the story of the Fox God across the ages as he battles his nemesis the Vulture God. But this extension of their origin is different. The musical group is not included in this tale — instead, it shows the trio as a continually reinvented force for good across time as they stand against the Vulture God during different historical eras prior to the metal resistance.
They Are Considered To Be The Creators Of Kawaii Metal
While Japanese metal wasn't necessarily anything new by the time BABYMETAL arrived on the scene, it had been 30 years since a band in the genre had broken through on such an international level. However, BABYMETAL brought a new kind of sound to the metal game, maintaining their pop idol roots and integrating them into the heavy rock sound.
Their blend of J-pop and metal helped birth a new subgenre dubbed "kawaii metal" (which translates as "cute metal"), and BABYMETAL is often credited for pioneering the genre-melding style. Other artists have since emulated their collision of metal aggression and J-Pop ebullience — while mixing fashion and stage moves from both realms — including Ladybaby, Babybeard, and Ironbunny.
They've Gone Through Some Changes
Following the unexpected departure of Yuimetal for undisclosed health issues in 2018, the group featured a short-lived trio of singers/dancers called The Avengers who appeared on stage with them in 2019 and 2020. They would individually alternate for the role vacated by Yuimetal, so fans did not know who might appear on stage with Su-metal and Moametal.
One of these Avengers, Momometal, became a permanent member in the renewed core trio in 2023. Though she doesn't sing on the band's fourth album, The Other One, that was released that same year, she's become an integral part of the group's live show.
When it comes to their live performances, Su-metal takes lead vocals and does some dancing (known as "vocal and dance"), while Moametal and Momometal serve up vocal harmonies and the majority of the highly stylized dance moves ("scream and dance"). Their shows also feature four more musicians known as Kami Band — two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer — whose roster has rotated over the years.
They're Crossing Genres And Borders
While much of BABYMETAL's music is heavy metal, they have flexed their versatility on stage and in the studio. They've performed with an array of stars, including alt-rock icons the Red Hot Chili Peppers, prog metallers DragonForce, dubstep icon Skrillex, and Rob Halford of metal vets Judas Priest. BABYMETAL have also recorded collaborations with a number of different artists, including British metalcore rockers Bring Me the Horizon, Thai rapper F. HERO and iconic heavy rock guitarist Tom Morello.
Their most successful team-up to date was with German electronicore group Electric Callboy on a track called "Ratatata," which topped Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart — BABYMETAL's first No. 1 on a Billboard tally.
Further expanding their cross-cultural efforts, the group's 2020 single "Shanti Shanti Shanti" has a strong Indian music influence, and their brand new collaboration with raucous Indian metal band Bloodywood, "Bekhauf," features lyrics sung in Hindi, Japanese and English.
They've Also Expanded Into Gaming, Film & Television
BABYMETAL's quickly rising popularity spawned a unique homage in 2016: they became playable characters in the Japanese version of the video game "Super Mario Maker." They are a downloadable Mystery Mushroom character in one sequence; when Mario grabs the right mushroom, he transforms into them!
A year later, BABYMETAL composed and performed the theme song to the American animated series "Unikitty!," which aired from 2017 to 2020 on the Cartoon Network. The song starts off as a peppy, '60s pop-inflected ditty before it unfurls a quick burst of metal at the end. (Funnily enough, one of the characters on the show is named Dr. Fox.)
Just this year, BABYMETAL made their big-screen debut in Heavier Trip, the sequel to the 2018 Finnish black metal comedy Heavy Trip. The trio makes a few cameos in the movie, including a scene that sees them performing "Gimme Chocolate!!"
Their Japan Shows Are A Festive, Larger-Than-Life Event
As captured in BABYMETAL Legend - 43 The Movie, the trio's intricate, precise stage show includes lasers, high-tech lighting, video screens, moving platforms, and pyrotechnics. And when they bring the show back home to Japan, the spectacle becomes a full-on celebration. Former metal journalist and BABYMETAL aficionado Mark Kohler has witnessed the magic four times in Japan, entrenched in the crowd full of face-painted fans and girls dressed in cosplay.
Kohler noted that the fans' interaction with the band is like a performance in itself, as the audience knows which cues to follow in each song. (Near the end of BABYMETAL Legend - 43, it's remarkable how many male fans literally bow down and worship their metal goddesses during their performance of "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!")
"It's not so much a concert as it is a full performance with an audience and a band. It's truly special," Kohler tells GRAMMY.com. And while he notes that the culture surrounding BABYMETAL's shows "takes time to get used to," it's an experience like no other.
"BABYMETAL is a continuing story and each concert has to do with that exposition... And it's just fun," he adds. "A crashing, splashing display of dance, singing, visual effects, and musical virtuosity coming at you all at once. Delivered with a smile, of course."