AKB48

AKB48: “Regardless of cultural identity…Talent is talent, in all cultures, and AKB48 is an exceptionally talented group of pop singers!”

From Wikipedia:
AKB48 (read “A.K.B. Forty-eight”) is a Japanese idol girl group. As of June 2013, the group has 90 members.^[2] The girls range in age from early teens to mid-20s.^[3]^[4] Produced by Yasushi Akimoto, it is one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world, with 2011 record sales of over US$200 million in Japan.^[5] It has achieved such popularity in Japan^[6] that it has been characterized as a social phenomenon.^[7]

As of January 2013, the group’s seventeen latest singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. In 2010, “Beginner” and “Heavy Rotation” placed, respectively, first and second in the list of Japan’s best selling singles for the year.^[8] In 2011 and 2012 AKB48’s singles occupied the top five spots of the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart.^[9]^[10] The band has sold over 20 million CDs,^[11]^[12] and holds the record for most singles sold in Japan by a female group.^[13]

AKB48 is named after Akihabara (Akiba for short), the area in Tokyo where the group’s theater is located. The idea of AKB48’s producer Yasushi Akimoto was to create a girl group that, unlike a regular pop group, which gives occasional concerts and that is mostly seen on TV, would have its own theater and perform there on a daily basis; the fans would always be able to go and see the girls live. AKB48 still performs at the theater daily, with tickets distributed by lottery.^[14] Akimoto has also expanded the AKB48 concept to severalsister groups throughout Asia.

AKB48
English: J!-ENT LIVE: AKB48 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) AKB48 performing at Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, in July 2010
Background information
Origin	Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan
Genres	J-pop
Years active	2005–present
Labels	AKS (Japan) Defstar (Japan) You, Be Cool!/King (Japan) Gold Typhoon (Taiwan) Maru (USA)^[1]
Associated acts	SKE48 SDN48 NMB48 HKT48 JKT48 TPE48 SNH48 no3b Watarirouka Hashiritai French Kiss Not Yet DiVA
Website	www.akb48.co.jp

Members	Team A details Team K details Team B details Kenkyūsei details

Past members	Former members

This article contains Japanesetext. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbolsinstead of kanji and kana.

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