JO1

JO1 (ジェイオーワン) is the final group of the audition show Produce 101 Japan formed with its top 11 contestants in 2019.

Their fans are called "JAM" which stands for: J for "JO1", A for "and", and M for "Me". "JO1 and Me", meaning "JO1 and the fans".

Pre-debut: Formation through Produce 101 Japan
JO1 was formed through the Japanese version of the South Korean reality competition show Produce 101 titled Produce 101 Japan, which aired from September 25 to December 11, 2019. A total of 6,000 people auditioned for the show, out of which 101 contestants were chosen. Every male Japanese citizen between the ages of 16 and 30 without any ties to an entertainment company was eligible to apply. Contestants had to go through several rounds of evaluations before the top eleven were chosen by viewers through online voting and announced via live broadcast on TBS. The winners then signed with Lapone Entertainment, a joint company between Yoshimoto Kogyo and CJ E&M.

Prior to appearing on the show, several members had already been active in the entertainment industry. Kawashiri Ren attended Very Merry Music School and worked as a professional back-up dancer for artists like SMAP, Dreams Come True, F.T. Island, Wanna One, LBH, Yamashita Tomohisa, and Pentagon. Shiroiwa Ruki is a former member of Johnny & Associates' trainee group Johnny's Jr. and was part of the voice actor music group Tsukicro in 2017, where he was set to portray the character Hibiya Ruki but he ultimately left the group before their official debut.

Prior to their debut, the group held their first fanmeeting on January 31, 2020 at Pacifico Yokohama and at Osaka Orix Theater from February 18 to February 20, 2020.

2020: Debut with PROTOSTAR and first studio album: The STAR
Shortly after the end of Produce 101 Japan, the group flew to South Korea to train for their debut and record their first single. On December 24, 2020, Mnet denied rumors that the group went to South Korea to debut there and stated that JO1 would mainly promote in Japan and that their debut album would also not include Korean songs.

On January 14, it was revealed that the group's debut single would be titled Protostar and that it would be released on March 4 of the same year. Protostar was an immediate commercial success, selling more than 320,000 units in the week of its release and peaking at number one on both the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart and Billboard Japan Japan Top Singles Chart. Its title track "Infinity" also peaked at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. The song was aired for the first time on February 5, 2020 on J-Wave's radio station Step One and they gave their first live performance of it on the NTV morning show Sukkiri. Protostar was certified Platinum by the RIAJ for surpassing 250,000 copies sold and was also featured in various mid-year rankings, such as Oricon's 2020 Mid-Year Ranking on June 19 and Billboard Japan's 2020 Mid-Year Top Artists ranking.

The group was scheduled to perform at KCON 2020 JAPAN's main event KCON 2020 JAPAN x M COUNTDOWN on April 4, 2020 at Makuhari Messe. Since the event was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, they attended KCON:TACT 2020 SUMMER for a Meet & Greet instead, making them the first Japanese boy group to ever participate in the convention.

On June 21, 2020, after their performance at KCON:TACT 2020 SUMMER, JO1 announced the release of their second single album Stargazer for August 26, 2020. The song "My Friends" was written by member Yonashiro Sho and choreographed by Kawashiri Ren. The single debuted at number one on the Oricon Weekly Chart and the Billboard Japan Top Singles Chart. Just like "Infinity", their new title track "OH-EH-OH" ranked first on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. Additionally, as both Protostar and Stargazer ranked first on the Oricon Weekly Chart, they became the first artist to earn two consecutive wins on the chart since Hinatazaka46's "Do Re Mi Sol La Si Do" on July 29, 2019. Stargazer was certified Platinum by the RIAJ. On September 5, the group performed as the headliner for the 31st Mynavi Tokyo Girls Collection 2020 Autumn/Winter 2020, the largest fashion event in Japan, at Saitama Super Arena. On October 16, the group released the first version of their official lightstick. They also performed at KCON:TACT Season 2, which took place from October 16 to October 25, 2020.

On November 19, 2020, JO1 won the Rising Star Award at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan and performed their first and latest title track at the event. JO1 released their first full-length studio album The Star and its title track "Shine A Light" on November 25. The Star ranked second on the Oricon Weekly Album Chart and Billboard Japan Hot Albums Chart, placing only after BTS's Be. They also performed "Shine A Light" at the 2020 FNS Music Festival and were also part of the lineup for the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards on December 6, for which they prepared a special performance titled Infinite Light, consisting of "Infinity" and "Shine A Light". At MAMA, they received the Best New Asian Artist Award.

The group held their first live streaming concert titled Starlight on December 19, amassing an estimated 120,000 viewers from over 30 countries.. JO1 was also nominated for "Face of the Year 2020 (Men's Edition)" by the entertainment news website Modelpress.

2021: Tsutaerareru Nara, CHALLENGER, STRANGER, WANDERING
In February 2021, JO1 performed in South Korea for the first time by appearing on M Countdown and held their second online concert, Starlight Deluxe.

Announced on February 19, 2021, JO1 were confirmed to perform at Tokyo Girls Collection 2021 Spring/Summer as one of the main artists along with Sakurazaka46.

On April 28, they released their third single Challenger includes Kit Kat Japan's commercial song "Tsutaerareru Nara" and Japan Hot 100 chart-topper "Born to be Wild". Challenger eventually became the eleventh best-selling single in the first half of 2021 with over 298,000 copies sold.

JO1's fourth single Stranger was released on August 18, 2021, preceded by the release of B-side tracks "Freedom" and "Dreaming Night", the opening theme song for the television drama Love Phantom. Both songs charted in Japan Hot 100, while the lead track "Real" peaked atop the chart. Stranger was the group's fastest single to surpass 400,000 copies sold on the Billboard Japan charts. JO1 later participated in a joint live concert, KCON World Premiere: The Triangle, on September 23 at the Pacifico Yokohama, alongside other Produce 101 Japan subsequent groups: OWV and Enjin. It was JO1's first performance with a live audience since they debuted. On October 9, Lapone Entertainment announced that member Sukai Kinjo, who had missed the concert, would suspend his activities after being diagnosed with adjustment disorder to receive treatment.

On November 19–21, JO1 held their first live concert, the 2021 JO1 Live "Open the Door", at the Makuhari Messe, instead of the planned national tour to comply with the COVID-19 preventive measures. Between the five shows, the concert amassed a total of 45,000 audiences in attendance. It featured songs from the group's next single, Wandering. The single was supported by double lead tracks, "Bokura no Kisetsu" (僕らの季節, Our Season) and "Prologue". The latter was produced by UTA [ja] and used as the ending song for the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Prior to his break, Kinjo managed to participate in the recording of the single except for the song "Oasis". Upon its release on December 15, Wandering became the group's first single to earn a double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for over a half million units in shipments.

2022: Four digital singles, Second studio album KIZUNA, English debut with "ALL HOURS", "MIDNIGHT SUN"
On February 14, 2022, JO1 announced that Sukai Kinjo would resume his activities. The group subsequently released new songs "Dreamer" and "Toberu Kara" (飛べるから, I Can Fly) as the theme song of the group's first drama series Short Program and documentary film JO1 the Movie: Unfinished - Go to the Top, respectively. On April 22, JO1 released the digital single "YOLO-konde", produced by 3Racha of Stray Kids with concept planning and lyrics writing by JO1, as depicted in the NHK special This Is JO1 - Go to the Dream. JO1 released their second studio album Kizuna on May 25, which features selected songs from the previous three singles in addition to nine new songs, including "Dreamer" and "Move the Soul", the opening theme of Aniplex's original anime series Fanfare of Adolescence. It was the group's first number-one album on the Oricon Albums Chart and Japan Hot Albums. To promote the album, JO1 is set to embark on their first arena tour to four prefectures throughout September 2022.

JO1 digitally released their first all-English song "All Hours" for YSL Beauty Japan on June 16, 2022.

JO1 will digitally release their sixth single "Midnight Sun" on October 12, 2022.

Studio Albums

 * 1) [2020.11.25] The STAR
 * 2) [2022.05.23] KIZUNA
 * 3) [2023.09.20] EQUINOX

Singles

 * 1) [2020.03.04] PROTOSTAR
 * 2) [2020.08.26] STARGAZER
 * 3) [2021.04.28] CHALLENGER
 * 4) [2021.08.18] STRANGER
 * 5) [2021.12.15] WANDERING
 * 6) [2022.10.12] MIDNIGHT SUN
 * 7) [2023.04.05] TROPICAL NIGHT
 * 8) [2023.07.24] NEWSmile
 * 9) [2023.08.21] RadioVesion

Digital Singles

 * 1) [2021.01.20] Tsutaerareru Nara (伝えられるなら)
 * 2) [2022.04.03] Move The Soul
 * 3) [2022.04.22] YOLO-konde
 * 4) [2022.05.30] Move The Soul - From THE FIRST TAKE
 * 5) [2022.05.30] 僕らの季節 - From THE FIRST TAKE

Digital Singles

 * 1) [2022.06.16] ALL HOURS

Reality Shows

 * JO1 School (2020)
 * JO1 Star Gather TV (2020)
 * JO1 the Star: JO1 x NO1 Battle (2020)
 * JO1 House (2020-2021)
 * Isai Future: Utae Mirai no Uta (2021)
 * Toresugi JO1 (2021)
 * Short Program (2022)
 * This Is JO1 - Go to the Dream (2022)

Documentaries

 * Process JO1 (2021)
 * Toresugi JO1 2 (2021)
 * Playlist JO1 (2021)

Web Shows

 * Hi! JO1 (2022)

Radio Shows

 * JO1 All Night Nippon X (Nippon Broadcasting System, 2022-present) - host

Japan Tours

 * 2022 JO1 1st Arena Live Tour "Kizuna" (2022)

One-off Concerts

 * 2021 JO1 Live "Open The Door" (2021)

Online Concerts

 * JO1 1st Live Streaming Concert "Starlight" (2020)
 * JO1 Live Streaming Concert "Starlight Deluxe" (2021)