Kobukuro#Members

• {{Nihongo|Kentarō Kobuchi|小渕健太郎|Kobuchi Kentarō|b. March 13, 1977); guitar, vocals, various other instruments}}
• {{Nihongo|Shunsuke Kuroda|黒田俊介|Kuroda Shunsuke|b. March 18, 1977); main vocals}}

The duo's visual appearance is striking due to their height difference, with Kuroda standing over {{convert|193|cm|ftin|abbr=on}} tall. As a group, they are known for their harmonies.

In May 1998, Kobuchi and Kuroda met each other in Sakai near Osaka. Kobuchi was a salesman who held street concerts every Saturday for relaxation and Kuroda was a physical education teacher and a street musician. In September the same year, Kobuchi offered Kuroda a song and, seeing that Kuroda was not a skilled guitar player, Kobuchi became the guitar player of the group. Thus, Kobukuro was formed.

Kobukuro received moderately successful ratings for their first three indie albums—Saturday 8:PM (July 1999), ANSWER (December 2000) and Root of My Mind (March 2001). Kobukuro signed with Warner Music Japan in 2001, and made their debut with the hit single, "Yell" which reached number 4 on the Oricon Charts.

Kobukuro released the studio album Nameless World on December 21, 2005. Nameless World became their first number-one album on the Oricon weekly charts. On September 27, 2006, they released their greatest hits album All Singles Best, which topped the Oricon weekly charts for four consecutive weeks.

On March 21, 2007, Kobukuro released the single "Tsubomi." Musician Marty Friedman stated that the song's simple arrangement did away with the musical influence of Western culture.{{Cite web|url=http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/col/20070409/121533/|script-title=ja:言われてみれば……コブクロとゆずみたいなデュオがアメリカにいない理由は？|publisher=Nikkei Business Publications|date=2007-04-16|access-date=2010-03-23|language=ja}} The song became their first number-one single on the Oricon weekly charts. "Tsubomi" won the coveted "Grand Prix" awards in December 2007 at the 49th Japan Record Awards. The song was included in their 2007 studio album 5296, which also topped the Oricon weekly charts.

On their 2009 album Calling, Kobuchi wrote "Sayonara Hero" as a memorial song for Kiyoshiro Imawano, who had died earlier that year. On March 3, 2010, they released their cover version of "Layla" (used in a Pepsi Nex commercial they starred in) as a digital single of iTunes Store without the release of a physical CD.{{Cite web|url=http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000059158|title=コブクロ「Layla」、iTunesでウイークリー1位を爆走中|trans-title=Kobukuro's "Layla" is running at #1 on iTunes weekly chart|work=Barks.jp|date=2010-03-10|access-date=2010-03-22|language=ja}}

On May 17, 2010, the sales of All Singles Best passed 3,000,000 copies on the Oricon charts, becoming the first album to do so in 7 years and 10 months, since the 2002 achievement of Southern All Stars' Umi no Yeah!!, originally released on June 25, 1998.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/76258/full|title=コブクロベスト盤が300万枚突破、サザン『海のYeah!!』以来7年10ヶ月ぶり～ボーカルグループ史上初～|publisher=Oricon|date=2010-05-15|access-date=2010-05-15|language=ja}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{in lang|ja}} [http://kobukuro.com/ Official Web Site of Kobukuro]
• {{in lang|ja}} [http://www.wmg.jp/artist/kobukuro/ Official Web Site by Warner Music Japan]

{{Kobukuro}}

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Category:Japanese musical duos

Category:Japanese pop music groups

Category:Ballad music groups

Category:Japanese male musical duos

Category:Warner Music Japan artists

Category:Musical groups from Osaka

Category:Musical groups established in 1998

Category:1998 establishments in Japan