L'Arc-en-Ciel

, stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ken and drummer sakura were recruited to replace them in 1992 and 1993, respectively. While they first got their start as a visual kei band, L'Arc-en-Ciel have not had any association with the movement since their major label debut in 1994. Sakura left the band in 1997 and was replaced by yukihiro in January 1998, completing the current line-up. With a reported 40 million records sold, L'Arc-en-Ciel are one of the best-selling music artists in Japan. Their 1999 simultaneously-released albums Ark and Ray are each one of the best-selling albums of all time in Japan. L'Arc-en-Ciel have had seven number one studio albums and 21 number one singles. They were ranked number 58 on a 2003 list of the top 100 Japanese pop musicians by HMV Japan, and were the first Japanese act to headline Madison Square Garden in New York City. History 1991–1997: Formation, major label debut and sakura's departure In February 1991, bassist tetsuya (then known as TETSU) recruited vocalist hyde (then known as HIDE), guitarist hiro and drummer pero. Together, they formed a band and named themselves L'Arc-en-Ciel. A year later, after gaining popularity in their hometown of Osaka, hiro left the band on June 12, 1992. Tetsuya then convinced his friend ken to quit his university studies and join the band as guitarist. However, pero then left the group on December 30, 1992. The following year, sakura joined as L'Arc-en-Ciel's new drummer.