Biography
QUEEN BEE, also known as Ziyoou-vachi in Japan (Japanese: 女王蜂, Hepburn: Joōbachi) are a 4-piece Japanese rock band, formed in Kobe in 2009. They describe their genre of music and themselves as “fashion-punk”.
The band is made up of 4 people. Avu-chan writes their songs and is the lead vocalist of the group. She possesses a powerful masculine and a soothing feminine voice; this duality of her voices is seen in songs where she plays different roles talking to herself. Yashi-chan is Queen Bee’s bass guitarist, Ruri-chan plays the drums and Hibari-kun is the lead guitarist and a newcomer who joined in 2015.
Queen Bee also has a supporting member, Mii-chan, who plays the keyboard and appears with them during their concerts. She’s been with them since 2012, but isn’t a full time member.
Its ex-members are lead guitarists Yūki-chan, who was there when founded and left in 2009, and Gigi-chan who was a part of the group from 2009 to 2012.
Their music has been featured in the film Love Strikes! and in the upcomig Sadako (2019) film, a continuation to The Ring series scheduled to air May 24th. They have also been featured in the television programme Spooky Romantics, as well as in the anime series Tokyo Ghoul:re and Dororo (2019).
Throughout 2009 Queen Bee recorded their extended play “The Mad Princess” (“姫様御乱心”) and self-released it on January 1st, 2010 on CD-R through their own record label Ziyoou Record (女王レコード Joō Rekōdo), followed by “The Wrath of the Royal Family” (“王族大逆鱗”) on March 1st of the same year, which they sold at their performances.
In 2011 they released their first album called “Witch Hunt”. In 2011 they signed a major label contract, making Ziyoou Record a sub-label of Sony Music Associated Records. They have since had four full-length major-label albums released making for a total of five albums including “Witch Hunt”.
