Dir en grey is a Japanese rock band. It was formed in 1997 from the disbanded Visual Kei band La:Sadie's, and has maintained a lineup consisting of Kyo on vocals, Kaoru and Die on guitar, Toshiya on bass and Shinya on drums.
Although they no longer consider themselves a Visual Kei band, Dir en grey still surprises and shocks people with each new release. They have released many different types of music, including aggressive songs like "OBSCURE" and "PINK KILLER", rock ballads such as "蟲 -mushi- (Insect)" or "MACABRE ― 揚羽ノ羽ノ夢ハ蛹 ― (MACABRE -ageha no hane no yume wa sanagi-)", pop songs like "yokan (予感) (Premonition)”, tracks such as "Mr. NEWSMAN" and "mazohyst of decadence" with more lyrical content, or "umbrella" with a catchy chorus. Given the eclectic nature of the music the band produces, it is very difficult to accurately categorize them.
The band members' real names have long been disputed both by Japanese and international fans. The commonly accepted names are followed by their Japanese hiragana equivalent in parentheses. Birth names are given in typical Japanese format - surname first, given name last.
Note: Since there is a lack of official confirmation, actual legal names and birth years may be incorrect. The vocalist, "京" (Kyo), was born February 16, 1976, in Kyoto as Nishimura Tooru (にしむら とおる). The first guitarist, 薫" (Kaoru), was born February 17, 1974, in Hyougo as Niikura Kaoru (にいくら かおる). The other guitarist, "Die", was born December 20, 1974, in Mie as Andou Daisuke (あんどう だいすけ). The bassist, "Toshiya", was born March 31, 1977, in Nagano as Hara Toshimasa (はら としまさ). The drummer, "Shinya", was born February 24, 1978, in Osaka as Terachi Shinya. (てらち しんや).
