I'm feeling quite emotional right now as I'm listening to certain songs that has played a huge role in my life. I guess I have mentioned this in a lot of posts in the past, but there's this certain group that has saved me a lot when I was in one of my darkest times. It's a J-pop group called NEWS.
Originally with 9 members, they slowly got smaller and smaller and now there are only 3 members left. As for me, I became a fan around 2009 when there were 6 members and that group was really special for me.
That was the year when I had to temporarily quit the university to recover after a surgery. Feeling left out, I found solace in music... particularly NEWS' music. Despite it being in Japanese, it didn't matter. Music transcends beyond language. Alongside anime, Japanese music encouraged me to learn the language that time. (And I have to get back to it soon. Now that it's much easier to listen to their music again.)
In the past, it was a struggle for international fans to watch their MVs and even listen to their songs. We relied on Japanese fans uploading them in LJ and as for the MVs, I heavily relied on JpopAsia (a music website I used to frequent back then).
When they announced that they're going to sell their concert DVD in the Philippines, it was only in the capital. I was sad at first, but I got lucky since it so happened that my father had to go to Manila to process some documents and he got me this. This is extra special since it's the last concert the six-member NEWS had.
End of 2010 when the 6-member NEWS I love so much turned into a 4-member group. It was sad at first, but life goes on. These are the members who were left that time. I cried a lot after watching their first concert with just 4 members.
And in 2020, my favorite member Tegoshi Yuya (whose name is half of my virtual name) left the group and decided to have a solo career. Despite that, I still support Tegoshi as well as the remaining 3 members of the current NEWS.
VIDEO SOURCE
Above is Tegoshi Yuya singing his original song during one of his concerts. He recently announced another concert tour this year, too. He's been thriving as a solo artist and as a YouTuber. I'm just really glad he continued making music and performing. His voice is still among the best for me. <3
VIDEO SOURCE
Around May of this year, the 3-member NEWS also created a YouTube channel. It's really good for the international fans as it's much easier to see their updates nowadays. In the past, they didn't have any social media accounts, so mostly Japanese fans gave us updates.
NEWS SPOTIFY PAGE
And since it's NEWS' 21st anniversary today, they finally decided to upload their songs on various music platforms including Spotify. I checked their page a while ago and there were a bunch of their music there.
At first, I was just expecting songs from the current NEWS, but no... this is what made me the happiest!
NEWS DISCOGRAPHY on Spotify
They got all their Singles and EPs way back 9-member NEWS. I'm going to create a playlist after making this post. I heard they're also uploading albums in the coming days, so I'm hopeful they'd include the old ones as well.
Despite it being their birthday, they're the ones giving this special gift to their fans. I'm just glad that I could easily listen to their songs again. (Though I've kept copies of these on my HD.. shhh! haha)
I just hope someday, they'd also include the old MVs on their YouTube channel... and I'm hoping to hear songs from their sub-unit TegoMasu again. Anyway, my heart is happy!
Thanks for reading and see you around! (^^,)/