King Gnu

Awards & Honours

Awards Won

Honours

Rankings

Covers

Records

King Gnu holds several notable records in Japanese music. They are the first artist in Oricon history to have three consecutive studio albums debut at number one. Their single "Hakujitsu" was the first song by a Japanese rock band to surpass 300 million streams on Spotify Japan. The music video for "SPECIALZ" reached 100 million views in 45 days, the fastest for a Japanese rock band. Their 2023 dome tour sold over 200,000 tickets across eight shows. The band was named Billboard Japan Hot 100 Artist of the Year in 2020 and 2023, ranking in the top three every year since 2020.

AwardsKing Gnu has won multiple Japan Record Awards, including Best Album for CEREMONY in 2020. They received the Grand Prize at the CD Shop Awards for Sympa in 2020. Their music videos have won Best Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan for "Chameleon" (2022) and "SPECIALZ" (2023). The band has also been recognized with Best 5 Albums at the Japan Gold Disc Award for all three studio albums.

Honours & Distinctions

Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology·2023

Awarded to Daiki Tsuneta for his work with King Gnu and Millennium Parade.

Japan Music Hall of Fame Induction

Japan Music Hall of Fame·2024

Inducted into the virtual hall of fame by music critics.

Rankings & Lists

Billboard Japan Hot 100 Artist of the Year

Billboard Japan·2023

NME's 25 Best Asian Albums of 2022

NME·2022

Billboard Japan Hot 100 Artist of the Year

Billboard Japan·2022

TIME Magazine's 10 Best Songs of 2021

TIME·2021

Billboard Japan Hot 100 Artist of the Year

Billboard Japan·2021

#12

Rolling Stone Japan's 100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums

Rolling Stone Japan·2020

Billboard Japan Hot 100 Artist of the Year

Billboard Japan·2020

Magazine Covers

Rolling Stone Japan

April 2019

King Gnu: The New Kings of Japanese Rock

Billboard Japan

February 2020

King Gnu's CEREMONY: A Milestone in Japanese Music

GQ Japan

January 2023

King Gnu: Redefining the Boundaries of Music and Fashion

NME

December 2022

King Gnu: Japan's Most Exciting Band is Ready for the World

Records & Feats

First Japanese rock band to surpass 300 million streams on Spotify Japan

Streaming·2023

Hakujitsu became the first song by a Japanese rock band to reach 300 million streams on Spotify Japan.

First artist in Oricon history to have three consecutive albums debut at #1

Historic First·2022

Sympa, CEREMONY, and THE GREATEST UNKNOWN all debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart.

Fastest music video to reach 100 million views for a Japanese rock band

YouTube Record·2023

SPECIALZ music video reached 100 million views in 45 days.

Over 200,000 tickets sold for dome tour

Touring·2023

The 2023 Dome Tour THE GREATEST UNKNOWN sold over 200,000 tickets across 8 shows.