With the new millennium just around the corner, music label giant avex trax organized the audition contest avex dream 2000 in search of fresh talent. Out of the thousands of girls who tried out for the contest, only three were chosen: Matsumuro Mai, Tachibana Kana, and Hasebe Yu; three young women with extraordinary voices who would become avex's dream.
dream quickly broke out into the music industry; they released their debut single, Movin' on, on January 1, 2000, and it ranked number 15 on the Oricon charts. No less successful was their second single Heart on Wave, which was released two months after Movin' on and also ranked in the Top 15. Within the year, dream had churned out a total of six singles, all of which landed on the music charts, and a remix album SUPER EUROBEAT presents EURO dream land. The most successful of the first year's releases was their sixth single, My Will, which hit stores in November 2000, to rank at number six on the Oricon Charts with 105,000 copies sold; it was also chosen as an ending theme to the popular anime series "Inuyasha."
With a solid debut year behind them, dream's debut album Dear... made its way into music stores at the end of February of 2001, and the rising pop group continued to produce hits throughout the year and into 2002. By mid 2002, they had released seven more singles, two of which were opening and ending themes for the anime "Hikaru no Go," totaling thirteen singles since their debut, and another full-length album, Process. However, it was with the release of their thirteenth single, SINCERELY ~ever dream~ that Matsumuro Mai announced her decision to leave the group to pursue a solo career.
Fans were startled by the news, but by the time Matsumuro Mai's graduation took place in July 2002, a first greatest hits album titled eternal dream had been released, and there were six new members of dream waiting and ready to fill the large gap that Matsumuro's departure would undoubtedly leave behind. The "re-debut" drew many comparisons to Hello! Project, but the new line up, now consisting of the original two members of dream, and the new girls Yamamoto Sayaka, Ai Risa, Takamoto Aya, Nishiida Shizuka, Nakashima Ami, and Erie Abe worked quickly to convince both new and old fans that they, too, were not "just another idol group," but dream, with the release of MUSIC IS MY THING in February of 2003. The group continued to produce several more well-received albums and singles, a few of which contained songs that would find their ways into anime series as opening and closing themes, or image songs.
In 2004, almost three weeks after the release of their fourth album, ID, another member of dream, Ai Risa, graduated to pursue a solo career. No auditions were held to replace her, but the remaining seven members persevered in fulfilling their "dream" throughout the remainder of 2004 and 2005, coming out with several more singles, two greatest hits compilations, two mini-albums, a cover album, as well as a few DVDs.
dream also branched out into other areas in 2005. As a group, they competed as TEAM dream in the Football Sphere League. Meanwhile, members Hasebe Yu and Yamamoto Sayaka simultaneously worked with dream and their own solo careers. However, one could say that the pursuit of solo activities slowed dream's musical output. The year 2006 was relatively quiet, with the exception of a special seventh anniversary song written by Matsumuro Mai that was created for their 7th Anniversary Best album and performed at their anniversary concert at Zepp Tokyo.
In mid 2007, dream's musical activities picked up again, and hoping to shed their idol image and reflect the group's maturity and development, the group renamed itself DRM. Two days after the name change, on June 27, the group released its first mini-album as DRM. The self-titled mini-album and following works as DRM — four digital singles in 2008, each released on the seventh day of every month beginning in January — showed off a distinctly more mature sound, while retaining the optimistic pop elements that made them successful in the beginning.
Since releasing their most recent single to you in April 2008, the group has had yet another line up and name change in the advent of the departure one of the "first generation" member, Hasebe Yu, to pursue her acting career. The remaining six girls, Yamamoto Sayaka, Takamoto Aya, Tachibana Kana, Nishiida Shizuka, Abe Erie, and Nakashima Ami, renamed themselves Dream in July of 2008.
The remaining girls continued, and in fall 2008 they worked together with the popular band EXILE. They recorded the song Love, Dream & Happiness along with the PV for EXILE's album, EXILE BALLAD BEST.
After a long silence, Dream finally announced the release of a new single titled Perfect Girls for September 2009.
Dream toured again in 2010. They held lives in May and performed as support members alongside EXILE during the EXILE LIVE TOUR 2010 "FANTASY” in July. They also recorded their latest singles, which were released in late summer, this time under avex sub-label rhythm zone. At the end of the year a new promotion tour for the latest album release consisting of 14 concerts was announced, titled Dream LIVE TOUR 2010~2011 “Hands Up!”.
A few days after the conclusion of the tour, Kana, the last member of the first generation, graduated. The remaining five girls focused on lives and modeling, also taking part in the a-nation summer tour.
Though their activities are few, they will hopefully deliver more crowd-pleasing pop tunes for their eagerly awaiting fans in the near future!
Dream's history began in 1999 when a group of three young women with extraordinary voices were selected out of thousands of girls in a talent contest held by avex trax.
Since its beginnings, Dream has expanded and grown in terms of its line up which currently consists of five girls, its name which went from dream to DRM to Dream, and the diversity of their music, going from basic pop to a more eclectic and mature pop sound that mixes elements of eurobeat, dance, and rock.
