B'z change their tour and supporting members frequently. Yet collaborators often pop up again and again, now on an album, now in the latest LiveGym; and many have impressive accomplishments on the side. Of course there are some mainstays, like keyboardist Masuda Takanobu, who has known Tak for twenty years.

These days, Tak selects the touring bassist, while Koshi chooses the touring drummer. B'z enjoy collaborating with talents from all over the world and their grasp of English makes working together no problem.

There are many guest collaborators on B'z CDS, so this section will focus mostly on members who have toured. For a thorough list, see Kumagoro's Members section here.

Masao Akashi: Bassist, co-arranger
Watch him in: Just Another Life ~ he sings a bit of Safety Love!(1991), Live Ripper (1993), BUZZ! the movie (1995)

Sporting trademark oversized glasses, Masao Akashi was one of B'z earliest comrades and toured extensively with them. Then he got busy producing the successful (and now retired) band Siam Shade. Interestingly enough, Masao is also the man behind many of the songs of Johnny's group V6. What versatility! The ties between Masao and B'z are still strong though ~ he helped out on Koshi's first solo album Magma and also on B'z works as recent as ELEVEN and UBU. Masao's 1991 Z'b moniker was Chucky Kokeshi.

Akihito Tokunaga: Bassist/programmer and Takanobu Masuda: Keyboard
Watch Toku-chan in: Once Upon a Time in Yokohama's (1999) bonus Swimmer Yo! from the 1998 Survive tour, Typhoon No. 15 (2004), 1998 and 2003 TV lives.
Watch Masuda-san in: Pretty much everything after 1991, Survive tour excepted.

32 yr. old Toku-chan first started working with B'z in 1997 ~ on Calling. Since then, he's done a lot with B'z in the studio, but he doesn't get much screen time and has only done 2 tours. He'll be in his first complete B'z concert video in the upcoming Typhoon No. 15. (Yay!) A sometime writer of hits for Kuraki Mai and ZARD, Toku-chan has his own page on this site ~ because I felt, well, he's kind of never in the spotlight, and he deserves some attention! Here it is: Toku-chan's section.

Meanwhile, Masuda-san has seen plenty of the spotlight. He is almost always on keyboard for all B'z lives ~ and you can see his fashion style evolve since 1992 on all the videos. Ha. For his ZERO intro, Masuda-san always has a huge grin and sometimes he really gets bopping to the music. A steady and familiar presence ~ I can't imagine anyone else on keyboard for B'z. Masuda-san even got to sing a little when B'z did their Z'b live a long time ago; and read hentai fan letters supposedly written to him.

Kaichi Kurose: Drums
Watch Kaichi in: Once Upon a Time in Yokohama (1999), The True Meaning of Brotherhood ~ he tries to sing Koshi's Tokumade here (2000), Tak's Go Further PV

Born 1.3.1969 in Tokyo, Kaichi is he of the flying hair who walks around topless most of the time, on or offstage. Facts we know about Kaichi: His drawing of Mickey Mouse looks like a rat corpse; his favorite drummer is Terry Bozzio; his favorite B'z songs are Mienai Chikara and YOU & I; he thinks the most difficult B'z song is L<3VE ME; B'z call him Kurose; he can''t even buy cigarettes without the vendor asking him to obtain B'z autographs; and he has since cut his hair and formed a band called Flower with fellow B'z support member Showtaro Mitsuzono. Oh, and he has really girly handwriting for someone who likes to act macho (lots of loops and hearts!). Thanks to Keen for donating the Kaichi sketch (she loves her Kaichi). =)

Shane Gaalaas: Drums
Watch Shane in: A Beautiful Reel (2002), Rock N' California Roll documentary (2002), Banzai in North America documentary (2003), Typhoon No. 15 (2004)

Canadian Shane, prominently featured in ABR, is enthusiastic in his enjoyment of working with B'z. Since working on the GREEN album and touring the summer of 2002, he has continued his gig as B'z drummer, both in the recording studio and in LiveGym. In his recent debut album in Japan, he even sang Hadashi no Megami in Japanese, while his Japanese sensei Koshi played blues harp on another number. 178 Sensei? Oh yes. Watch ABR or head over to the Once Upon section to read about that episode.

Billy Sheehan: Bass
Watch Billy in: A Beautiful Reel (2002), Rock N' California Roll (2002)

Formerly of Mr. Big, Billy and Pat Torpey (Mr. Big drummer) first worked with B'z (I think) on Giri Giri Chop version 51 for the Brotherhood album. They performed this on Music Station in 1999. Billy also played on Tak's Go Further and apparently has collaborated with Namie Amuro. Mr. Sheehan went on to take up duties during the 2002 GO FIGHT WIN and Cali Roll tours, which, like Shane, he enjoyed immensely. There's no doubt Billy brought a certain flashy pizzazz with him. After the last concert in Japan, Billy went back to Los Angeles and got to "see his kitty cat." I tread carefully here, for I do not know much about bassists, but Billy is a highly respected performer. Visit his website at www.billysheehan.com.

Yoko Hiromoto (aka Mambo): Keyboard
Watch her in: Just Another Life (1991)

Yoko is the only female supporting member in the history of B'z. She was originally part of a band called NONSECT. She toured with old school B'z, but Masuda-san took over after 1991. In any case, her ruffled minidresses, permed hair, and bopping moves complemented Tak's hardcore mullets and Koshi's 80s style suits very well. Yoko-san always looked very tolerant of the boys. During a Z'b concert (everyone had a silly nickname and Yoko's was Mambo), she had to put up with a skit where Tak played a rose-twirling detective searching for Mambo's missing lingerie. Yoko disclosed that Tak was "sugoii yasashii," whereas Koshi had a tendency to absent-mindedly space out during conversations. In Just Another Life, we see Tak trying to steal a kiss from Yoko, but his efforts were in vain, for Mambo married B'z first drummer, Kaoru Abe, and is still happily married to him today! She recently wrote a book. More pics of old school backstage goodness to come.

Showtaro Mitsuzono: Bass
Watch him in: Once Upon a Time in Yokohama (1999); The True Meaning of Brotherhood (2000)

Showtaro is best known, I think, for burning himself into fan's memories by setting his bass on fire during his solo in Once Upon a Time. Lanky and with an afro, he stomped around crazily on stage with his smoking instrument. Pretty flashy trick. Anyways, there is lots of Showtaro in the True Meaning video if you want to study him. Like Kaichi, he has since cut his hair and formed the band Flower (thought they seem to have changed it to Flow-war recently)...with Kaichi.

Denny hasn't been spotted in any B'z-related activities in a while. He first worked with B'z on 1995's phenomenally successful Love Phantom single and toured for both 1995's BUZZ! tour and 1996's Spirit Loose tour. You can check out Denny's extensive list of activities at www.dennyfongheiser.com.

Barry Sparks: Bass
Watch Barry in: So far, only the Banzai documentary (2003)

Barry is the latest newcomer. He started touring with B'z for their 2003 Banzai in North America lives and continued through the year-end BIG MACHINE Dome concerts. We don't know whether he'll return or whether he'll be in the next B'z album yet, but in Banzai he seemed to be buddies with Shane and a laidback kind of guy, which of course meant he got along just fine with Tak and Koshi. In Banzai, he was also spotted singing bg vocals avidly, like the ending of MOTEL. He recently opened a Japanese version of his official website, so...maybe we'll be seeing more of him? www.barrysparks.com.

Naoko Iijima
Listen to Naoko: The gasp at the end of Fushidara 100% (Love Phantom single 1995; The Mixture)

Hm. Ok Naoko-san technically isn't a supporting member, nor has she ever toured. She is a well-known actress in Japan. Less well known is the fact that she was part of a B'z cover band, W-Nao, consisting of 2 female members. I think W-Nao was officially sanctioned by Being Co. Anyway, Naoko is obviously a great fan. Check out the W-NAO section here.