On May 29, legendary Japanese band GLAY celebrated their 30th anniversary with the release of their single “whodunit” featuring ENHYPEN member JAY. Then, on June 9, JAY made a surprise appearance at GLAY’s 30th-anniversary GLAY EXPO 2024–2025 concert, proving that music possesses the power to transcend generations. We asked GLAY members TERU (vocals), HISASHI (guitar), JIRO (bass), and TAKURO (guitar), along with ENHYPEN member JAY, for their thoughts on their shared single.

“whodunit” brings together a band celebrating their 30th anniversary and a member of a K-pop group celebrating its fifth. What were your first impressions of each other?
JAY: I already knew about GLAY from their legendary GLAY EXPO ’99 SURVIVAL LIVE in MAKUHARI concert. I thought it was an exhilarating performance, seeing that huge audience there and the band playing their very best songs from the time. I’ve always had a ton of respect for those legendary bands that have been at it forever. I always thought of them as one of the dream teams.

JIRO: The first time I heard ENHYPEN’s songs was on Apple Music. I thought they were great. Then I got a chance to see them perform, and I was blown away by how energetic it was and by how charismatic all the members were. JAY, in particular, felt like he had this absolutely unflinching aura about him, so when TAKURO said, “What would you think about doing a collaboration with JAY?” I said, “He’ll be perfect for GLAY!” right away.

TAKURO: For our 30th anniversary, I wanted to get a singer who could keep up with TERU to put out some exhilarating new rock music. We looked all around the world for four or five years but couldn’t find anyone who fit what I had in mind. Then somebody I know said to me, “There’s this guy, JAY, in a group called ENHYPEN, who likes guitar and rock, who was born in the US and is good at Japanese, too. He was born to be a star.” And then, after I listened to ENHYPEN’s songs and their collab with Japanese musician Yuuri, I realized how surprising this could be, and felt like he could add something special to GLAY.

 

On May 29, legendary Japanese band GLAY celebrated their 30th anniversary with the release of their single “whodunit” featuring ENHYPEN member JAY. Then, on June 9, JAY made a surprise appearance at GLAY’s 30th-anniversary GLAY EXPO 2024–2025 concert, proving that music possesses the power to transcend generations. We asked GLAY members TERU (vocals), HISASHI (guitar), JIRO (bass), and TAKURO (guitar), along with ENHYPEN member JAY, for their thoughts on their shared single.

“whodunit” brings together a band celebrating their 30th anniversary and a member of a K-pop group celebrating its fifth. What were your first impressions of each other?
JAY: I already knew about GLAY from their legendary GLAY EXPO ’99 SURVIVAL LIVE in MAKUHARI concert. I thought it was an exhilarating performance, seeing that huge audience there and the band playing their very best songs from the time. I’ve always had a ton of respect for those legendary bands that have been at it forever. I always thought of them as one of the dream teams.

JIRO: The first time I heard ENHYPEN’s songs was on Apple Music. I thought they were great. Then I got a chance to see them perform, and I was blown away by how energetic it was and by how charismatic all the members were. JAY, in particular, felt like he had this absolutely unflinching aura about him, so when TAKURO said, “What would you think about doing a collaboration with JAY?” I said, “He’ll be perfect for GLAY!” right away.

TAKURO: For our 30th anniversary, I wanted to get a singer who could keep up with TERU to put out some exhilarating new rock music. We looked all around the world for four or five years but couldn’t find anyone who fit what I had in mind. Then somebody I know said to me, “There’s this guy, JAY, in a group called ENHYPEN, who likes guitar and rock, who was born in the US and is good at Japanese, too. He was born to be a star.” And then, after I listened to ENHYPEN’s songs and their collab with Japanese musician Yuuri, I realized how surprising this could be, and felt like he could add something special to GLAY.

TERU: I first got familiar with JAY’s vocals after TAKURO recommended him. JIRO told me something like two years ago that ENHYPEN’s really cool, and I watched a lot of their music videos after that, but who could’ve guessed we would get to sing with him? (laughs)

Lots of people really seem to love the single you recorded together, “whodunit.”
JIRO: I just want to say how grateful we are not only to GLAY’s loyal fans but also to ENGENE around the world for saying such flattering things, and how thankful we are that we were able to connect with him through music.

TAKURO: There’s been such a massive response worldwide that it’s actually startling. It sounds like a lot of it’s coming from longtime fans of ENHYPEN and JAY. It was really fun working with JAY, but I was nervous about how fans would respond. I’m really grateful for their warm reception.

TERU: I was so pleased how kind and open ENHYPEN fans have been towards us. One comment on social media that stuck with me was, “Thank you for choosing JAY,” but we’re the ones who should be saying thanks!

HISASHI: We got a whole outpouring of messages saying thanks. I found out everyone knows JAY is both a singer and a lover of guitars and rock. When I saw how many fans like that JAY has, I realized just how loved he is.