Boøwy (pron: bóui) was a Japanese rock group consisting of Kyosuke Himuro (vocals), Tomoyasu Hotei (guitar), Tsunematsu Matsui (bass) and Makoto Takahashi (drums). They were a rock band that reached legendary status in Japan during the 1980s. In 1988, they became the first male artists to have three albums to reach number-one within one year in the Japan's Oricon charts history. Their style of play varied from punk to pop rock and they had fans of all ages. The 1990s band movement was credited to Boøwy as they popularized the formation of musical groups, which caused musical instrument sales to hit an all-time high during the 90s and the record companies signed and debuted 80 bands during the 90s in hopes of finding a new Boøwy.