Kenshi Yonezu’s ‘IRIS OUT’ is being put forward for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2027 Grammys, potentially giving a Japanese anime song its first nomination in the category. The theme for Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is also entered for Best Asian Pop Music Performance, a new award making its debut in 2027.
No song written for a Japanese anime production has appeared among the category’s nominees since it was first presented in 1988, including under its previous names. The award recognises songwriting rather than the film itself.
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Released digitally on September 15th, 2025, four days before the film opened in Japanese cinemas, ‘IRIS OUT’ became the fastest song to reach 100 million streams on both Oricon’s and Billboard JAPAN’s streaming charts, achieving the milestone in four chart weeks. It also reached No. 5 on the Billboard Global 200, setting a record for a Japanese-language song. By June 3rd, 2026, it had passed 500 million cumulative streams on Oricon’s chart.
The song went on to win Best J-Pop Song and all four regional Best Japanese Song awards at MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2026, as well as Best Anime Song at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards on May 23rd. ‘IRIS OUT’ also won Song of the Year by Streaming in the Japanese music category at the 40th Japan Gold Disc Awards.
It is not the first Chainsaw Man theme to break new ground for Yonezu in the US. ‘KICK BACK’, the opening theme of the 2022 TV series, became the first Japanese-language song certified Platinum by the RIAA in September 2025.
First-round voting runs from October 12th to 22nd, 2026, with nominations announced on November 16th. The 69th Grammys take place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 7th, 2027.
Kenshi Yonezu
IRIS OUT / JANE DOE
Release Date: 24/09/2025
Label: Sony Music Labels
Stream: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music
CD: Regular | Limited | Limited w/DVD
About Kenshi Yonezu
Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and illustrator from Tokushima who started out in the online Vocaloid scene. Posting to Niconico as Hachi from 2009, he gained a following with songs such as 'Matryoshka' and 'Panda Hero', drawing the artwork for their videos himself. On 'diorama', his 2012 debut under his own name, he handled the writing, arranging, programming, instruments, vocals, and mixing himself, and drew its cover art. After his major-label debut with 'Santa Maria' in 2013, Yonezu released 'YANKEE' (2014), 'Bremen' (2015), 'BOOTLEG' (2017), 'STRAY SHEEP' (2020), and 'LOST CORNER' (2024). 'Lemon', written for the 2018 TV drama Unnatural, topped Billboard JAPAN's year-end Hot 100 in both 2018 and 2019, and 'STRAY SHEEP' was Oricon's best-selling album of 2020. Songs he has written and produced for others include Foorin's 'Paprika', winner of the grand prize at the 2019 Japan Record Awards, and Masaki Suda's 'Machigai Sagashi'. He returned to the Hachi name in 2017 for 'Suna no Wakusei', the theme for Hatsune Miku's Magical Mirai concerts that year. Theme songs have become a major part of his career, from 'Peace Sign' for My Hero Academia (2017) and 'KICK BACK' for Chainsaw Man (2022) to 'Spinning Globe' for Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron and 'Tsuki Wo Miteita - Moongazing' for FINAL FANTASY XVI (both 2023). 'KICK BACK' became the first Japanese-language song certified Gold by the RIAA in 2023 and the first to go Platinum in 2025, with 'Peace Sign' reaching Gold in 2026. His 2025 theme for Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, 'IRIS OUT', reached No. 5 on the Billboard Global 200, setting a record for a Japanese-language song. In 2025, his JUNK world tour took him to Europe and the US for the first time, with shows in London, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. Illustration has run alongside the music from the start. He draws the artwork for many of his releases, and his ROCKIN'ON JAPAN series of imaginary monsters was collected in the 2016 book Kaiju Zukan.
