Ateez
Ateez, is a South Korean boy group formed by KQ Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho. They debuted on October 24, 2018 with the extended play .
History
2018: Pre-debut and ''Treasure EP.1''
Prior to their debut, Ateez were called KQ Fellaz after their label, KQ Entertainment. KQ Entertainment released a YouTube series, KQ Fellaz American Training in which they traveled to Los Angeles, California to train. During this show, KQ Entertainment introduced a ninth member to the trainee group, Lee Junyoung. Together, they composed and choreographed a song, produced by the leader Hongjoong, and trained at dance studios Movement Lifestyle and Millennium Dance Complex. Yunho was also featured in one of Millennium's dance videos. The group released their first performance video on May 18. Through this release, KQ Entertainment announced that trainee Lee Junyoung would not join the final debut team. For the finale of the YouTube series, KQ Fellaz released the song, "From", on July 3, 2018.Following the YouTube Series, KQ Entertainment announced KQ Fellaz's reality show on June 26, 2018, with the first of three teasers. The second teaser was released on July 3, in which they introduced the official name for the group: Ateez. Hence, the reality show was ultimately called Code Name is Ateez. The third teaser was uploaded on July 13, showcasing the show's opening title. The show premiered on the Korean broadcasting media Mnet on July 20.
On October 2, 2018, through their official SNS, Ateez released a teaser photo announcing their debut date. Additionally, it provided of the date and location of their debut showcase: October 24 in Yes24 Livehall. Following this announcement, they sequentially uploaded teaser photos from October 8 to October 23. On October 24, 2018, Ateez released their debut EP, . Alongside the release of the album were music videos for titles tracks, "Pirate King" and "Treasure". The album reached #7 on the Gaon Albums Chart. The group held their debut showcase on the same day. Their first music show performance was on October 25 on Mnet's M Countdown.
2019: ''Treasure EP.2'', ''Treasure EP.3'', ''Treasure EP.Fin'', The Expedition Tour and debut in Japan
On January 2, Ateez released an image through their official SNS with Morse code as the caption. They later confirmed their comeback EP, ', on January 3 with a follow up teaser. On January 15, they released Treasure EP.2: Zero to One alongside the music video for the lead single "Say My Name". The performance video of "Hala Hala " was released on February 7. On January 24, they announced their first ever tour, titled The Expedition Tour, with March tour dates in Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. All dates were sold out.On February 20, they announced more tour dates for Europe, with April shows in London, Lisbon, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Milan, Budapest, Stockholm, Warsaw, and Moscow. All shows were reported to be sold out.
On May 9, the music video for "Promise" was released. On May 17, Ateez performed at KCON 2019 Japan in Chiba, Japan.
On June 5, Ateez announced their first tour of Australia, titled The Expedition Tour In Australia, with shows scheduled in Melbourne on August 9 at Margaret Court Arena and Sydney on August 11 at The Big Top Sydney. The band released their third EP, ' on June 10. The lead single from the EP, "Wave", was selected via a fan vote. On the same day, the music video of "Wave" and "Illusion" were released. On June 20, Ateez won their first music program broadcast award on M Countdown. On June 25, they won their second music program broadcast award, 1st Place The Show Choice Winner on The Show.
On July 6, Ateez performed at KCON 2019 NY in New York City, USA. On July 8, the music video for "Aurora" was released. Aurora was written, composed and produced by leader Hongjoong. On August 16, Ateez participated in and performed at KCON Rookies, which was part of KCON LA.
On August 17, Ateez performed at the KCON 2019 concert in Los Angeles. On August 19, Ateez also performed at the KCON LA After Party. On August 20, Ateez received their first music award Best Performance Award at Soribada Awards 2019.
On September 18, Ateez announced their comeback with . A series of photo and video teasers were released for the album. They performed at KCON Thailand on September 29.
On October 4, Ateez performed at Spotify On Stage 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia. On October 6, they performed at Seoul Music Festival. On October 8, Ateez released their first full studio album, Treasure EP.Fin: All to Action. The music video of the title song "Wonderland" was also released on the same day. They performed at Busan One Asia Festival on October 20.
On November 2, Ateez performed at Jindai Festa in Yokohama, Japan. On November 10, the MV of Ateez's Japanese debut title song "Utopia" was released.
On December 4, Ateez performed at Mnet Asian Music Awards 2019 in Nagoya, Japan, where they received Worldwide Fan Choice top 10 award. On the same day, Ateez released their Japanese debut album Treasure EP.Extra: Shift the Map.
On December 13, Ateez were announced as the new MCs of Japanese program Kang On! Box!! The show first aired on January 7, 2020, and ran for 13 episodes through April 7.
2020–present: ''Treasure Epilogue'', The Fellowship Tour and ''Zero: Fever Part.1''
On January 6, Ateez released their fourth EP, , the final part of the Treasure series. The MV for their title track "Answer" was released on the same day. The Japanese MV version of "Answer" was released on January 29.Ateez’s The Fellowship: Map the Treasure tour was scheduled to begin in Seoul in February, proceeding to 7 cities in Europe in March 2020, as well as 2 Japanese cities and 5 US cities in April. The Seoul tour dates were held as planned on February 8–9. However due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic the European, Japanese, and US tour dates had been indefinitely postponed. Several stops including Amsterdam, Madrid and Moscow had previously been reported to be sold out since January.
On April 14, Ateez announced the “Stay With ATEEZ” cover dance event on their official SNS. The resulting video was released on April 24 ahead of Ateez’s Twitter Blueroom Live appearance.
On April 17, Ateez performed their pre-debut song “From” on Music Bank as a special stage.
On May 8, The Korean Culture and Information Service, an affiliate of the Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Tourism, named Ateez as their 2020 promotional ambassador. In this role, Ateez will promote Korean culture abroad. To kick off their ambassadorship, Ateez participated in the “Overcome Together” relay challenge to encourage safe habits for avoiding COVID-19.
On May 30, Ateez held a free online fan party titled “Crescent Party” on V Live. There were 1.4million recorded views during the live event.
At Music Bank Mid-year special on June 26, Ateez performed "Answer" and a cover of BTS’ “On”. On the same day, Ateez attended the final day of KCON:TACT 2020. Ateez performed both the opening and closing stages, and also held a virtual meet-and-greet with fans.
On July 4, Ateez released a promotion schedule for their new EP Zero: Fever Part 1.
On July 12, Ateez announced a voting event to choose the promotion track for their upcoming album. The fan voting period ran from July 14–21, beginning with instrumental and storyline previews uploaded on July 13. Audio previews of the two tracks, "Inception" and "Thanxx", were released on July 14, followed by performance preview videos on July 17. A series of video clips showcasing celebrity voting began releasing on July 17. The title track was announced on July 28 at ATEEZ Air Con, an online comeback showcase. The following day, July 29 at 6PM KST, Ateez released their fifth EP, Zero: Fever Part 1 with "Inception" as the chosen title track.
Members
List of members names and positions.- Kim Hong-joong, leader, rap, composition
- Park Seong-hwa, vocal
- Jeong Yun-ho, performance, vocal
- Kang Yeo-sang, vocal, performance
- Choi San, vocal
- Song Min-gi, rap, performance
- Jung Woo-young, performance, vocal
- Choi Jong-ho, main vocal
Discography