Boyfriend (band)


Boyfriend was a South Korean boy group formed by Starship Entertainment in 2011. They are the first boy group to have twin members. The group consists of Kim Donghyun, Shim Hyunseong, Lee Jeongmin, Jo Youngmin, Jo Kwangmin, and No Minwoo. They debuted on Mnet's M!Countdown on May 26, 2011 with "Boyfriend". Starship Entertainment announced that Boyfriend disbanded on May 17, 2019.

History

Pre-debut

Jo Youngmin and Jo Kwangmin were trained under JYP Entertainment for two years. By their 100th day mark of being child actors, the twins had appeared in over 300 commercials. During his high school years, Donghyun starred in a variety show Conduct Zero where six rebellious high school students were made into exemplary students.

2011: Debut

On May 26, 2011, Starship Entertainment released their debut single "Boyfriend". In response to fans concerned that the group had limited its appeal in mid-July, Boyfriend changed their choreography for their single "Boyfriend" when appearing on music shows after rehearsing for two days. After ending their promotions for "Boyfriend", the group followed-up with the song "You & I", which received a more positive response from music critics.
On October 6, Boyfriend's second single, "Don't Touch My Girl", was released. Their December 2011 single "I'll Be There" peaked at #2 on the Gaon music charts.

2012: ''Love Style'', Japanese debut and ''Janus''

The group signed a contract with Japanese management agency 'Being', their first Japanese special album entitled "We Are Boyfriend" was released on June 6. They marked their debut with a 10,000 seat showcase on June 30 at the Nippon Budokan. On May 2, Hyunseong released a solo song, "Only You", for the OST of The King 2 Hearts.
Their debut Japanese single song is called "Be my Shine". On June 7, Boyfriend released their first mini album "Love Style" on 14 June 2012. On July 1, Boyfriend successfully completed their debut Japanese showcase ‘First Date with Boyfriend in Japan‘ at the Nippon Budokan.
Aside from their domestic comeback, on the 7th, Boyfriend released the short PVs for their 2nd Japanese ‘double single’ "Dance Dance Dance" and "My Lady". Their first full-length album Janus was released in November 2012.
In December 3, Boyfriend released the PV’s for their Japanese ‘double single’ "Dance Dance Dance" and "My Lady". The boys held a high touch event in celebration of their second single album, ‘Kimi to Dance Dance Dance/My Lady‘, on December 1 and 2 at the Kobe World Hall and the Saitama Super Arena. Boyfriend performed for their 1st solo Japanese concert entitled "Love Communication 2012 ~Xmas Bell~". They held 5 concerts at the Tokyo Dome City Hall from December 22 to 24 with a total of 12,500 fans in all.
KBS Joy released a video teaser for Boyfriend's Hello Baby season 7 released on December 27. The members started shooting for the reality series this December, and the first broadcast is planned for January 4 of 2013 at 11PM KST.

2013: ''I Yah'', On & On, ''Melody of Eyes'', Seventh Mission and ''Pinky Santa''

Boyfriend will become the first foreign artist to sing for the anime. Their song, "Hitomi no Melody", is the title song of their 3rd Japanese single album, which will be released on March 27. The song has been picked up as the ending theme song for ‘Detective Conan’, and as such, there will be a ‘Detective Conan’ album version in addition to the regular album versions.
Melody of Eyes makes to top 5 for 6 days and their highest ranked is 2nd place on Oricon.
On 23 May, Starship Entertainment officially announced that Boyfriend will be making a comeback with a new digital single entitled On & On on the 28th as a surprise gift for celebrating the group's second anniversary in music industry. Starship Entertainment released a music video teaser on 27th and on the next day they released their official music video. On 30th, Boyfriend's Donghyun has been cast to play the lead male role in musical "1000th Man." The musical will be first presented at Shibuya AiiA Theater Tokyo on 28 September 2013. On 14 June, Jeongmin was rushed to a hospital after they had done their schedule in Japan, it was diagnosed as an acute appendicitis and will need to rest for 17 days after discharge in treatment. Jeongmin will be at home resting and focus on recovering", he will be taking a break from Boyfriend activities and Boyfriend will continue to promote as 5 members and follow their schedule during this period. Boyfriend released a special Xmas premium single in Japan on 20 November this year. The single is entitled 'Pinky Santa' which obviously utilizes color pink, but pinky also means the smallest finger which is used when promising. Pinky Santa landed on the Weekly Single Chart which rose to number 5 in Oricon.

2014: ''Obsession'', ''Witch'' and ''Bewitch concert''

Boyfriend has successfully wrapped up their solo concert in Puerto Rico, becoming the first-ever K-pop group to do so. On March 8, the group performed in front of 1,700 fans at the 'Centro De Bellas Artes Luis A Ferre'. Boyfriend also performed in the United States for the first time. They went to Chicago on March 11 and Dallas on March 13.
On March 26, 2014, Boyfriend released their 4th Japanese Single "My Avatar" together with a music video.
On May 15, 2014, they posted selcas while they're shooting for their music video. The members of Boyfriend are giving hints for their long-awaited Korean comeback this year. On May 21, 2014, a short trailer was posted on their official YouTube channel. Boyfriend's second Korean EP, Obsession, was released on June 4. The EP contains new six tracks, with the title track "Alarm".
On July 23, Boyfriend's second Japanese album, Seventh Color was released. The album also released in three version.
On October 9, Boyfriend began their comeback stage with new track, "Witch" on M Countdown. Their third Korean EP, Witch, was released on October 13. The EP contains six tracks, include their second anniversary single "On&On" previously released in 2013. They held their first domestic concert, The First Chapter in Seoul "Bewitch" on 23 November 2014 at Olympic Hall, Olympic Park.

2015-16: ''Boyfriend in Wonderland'', First world tour, and Japanese promotions

In March 2015, Boyfriend released their fourth Korean extended play, Boyfriend in Wonderland, with "Bounce" serving as the lead single. In the following month, they began their first world tour, "The First Chapter: "Bewitch"" starting in Taiwan and following into Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Finland, Russia, and France.
In May 2016, Boyfriend released their eleventh Korean digital single, "To My Bestfriend" to celebrate their fifth anniversary since their debut as a group. In November, they released their eighth Japanese single, "Jackpot". This single marked as their second single released under Kiss Entertainment in the Japanese music industry.

2017–2019: ''Summer'', ''Never End'', and disbandment

Boyfriend released their ninth Japanese single, "I Miss You", in February 2017. Five months later, they released their first Japanese extended play, Summer, with "Summer" as the lead single. Two years after releasing their fourth Korean extended play, Boyfriend released their fifth EP, Never End with title track "Star", in August 2017.
4 of the 6 Boyfriend members-Jeongmin, Donghyun, Kwangmin and Minwoo-auditioned for the KBS idol-rebooting show called . Out of the 4 members, only Donghyun passed the audition. While ranking in the top 9 for most of the show, he was eliminated in the last episode with a final ranking of 12. The Unit started airing on October 28.
On May 25, 2018, Boyfriend released "Sunshower", a special song to commemorate the group's seventh anniversary. Jeongmin helped composed the track, and its lyrics were written by him, Donghyun, Kwangmin, and Minwoo.
With teaser images released by the leader, it is confirmed that Boyfriend will be having a Japanese comeback on February 27, 2019.
Boyfriend disbanded on May 17, 2019.

Discography