✨ Gone But Not Forgotten: BOYFRIEND ✨
In this series I want to go through groups that are gone, but not forgotten. I will go from debut till disbandment or [indefinite] hiatus, remembering the time we had together and look back on their highs and lows.
Boyfriend
Boyfriend was a South Korean boy group formed by Starship Entertainment in 2011. They were the first boy group to have twin members. The group consisted of Kim Donghyun, Shim Hyunseong, Lee Jeongmin, Jo Youngmin, Jo Kwangmin, and No Minwoo. May 17, 2019, Starship Entertainment announced that Boyfriend had disbanded.
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.
Their debut Japanese single song is called "Be my Shine".
Boyfriend released their first korean mini album "Love Style". The mini-album was released digitally on June 13, 2012. Followed by the release of the physical album on June 14, 2012.
Their first korean full-length album "Janus" was released in November 2012.
Janus debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart in South Korea for the week of November 11, 2012. As of January 2013, the album has sold 32,205 copies in South Korea and 2,853 in Japan.
On December 3, Boyfriend released the PV’s for their Japanese ‘double single’ "Dance Dance Dance" and "My Lady". They 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 total.
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
The re-issue of Janus, I Yah, was released early Januari 2013 and sold 24,675 copies in South Korea and 3,670 in Japan as of 2013.
Boyfriend became the first foreign artist to sing a theme song for an anime called Detective Canon..
Their song, "Hitomi no Melody", is the title song of their 3rd Japanese single album, released on March 27. The song was used as the ending theme song for ‘Detective Conan’.
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.
Boyfriend released a special Xmas premium single in Japan on 20 November. The single is entitled 'Pinky Santa'. Pinky Santa landed on the Weekly Single Chart which rose to number 5 in Oricon.
2014: Obsession, Witch and Bewitch concert
Boyfriend 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.
Boyfriend's second Korean EP, Obsession, was released on June 4. The EP contained six new tracks, with the title track "Obsession".
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.
They held their first domestic concert, The First Chapter in Seoul "Bewitch" on 23 November 2014 at Olympic Hall, Olympic Park.
2015-2016: 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 The Unit. 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.
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.
On May 17, 2019, the Starship Entertainment posted a video to Boyfriend’s official Twitter account, pulling together various video clips showing the members’ happy and smiling faces.
Starship announced the disbandment as they wrote in the caption, “We sincerely thank them for their passion and heart as proud artists of Starship. We will not forget all the moments we’ve had together."
Sources: Wikipedia: 1, 2, 3, 4, foreverairi, starshipTV, MBCkpop, KBS World, kpopboyfriendable, sandychan02, soompi.
Previous: Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel, Rainbow, 2NE1, Dalshabet, Stellar, Miss A, After School, Spica, Hello Venus, Wonder Girls, f(x), Crayon Pop, WA$$UP, BESTie & GLAM, I.O.I, Pristin, Pristin V & Hinapia, Gangkiz, The SeeYa, Coed School, 5Dolls/F-VE DOLLS, Fiestar.
Surprise! 🌟 Little change from all our beautiful ladies. I've been listening to Janus a lot lately and I really wanted to do them. I hope you all enjoy a little change of scenery so to speak ;).
I really liked Boyfriend, they have so much talent and it's really unfortunate that Starship didn't give them what they deserved. The group that was once seen as Exo's rivals ended up not even making it on The Unit... Starship really gave up on them, especially once they had Monsta X. I feel really sorry for them.
Still, I'm happy they found some success in Japan and they have a discography they can be very proud of.
Did you enjoy Boyfriend? Do you blame Starship for what happened? My favorite titlte tracks are Janus and Witch, but I like them all. Let me know yours?
Boyfriend
Boyfriend was a South Korean boy group formed by Starship Entertainment in 2011. They were the first boy group to have twin members. The group consisted of Kim Donghyun, Shim Hyunseong, Lee Jeongmin, Jo Youngmin, Jo Kwangmin, and No Minwoo. May 17, 2019, Starship Entertainment announced that Boyfriend had disbanded.
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.
Click to viewAfter 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.
Their debut Japanese single song is called "Be my Shine".
Boyfriend released their first korean mini album "Love Style". The mini-album was released digitally on June 13, 2012. Followed by the release of the physical album on June 14, 2012.
Their first korean full-length album "Janus" was released in November 2012.
Janus debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart in South Korea for the week of November 11, 2012. As of January 2013, the album has sold 32,205 copies in South Korea and 2,853 in Japan.
On December 3, Boyfriend released the PV’s for their Japanese ‘double single’ "Dance Dance Dance" and "My Lady". They 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 total.
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
The re-issue of Janus, I Yah, was released early Januari 2013 and sold 24,675 copies in South Korea and 3,670 in Japan as of 2013.
Boyfriend became the first foreign artist to sing a theme song for an anime called Detective Canon..
Their song, "Hitomi no Melody", is the title song of their 3rd Japanese single album, released on March 27. The song was used as the ending theme song for ‘Detective Conan’.
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.
Boyfriend released a special Xmas premium single in Japan on 20 November. The single is entitled 'Pinky Santa'. Pinky Santa landed on the Weekly Single Chart which rose to number 5 in Oricon.
2014: Obsession, Witch and Bewitch concert
Boyfriend 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.
Boyfriend's second Korean EP, Obsession, was released on June 4. The EP contained six new tracks, with the title track "Obsession".
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.
They held their first domestic concert, The First Chapter in Seoul "Bewitch" on 23 November 2014 at Olympic Hall, Olympic Park.
2015-2016: 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 The Unit. 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.
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.
On May 17, 2019, the Starship Entertainment posted a video to Boyfriend’s official Twitter account, pulling together various video clips showing the members’ happy and smiling faces.
Starship announced the disbandment as they wrote in the caption, “We sincerely thank them for their passion and heart as proud artists of Starship. We will not forget all the moments we’ve had together."
Sources: Wikipedia: 1, 2, 3, 4, foreverairi, starshipTV, MBCkpop, KBS World, kpopboyfriendable, sandychan02, soompi.
Previous: Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel, Rainbow, 2NE1, Dalshabet, Stellar, Miss A, After School, Spica, Hello Venus, Wonder Girls, f(x), Crayon Pop, WA$$UP, BESTie & GLAM, I.O.I, Pristin, Pristin V & Hinapia, Gangkiz, The SeeYa, Coed School, 5Dolls/F-VE DOLLS, Fiestar.
Surprise! 🌟 Little change from all our beautiful ladies. I've been listening to Janus a lot lately and I really wanted to do them. I hope you all enjoy a little change of scenery so to speak ;).
I really liked Boyfriend, they have so much talent and it's really unfortunate that Starship didn't give them what they deserved. The group that was once seen as Exo's rivals ended up not even making it on The Unit... Starship really gave up on them, especially once they had Monsta X. I feel really sorry for them.
Still, I'm happy they found some success in Japan and they have a discography they can be very proud of.
Did you enjoy Boyfriend? Do you blame Starship for what happened? My favorite titlte tracks are Janus and Witch, but I like them all. Let me know yours?