2005—2006: Formation
Before Big Bang's debut, each member had his own degree of success and popularity in the entertainment industry. Leader G-Dragon and lead vocalist Taeyang had already been with YG Entertainment since they were both twelve years old, known as GD and YB.[2] Member T.O.P was well known as an underground rapper[7] under the stage name, T.E.M.P.O.. Big Bang made their official debut at the YG Family concert, held on August 19, 2006 at the Gymnastics Arena in Seoul Olympic Park.[8] Prior to the release of their first album, the group released three EPs within a span of a few months. Their first EP was Bigbang, which spawned the airplay singles "We Belong Together," "A Fool's Only Tears", and "This Love", a cover of the American boy band Maroon 5's own single.[1] The single debuted with over 17,000 copies sold in the month of August[9] and later went on to sell approximately nearly 40,000 copies.[10] The second EP BigBang Is V.I.P was released a month later, selling 21,000 copies in that month.[11] It finally netted sales of 32,000 copies.[10] Their third EP, B I G B A N G 0 3, followed the success of their previous EPs with final sales nearing 30,000 copies.[10] At the end of December 2006, Big Bang held their very first concert titled The Real. The following month, their first debut album Since 2007, which was a compilation of songs from their previous singles, was released; it sold 48,009 copies by the end of February 2007.[10]
[edit] 2007—2008: Breakthrough success
On February 8, 2007, Big Bang released their live concert album entitled The First / Real Live Concert, which sold up to 30,000 copies by the end of 2007.[12] From May to July 2007, the group also held their first national tour concert in Korea, with the headline Want You, touring a total of five cities: Incheon, Daegu, Changwon, Jeonju and Busan.[13]
"Lie" (2007)
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Big Bang took a new direction with the release of their song "Lie" by incorporating electronic music into their style. The song eventually became their break-out hit.
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In August 16, 2007, The group released the mini album Always,[14] and a fan meeting was held for promotion. Taking control over their music, group-leader G-Dragon wrote and produce several songs on the album. Reception for the album was fairly positive, most notably in regards to the song "Lies" (Korean: 거짓말).[15] The single became the group's first song to be a breakout hit, becoming their first song to reach number-one on SBS Hit Songs, followed by MBC's Music Core, KBS Music Bank, Mnet's Countdown and numerous online and offline charts for many consecutive weeks. Riding on the success of their mini-album, the group collected numerous awards towards the end of the year, including "Best Male Group" and "Song Of The Year" from the 2007 M.NET/KM Music Festival.[16] They later claimed a "Dae Sung" award from the 17th Seoul Music Awards.[17]
Their second mini album, Hot Issue, was released a few months later and yielded the single "Last Farewell" (Korean: 마지막 인사). Mirroring its predecessor's success, the single went on to top various music charts, including Juke-On's chart for eight consecutive weeks.[18] It later won the "Song of the Month Digital Music Award" from Cyworld. Big Bang also staged their second concert, Big Bang Is Great, from the 28th of December to the 30th where tickets were reportedly sold out in 10 minutes.[19] The members were later hospitalized due to sickness and injuries from overperforming and exhaustion,[20] halting and limiting their promotional activities. A representative for YG Entertainment then addressed the issue by stating that although the group would perform at the MBC Music Festival on the 31st, they would cancel everything else on their schedule for the first week of next year. It was later reported in the year that Big Bang's albums and singles had been in high demand, causing the record company to reprint and repackage them for re-release.[21]
Near the end of 2007, Big Bang ventured overseas to Japan. The group released their first Japanese EP For the World on January 4, 2008.[22] The EP debuted at #14 on the Oricon chart and peaked at #10, despite lack of promotions.[23] On the 28th and 29th of March, Big Bang held a concert at the JCB Hall in Tokyo Dome City. Big Bang's second mini album, With U was released later in May. A single of the same name was also released and drew controversy over its similarity to Joe's "Ride Wit U" from his album, And Then...[24]
"Day by Day" (2008)
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"Day by Day", which continued the group's experimentation with electronic, went on to become one of their strongest singles, topping the charts for six consecutive weeks.[25]
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The group returned to Korea mid-2008 after promotions in Japan ended. Although group activities were delayed due to solo projects, Big Bang released their third mini-album Stand Up in late 2008. The album featured artists such as Daishi Dance and the Korean rock-band No Brain for the single, "Oh My Friend". Like previous albums, G-Dragon was heavily involved with the production. Stand Up went on to exceed the 100,000 mark in sales, yielding some of the group's strongest singles: "Day By Day" (Korean: 하루하루), the lead single, topped several online charts and held the number-one position for six consecutive weeks.[25] Following the lead single's success, other songs also charted within the Top 20, with "Heaven" at the number-two spot, "Oh My Friend" being ninth, "A Good Man" at twelfth and "Lady" being sixteenth — a total of five songs in the Top 20 for the group.[26]
During the release of their Korean material, Big Bang released the Japanese song "Number 1" from their album of the same name and introduced the song through Japanese radio programs and TV shows; the album peaked at #3 on the Japan's Oricon daily album chart. Their Korean follow-up album, Remember was released several months afterward, yielding the number-one single "Sunset Glow" (Korean: 붉은노을). "Strong Baby", member Seungri's solo song, was released as the second single. The group also collected their second "Artist of the Year" from the 2008 M.NET KM Music Festival award ceremony.[27] At the end of 2008, it was reported that Big Bang earned a total of ₩36 billion (USD$ 24.5 million).[28]
[edit] 2009—Present: Branching out
With the group on break in early 2009, the members pursued solo activities. They later reunited to collaborate with their label's new girl group 2NE1, who has been dubbed "The Female Big Bang",[29] for the song "Lollipop". A music video was also filmed for promotion. Initially used to promote a cell phone, "Lollipop" has since reached the number-one spot on various online charts.[30]
After activities for "Lollipop" ended, the group flew to Japan to record and release their first Japanese single, "My Heaven", in May 2009, their first major debut in Japan. A Japanese translation of their Korean single "Heaven" (Korean: 천국) from their mini-album Stand Up, the music was composed by acclaimed Japanese composer Daishi Dance[13]. To promote the single, the group performed on several Morning News programs, which lead to their single to debut at the number three spot on the Oricon Charts.[31] Their second Japanese single, "Gara Gara Go!!" (Japanese: ガラガラ GO!!) was released[32][33] on July 8, 2009 and reached number 5 on the Oricon charts.[31] "Gara Gara Go!!" marked the group's first performances on some of Japan's major music shows, such as Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ and Music Station. Following the release of their Japanese singles, Big Bang released their self-titled first full-length Japanese album under Universal Music, which charted in at number three.[31]
After their Japanese promotional activities ended, Big Bang returned to Korea, where the members dissolved into solo activities. On August 18, G-Dragon released his controversial debut album Heartbreaker, which spawned several hit singles including its titled song.[34] Taeyang released two digital singes, "Where U At?" and "Wedding Dress", to promote his second album, which has an expectant release day of early 2010.[35] Additionally, T.O.P joined the cast of the Korean thriller drama Iris.[36]
The group later extended their Japanese activities by providing the theme song for the Japanese TBS's Friday night drama Ohitorisama.[13][37][38] The song was later released as a single, titled "Koe o Kikasete" (Japanese: 声をきかせて) on November 4, 2009, peaking at the number 4 spot on the Oricon charts.[39].
From the 29th to the 31st of January, Big Bang staged their "2010 Big Bang Concert Big Show"[40] in the Seoul Olympic Stadium.[41] The following month, Big Bang is expected to hold their Electric Love Tour 2010 in Japan.[42] Yang Hyun Suk, YG Entertainment's Founder, also revealed that the group will return with an album in Korea this Summer.[42] Additionally, T.O.P, Daesung and Seungri will be working on solo projects[43] while Taeyang will be continuing promotions for his album.[4]
The group returned in February, with the release of "Lollipop Pt.2", the follow up to their single, "Lollipop", with 2NE1. Similarly the song was used to coincide with promotions for LG Cyon's Lollipop phone.[44] The song proved to be popular, instantly reaching Number one on digital charts.
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