Boyfriend (band)

Boyfriend (Korean: 보이프렌드; more commonly known and stylized as BOYFRIEND) is a six-member South Korean boy group under Starship Entertainment formed in 2011. They are the third K-pop group, after Shyne and i-13, to have twins, however the first boy band to do so. 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 their debut single "Boyfriend". Their fanbase was officially named "Best Friend" as of August 10, 2011.

In 2011, they released three Korean singles Boyfriend, Don't Touch My Girl, I'll Be There respectively. In 2012, a mini album Love Style and a full length album Janus, together with 2 Japanese singles Be My Shine and Dance Dance Dance / My Lady. In 2013, a repackaged of Janus entitled as I Yah was released on January 10, a third Japanese single entitled Melody of Eyes on March 27, and their first digital single entitled On & On on May 28, 2013.

History

Pre-debut

Jo Youngmin and Jo Kwangmin were trained under JYP Entertainment for two years.^[2] By their 100th day mark of being child actors, the twins had appeared in over 300 commercials.^[3] During his high school years, Donghyun starred in a variety show Conduct Zero where six rebellious high school students were made into exemplary students.^[4]

2011: Debut

On May 27, 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.^[5] After ending their promotions for "Boyfriend", the group followed-up with the song "You & I", which received a more positive response from music critics.^[6]

On October 6, Boyfriend's second single, "Don't Touch My Girl".^[7][8] 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.^[9]

	"Janus (Boyfriend album)" (2012) "A sample from Boyfriend's first title track, Janus."
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Aside from their domestic comeback, On 7th, Boyfriend released the short PVs for their 2nd Japanese ‘double single’ “Dance Dance Dance” and “My Lady“.^[10] Their first full-length album Janus was released in November 2012.^{[11][12][13][14]}

In December 3, Boyfriend released the PV’s for their Japanese ‘double single’ “Dance Dance Dance” and “My Lady“.^[11][12] 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.^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17]

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.^[18] Melody of Eyes makes to top 5 for 6 days and their highest ranked is 2nd place on Oricon.^[19]

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 groups second year anniversary in music industry.^[20] 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" together with B1A4's main vocal Sandeul. The musical will be first presented at Shibuya AiiA Theater Tokyo on 28 September 2013.^[21] 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.^[22]

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.^[23] Pinky Santa landed on the Weekly Single Chart which rose to number 5 in Oricon.^[24]

Members

Discography

Concert/Tours

Showcases

• 2012: Sistar & Boyfriend 1st Singapore Fan Meeting
• 2012: First Date With You in Taiwan
• 2012: First Date With Boyfriend in Bangkok
• 2012: First Date With You in Shanghai
• 2012: First Date With Boyfriend in Budokan
• 2013: Asia Fan Meeting "Janus" in Singapore
• 2013: Asia Fan Meeting "Janus" in Guangzhou
• 2013: Asia Fan Meeting in Taiwan
• 2014: Fan Meeting in Puerto Rico
• 2014: First U.S Showcase Live in Chicago, IL
• 2014: First U.S Showcase Live in Dallas, TX

Japanese Concerts

• 2012: Love Communication 2012 ~XMAS BELL~
• 2013: Love Communication 2013 -SEVENTH MISSION-

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Variety shows

• Mnet M! Pick (2011) ^[47]
• Mnet Boyfriend's W Academy (2012) ^[48]
• SBS MTV Wonder Boy (2012) ^[49]
• Japanese TV Tokyo Etoile Academy of Music - Japan (2012~2013) ^[50]
• KBS Joy Hello Baby Season 7 (2013) ^[51]
• Fuji TV Boyfriend's Mission - Japan (2013) ^[52]

Guest appearances

• KBS Happy Together – Youngmin, Kwangmin (2011) ^[53]
• MBC Quiz To Change The World - Youngmin, Minwoo (2011) ^[54]
• SBS Star King (2011) ^[55]
• MBC Idol Star Athletic Chuseok Special (2011)
• KBS Joy Hello Baby S.4 (2011)
• KBS Gag Concert (2011) ^[56]
• tvN Show Show Show (2011)
• Y-Star God of Cookery Road (2011)
• KBS2 Crisis Escape No.1 - Jeongmin, Kwangmin (2011) ^[57]
• KBS2 Love and War S. 2 (2011)
• MBCevery1 Weekly Idol (2012) ^[58]
• MBC Idol Athletics and Swimming Championships (2012)
• Mnet M.I.B's W Academy (2012) ^[59]
• KBS2 1 vs. 100 - Donghyun, Hyunseong (2012) |^[60]
• SBS E! Bigstar’s Big Star Show (2012) ^[61]
• MBC Idol Star Olympic Championships (2012)
• Gurupop Show (2012) ^[62][63][64]
• KBS Joy Hug - Donghyun, Jeongmin (2012) ^{[62][63][64][65]}
• KBS Vitamin - Donghyun, MInwoo (2012) ^[66]
• SBS 1000 Songs Challenge - Donghyun, Hyunseong, Youngmin (2012) ^[67]
• KBS Sharing as One in Korea (2012)
• SBS MTV Best of Best Awards - Donghyun (2012) ^{[62][63][64][65]}
• KBS Love Request (2013) ^[68]
• MBC Star JikJjik (2013) ^[69]
• MBC New Years Special Idol Athletic Championship (2013) ^[70]
• KBS New Years Special Idol Gayo Stage - Donghyun, Hyunseong, Jeongmin (2013) ^[71]
• Mnet Beatles Code S.2 (2013) ^[72]
• KBS2 1 vs. 100 - Donghyun, Hyunseong (2013) ^[73]

Movies

• GOGO♂Ikemen 5 (GOGOイケメン5) (2013)

Sitcoms

• SBS Chuseok Special Cool Guys - Jeongmin (2013) ^[74]

Musicals

• The 1000th Man - Donghyun (2013) ^[75]

Endorsement

References

External links

• Starship Entertainment Profile