TFBoys

TFBOYS (also known as The Fighting Boys or TFBOYS, 加油男孩^[1][2]) is a teenage Chinese boy band formed by Time Fengjun Entertainment (TFent). The group consists of the leader, Wang Junkai (王俊凯, also known as Karry), and members Wang Yuan (王源, also known as Roy) and Yi Yangqianxi (易烊千玺, also known as Jackson).

TFBOYS officially debuted on August 6, 2013^[3] with a promotional video "Ten Years".^[4] The boys were between 12 and 13 years old at the time of debut. Their first mini-album Start To Love 《Heart 梦·出发》, was subsequently released on October 18, 2013.

They gained popularity rapidly on the internet, through social media platforms such as Sina Weibo and video sharing platforms such as YinYueTai. On April 15, 2014, during The 2nd YinYueTai Vchart Awards by YinYueTai, TFBOYS won 2 awards - "Favorite Artiste - Mainland" and "Yin Yue Live Stream Favorite Artiste" (音悦直播人气歌手). Thereafter, they were invited to appear on various television variety shows and music award events, which brought them before the eyes of mainstream Chinese audiences. TFBOYS released their hit single "Manual of Youth" on August 16, 2014, which then went on to chart at number 1 on Yin Yue Vcharts for 5 consecutive weeks. The song won "Song of the Year" at the 2015 iQIYI Night Awards, "Top 10 Songs of the Year" at the 22nd Dong Fang Feng Yun Awards (东方风云榜音乐盛典), and "Favorite Song of the Year" at the 15th Top Chinese Music Awards (音乐风云榜).

During the 2016 CCTV New Year's Gala, the most significant television event in China due to its high viewership, TFBOYS performed a musical "Growing Up in Happiness" incorporating the "Manual of Youth". The TFBOYS has hence became a household name in China. The following year, TFBOYS were invited back on to the CCTV New Year's Gala as the opening act.

Their success was attributed to their fresh, school boy looks, which filled the void of young male idol groups in China,^[5] and amassed large numbers of fans. They are frequently compared to the former Taiwanese boy band The Little Tigers (小虎队), whose popularity swept across the Chinese speaking world in the 1990s.

History

Pre-debut

Wang Junkai (王俊凯, Karry Wang) was chosen as a trainee in TF Entertainment accidentally. The staff of the TF Entertainment discovered him when they had already finished the trainee selection process. Despite the fact that he had missed the official selection, he was still given a chance to audition. After joining TF Entertainment, he became a vocalist for TF-Family. His company posted a cover of him singing the Chinese song "Prisoned Bird", which went viral on the Internet. In September 2012, he released a cover version of "You Exist in My Song", recorded by himself in the washroom, which also went viral on the internet.

Wang Yuan (王源, Roy Wang) entered the company a year after Karry as a trainee. In an interview, he said one of the reasons he joined the company was because it offered free training classes. Roy Wang is known to be a skilled singer, and has been dubbed the "peppermint vocals prince" by his fans, due to his dulcet, clear tones. He is the only team member who plays the piano, which he has showcased during concerts and TF variety shows. He has hosted the TF variety show for 3 seasons. In July 2012, Roy Wang and Karry Wang covered "One is Like the Summer, One is Like the Fall" as a duet. The video garnered more than 5 million views online by September 2012 and received recognition and praise by the original singer Christine Fan when she re-posted it on her Weibo.^[6] On April 1, 2013, Roy Wang and Karry covered "When Love Has Become The Past" together to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of Leslie Cheung , and the video was viewed more than 40 million times by April 4. On May 31, 2013, Roy Wang and Karry Wang sang their cover of "The Onion", by MayDay's Ashin . Through these solo and duet covers, their popularity on the Internet began to rise and they earned greater public acclaim.

At the age of five, Yi Yangqianxi (易烊千玺, Jackson Yi) was acknowledged for his dancing skills, winning a kids' dance contest. Several of his dance videos went viral on the Internet. Later, he also excelled in many other skills, including dancing, calligraphy, writing, and talent shows. At the delicate age of 5 and 6, his parents brought him to classes in traditional Chinese dance. Later, he starting learning the tango and other dances. In 2012, he participated in the same talent show Karry Wang had participated in. He was eliminated from the top 100 because the judges felt that the music didn't match his dance moves. However, TF Entertainment then accepted him as a trainee after seeing his potential and hoping to develop him as an artist.

In July 2013, Wang Junkai, Wang Yuan and Yi Yangqianxi were confirmed to debut as the Chinese boy band, TFBOYS. Their first album was prepared by a South Korean music team TM (Jay Hong & Taemu), which was also the former album producer for Lee Hyori (이효리). The post-production was finished in South Korea.

Debut - current

On August 6, 2013, TFBOYS made their official debut with the release of their single, "Heart". This was followed by the release of "Love Departure" and "Dream Set Sail" . Their official fanclub was named Four Leaf Clover, and their official fan colour is orange. TF Entertainment then created a variety show titled TF Teens Go!, hosted by Roy Wang. It featured TFBOYS and a number of other male trainees. In 2014, Roy Wang, Karry Wang and Jackson Yi starred in the TF family-made network drama Boys College Self-study Room, which boosted their popularity. TFBOYS also published "Manual of Youth", which was and still is a big hit, along with "Magic Castle". In 2015, singles including "Young", "Adore", "The Rest of Summer", and "The Big Dreamer" were released.

Group members have also been active in the film industry recently, and acted in many online TV shows. Karry Wang was cast in director Zhang Yimou's movie The Great Wall alongside Matt Damon, Andy Lau, Lu Han and other famous actors from China and America. Roy Wang acted in Guo Jingming's movie L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties with many other famous Chinese celebrities. Jackson dubbed the animated film The Little Prince (2015 film) and acted in Song Of Phoenix as the main actor. All 3 boys also have roles in the currently-shooting TV show Noble Aspirations.

On June 22, 2015, Wang Junkai was presented with a Guinness World Record for a total of 42,776,438 reposts on Sina Weibo for his 15th birthday message. It currently still has the highest number of reposts on Sina Weibo.^[7][8]

On November 8, 2015, Roy Wang began to compose songs. When he was 15, he sang "Because of You" , whose lyrics and music were both written by himself, to thank his fans. He also became the first Chinese artist born after the year 2000 to be featured in the New York Times. On November 28, Jackson Yi began choreographing dances and choreographed two dances for his fans on his 15th birthday.

In 2015, TFBOYS became part of the cast of Hunan Channel's new reality-variety show Run For Time, with a recurring role.

Most recently, Jackson Yi won the title of "Speed Up King," and became a representative celebrity for Mengniu Dairy. The boys have also been on many other reality and variety shows in China, and filmed documentaries about their lives.

On January 13, 2016, Roy Wang's first single "Because of You" was released. It reached #1 on China's charts after just a few hours, and was played more than 300 million times in 26 days - which is still a record. On January 1 and January 22, 2016 "Imperfect Child" and "Truth Or Dare" were released respectively. Afterwards, the three boys started shooting a drama series "Finding Soul". The series aired in July and was a massive hit.

In 2017, TFBoys starred in their own drama "Boy Hood", an inspirational youth drama which focuses on baseball. The series aired in July 2017.^[9]

Members

Wang Junkai, Karry

• Chinese: 王俊凯
• Born on September 21, 1999 in Chongqing, China.
• Leader, Visual and Lead Vocal of TFBOYS
• Fans are called "Little Crabs". The fan support colour is blue, which is Karry's favorite and lucky color.
• Plays the guitar.
• Joined TF Family as trainee in 2010.
• Awards：
  • 2015 Weibo Most popular male singer, Mainland China
  • 2014 Weibo Most popular male singer, Mainland China
  • One of the Top 10 most influential people in internet in China, 2015,2016
  • 2015 Guinness World Record Holder for holding "the most reposted Weibo"
  • Student representative of Chongqing to attend the 26th Meeting of All-China Students’ Federation
  • Played the role of a little emperor in Zhang Yimou's movie The Great Wall.（2016）
  • The United Nations Environment Programme,International Fund for Animal Welfare and The Natrue Conservancy certify Wang Junkai as a Pioneer of Youth Action.(2017)

Wang Yuan, Roy

• Chinese: 王源
• Born on November 8, 2000 in Chongqing, China.
• Main vocals of TFBOYS.
• Fans are called "Tangyuan", a food related pun on his name. Fan support color is green, which is Roy's favourite and lucky colour.
• Plays the piano.
• Joined TF Family as trainee in winter of 2011. First appeared on TF Family webcast during the Christmas special show.
• One of the delegates representing China at the 6th United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) youth forum. He spoke at the event calling for equal access to quality education worldwide.^[10]

Yi Yangqianxi, Jackson

• Chinese:易烊千玺
• Born on November 28, 2000 in Hunan, China. Moved to Beijing, China with his family since young.
• Main dancer of TFBOYS.
• Plays the drums.
• Has one younger brother, whose pet name is "Nannan".
• Fans are called "Origami Cranes". Fan support color is red, which is Jackson's favourite and lucky colour.
• He was talent-scouted by TFent during a Hunan Television reality talent show. While both he and Karry Wang were eliminated from the Top 100, he was invited to audition with TFent, and subsequently formed TFBOYS together with Karry Wang and Roy Wang.

Discography

Singles

Mini-albums

Other tracks

Solos

Filmography

Dramas

Controversy

Suspected plagiarism song

October 17, 2014 TFBOYS released the single "In the Name of My Faith（Chinese: 信仰之名）", this song is considered to be very similar to the theme song "only my railgun" from the Japanese anime A Certain Scientific Railgun.^[15]

They were suspected of plagiarism, and video comparisons of the two songs have been published online.^[16]

References

External links

• (in Chinese) Official website
• (in Chinese) TFBoys on Sina Weibo