BIGBANG (Korea)

Prior to being selected as members of BIGBANG, G-Dragon and Tae Yang had been on the management and production group, YG Entertainment’s books, since they were twelve. The pair had performed regularly together and aided BIGBANG’s group chemistry upon formation in 2006. Alongside G-Dragon and Tae Young joined T.O.P., Sae Sung, and Seung Ri, with the group making their debut performance at the Seoul Olympic Park in August 2006.

The band’s debut four-track release, “BigBang” appeared shortly afterwards spawning the singles “We Belong Together”, “A Fool’s Only Tears”, and “This Love”. After selling over 40,000 copies, the band attempted to maintain momentum with the release of their sophomore EP “BigBang Is V.I.P.”, led by the single “La La La”. Co-written by the members themselves, BIGBANG’s debut full-length “BigBang Vol. 1 - Since 2007” arrived in December 2006 led by the single “BIGBANG / We Belong Together”. The record topped South Korea’s weekly album chart and catapulted BIGBAND’s members to national recognition.

The live album “The First / Real Live Concert” was subsequently released in February 2007 after which the group embarked on their “Want You” tour of Incheon, Daegu, Changwon, Jeonju, and Busan. With a decision made to take greater control of their output BIGBANG issued the EP “Always”, which spawned the No. 1 hit “Lies”. A second EP “Hot Issue” also appeared in 2007, following which BIGBANG won the 2007 Mnet Asian Music Awards for "Best Male Group" and "Song of the Year" for their single “Lies”.

In early 2008 the group aimed to capitalise on the Japanese market and released the exclusive EP “For the World” in January 2008. Returning to South Korea to allow members to pursue solo projects, BIGBANG returned to the studio in August 2008 to release the EP “Stand Up”. Once again earning the group huge success, the record was led by the smash hit single “Haru Haru” which sold over 5,000,000 copies in South Korea alone and remained at No. 1 for six consecutive weeks.

The band’s sophomore studio album “Remember” arrived in 2008 after which the band embarked on a hiatus that lasted until 2011. With the release of the EP “Tonight”, BIGBANG officially announced their return, and accumulated sales worth over $6.5 million after a week of the album’s release. A supporting tour followed in May after which the group were awarded the "Best Worldwide Act" award at the 2011 MTV EMAs earning over 58 million votes. BIGBANG’s fifth EP “Alive” was subsequently released in 2012, followed by the full-length “Made” in 2015.