Super Junior (슈퍼주니어) currently consists of 9 members: Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun. Super Junior made their official debut on November 6, 2005, under SM Entertainment.
They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their prominent contributions in Korean Wave.
2005: Formation and debut
The group officially debuted on SBS' music program Popular Song on November 6, 2005, performing their first single "Twins (Knock Out)". three additional tracks were released online on November 8, followed by the release of their debut album Twins on December 6, 2005. The album sold 28,536 copies in the first month of release and debuted at number three in the monthly chart of December 2005.
SM Entertainment abandoned the rotational concept after adding a thirteenth member, Kyuhyun, in 2006. The group then became known as just Super Junior, without the suffix "05".
2006–2007: U, Don't Don, and commercial success
After the addition of Kyuhyun, Super Junior released their single "U" for free download on May 25, 2006, on their official website. "U" exceeded 400,000 downloads within five hours of release and ultimately surpassed 1.7 million downloads, crashing the server.
The physical single of "U" with a total of three tracks was released on June 6, eventually selling over 81,000 units in South Korea. The single became one of Korea's most popular songs of the year, taking up number one spots for five consecutive weeks on two of Korea's top music programs.
By the end of the year, Super Junior collected over seven awards in five of South Korea's top music award ceremonies.
Super Junior's second official album was released in September 20, 2007, Don't Don sold over 60,000 units the first day of release and debuted at number one on the monthly chart of September 2007. Although Don't Don received mixed reviews from critics, the album went to sell more than 160,000 copies by the end of the year, becoming the second best-selling record of 2007. Super Junior received seven nominations at the 2007 Mnet/KM Music Festival, winning three of them which included Artist of the Year, termed by many as the highest recognition of the ceremony. They collected two more recognitions at the 22nd Golden Disk Awards, including a Disk Bonsang award (Record of the Year).
2008–2009: Sorry, Sorry and career breakthrough
Super Junior-M, Super Junior's Mandopop subgroup comprising members Han Geng, Siwon, Donghae, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Super Junior-M members Henry and Zhou Mi, was formed in April 2008. Super Junior-M went on to become Super Junior's most successful subgroup, selling out two concerts in Hong Kong, topping weekly ratings with their appearance on Chinese variety programs, and was the idol group with the most endorsement contracts in China. They won numerous awards at Chinese music festivals, and achieved critical acclaim after the release of their single "Super Girl" from their second record Super Girl, which garnered them a nomination for Best Vocal Group at the 21st Golden Melody Awards.
Super Junior's first Asia-wide concert tour, Super Show, started on February 22, 2008, in Seoul. The group held a successful two-day fan meeting in Japan at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, selling out 12,000 tickets in several days.
The group released their third studio album Sorry, Sorry on March 12, 2009. It was their first album to debut at number one on the Hanteo Charts, selling over 29,000 copies the first day. After only a month of release, the album became South Korea's best-selling album of 2009, and ultimately sold over 250,000 copies in South Korea. It became the best-selling K-pop album in Taiwan, Thailand, China, and the Philippines, in which the latter credited the album to be the first K-pop album to reach number one in music charts from the country. The album's title single "Sorry, Sorry" became an instant hit, collecting a total of ten number-one awards for ten consecutive weeks in Korea, and stayed as number one for a record-breaking 37 weeks in Taiwan's K-pop singles chart. "Sorry, Sorry" achieved national and international success, and has since been the group's best-selling single in South Korea. Sorry, Sorry won several accolades at the 24th Golden Disk Awards, including the Disk Daesang (Record of the Year).
2010–2011: Bonamana and international recognition
With only ten members left, Super Junior went off to release, it sold over 300,000 copies in South Korea, outselling Sorry, Sorry. "Bonamana" was originally made by moves from Michael Jackson's MV's choreographed together. The album remained at the top of Taiwan's Korean-Japanese Music Charts for 61 weeks, breaking their own previous re⁶cord of the said chart.
Super Junior embarked on their third Asia-wide tour Super Show 3 in 2010 and 2011, and had sold-out concerts for each stop. February 2011, Super Junior released a 3D movie version of their tour,Super Show 3 3D in all CGV and Primus movie theaters. The movie debuted at number six on the box office charts and went off to become the best-selling 3D movie in Korea.
Super Junior's performances were well received by the media, and they were honored as Korea's National Pop Culture Icon for their role in spreading the Hallyu Wave (Korean Wave), receiving the Minister of Culture Awards by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at the Pop Culture Art Awards. The group has achieved recognition beyond Asia, reaching notability in Europe, North America, and South America. Peru's Top 30 ranking of The Sexiest Men in the World included all of the members on the list.
Both Mexico's TV Azteca and the United Kingdom's BBC acknowledged Super Junior to be the leading icon of the Hallyu effect.
2011–2012: Mr. Simple and Super Show 4
Mr. Simple debuted at number one on the South Korean Gaon Chart, selling 287,427 copies. The album stayed on the chart as number one for four weeks, and sold over 441,000 copies in South Korea by October 2011. It peaked at number three on the Billboard World Albums Chart and number 17 on Japan's Oricon Album's Chart.
On January 11, Super Junior participated at the 26th Golden Disk Awards which was held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan. The group ended up bringing home four awards: Popularity Award, MSN Japan Award, Disk Bonsang and the grand prize Disk Daesang". This was followed by further successes at the Seoul Music Awards on January 19, at which they were awarded the Disk Bonsang and Disk Daesang.
Super Junior successfully completed their world tour Super Show 4 in 10 cities worldwide, including Seoul, Osaka, Taipei, Singapore, Macao, Bangkok, Paris, Shanghai, Jakarta and Tokyo for six months, starting in November. Combined with their three Asia tours and Super Show 4, Super Junior's concert brand gathered a total of 900,000 audiences.
2012–2013: Sexy, Free & Single and Super Show 5
The group's sixth album, Sexy, Free & Single which was released online on July 1 and in stores on July 4, 2012. Sexy, Free & Single ranked high on iTunes in several countries, including Australia, France, Peru and Japan. It also ranked third on Billboard World Albums. The album debuted at first place on the South Korean Gaon Chart, selling 335,744 copies in one month. It stayed on the chart at first place for three weeks in a row, and 459,182 copies were sold in only two months (July–August). Sexy, Free & Single also debuted at 1st on Gaon Album Chart, with 356,431 copies sold in 2012.
2014–2016: Mamacita, Super Show 6, Devil, Magic and Label SJ
Discharged Leeteuk and Heechul would re-join Super Junior for the group's seventh album, Mamacita, which was released online on August 29 and in stores on September 1. They successfully completed their three-day concert at Jamsil Arena, Seoul from September 19 to 21, 2014 and marked their 100th concert worldwide on September 21, 2014. Super Junior are the first Korean artist to perform 100 concerts worldwide.
On July 8, 2015, SM Entertainment announced that Yesung would re-join Super Junior for a special album, Devil, which was released online and in stores on July 16. It was also the best selling album for the week in the United World Charts. August 16, Super Junior won two awards, "International Artist" and "Best Fandom" in the Teen Choice Awards.
On September 10, 2015, SM Entertainment announced that Super Junior had released part two of its special 10th anniversary album, Magic on September 16. It was the last album released before Eunhyuk, Donghae and Siwon entered the military - Eunhyuk enlisted October 13 on active duty, Donghae on October 15 and Siwon on November 19, both as conscripted police officers.
On November 6, 2015, Super Junior's 10th anniversary since their debut, SM Entertainment announced that Super Junior had their own exclusive label management, Label SJ. SM stated, "We established Label SJ to give Super Junior our wholehearted support and an ideal system for managing the group." October 11, 2016, Ryeowook began his mandatory military service on active duty followed by Kyuhyun on May 25, 2017, as a public service officer.
2017–2018: Play, One More Time, and Super Show 7
On September 27, 2017, Super Junior's website began a countdown to November 6, - the date of their 12th anniversary - announcing it as their comeback date for their eighth album which would be without Ryeowook and Kyuhyun as they were fulfilling their military service.
On November 6, Super Junior held a press conference where they spoke about their eighth album, Play, released on the same day. The explanation of the word "Play" was a combination of two meanings—'replay the music' and 'play excitedly'. Play consists of a total of 10 tracks, with "Black Suit" being the lead single.
It was announced that a repackage of Play titled Replay would be released on April 12, 2018.[121] The music video of its lead single, "Lo Siento" was released on the same day. It is a "trilingual dance track with tropical leanings", as it is sung in Korean, Spanish, and English. It was produced by Grammy Award-winning producers Play-n-Skillz and features American-born Hispanic singer Leslie Grace. July 10, 2018 Ryeowook completed his mandatory enlistment. His discharge was shown in a special 2 part episode of Super TV also filmed on Jeju Island. On October 8, Super Junior released a special EP, One More Time, with its lead single of the same name featuring Mexican band Reik and also Ryeowook in his first group recording following his military discharge on July 10.
2019–present: Time Slip, Super Show 8, 15th anniversary, Star and The Renaissance
On May 7, 2019, Kyuhyun fulfilled his mandatory enlistment, marking the end of Super Junior's military services.
July 12, 2019, Super Junior brought their Super Show 7S world tour to King Abdullah Sports City as part of the Jeddah Season festival, becoming the first Asian and K-Pop act to hold a solo concert in Saudi Arabia.
The nine-member lineup of Super Junior released their ninth studio album, Time Slip, on October 14, 2019. Time Slip received its platinum album certification on December 12, 2019.
May 2020, it was announced that Super Junior would headline a live online concert - the sixth concert jointly organised by SM Entertainment and Naver as part of the world first high-tech online-dedicated live concert series Beyond Live. Organized as part of a project of activities in 2020 to celebrate 15 years since the debut of the group. The live concert was held on May 31 and Super Junior played live to an audience of over 123,000 around the world. The concert revenue was estimated to be over 60 billion won.
Super Junior was scheduled to release their tenth studio album, The Renaissance, in December 2020. A pre-release single titled "The Melody" was released on November 6, 2020 to celebrate the group's 15th anniversary. In the same month, the band signed with a US based talent and literacy agency, ICM Partners to represent them in other regions beside Asia.
Super Junior has sold more than 5.1 million physical copies combined between South Korea and Japan.
Super Junior has won numerous awards and recognitions since their K-pop debut in 2005, their introduction to the Mandopop industry in 2007 and to the J-pop industry in 2011. Super Junior won most of their awards in South Korea, but they have also won many awards and nominations globally. Super Junior won Legend Award a special title at the Asia Artist Awards in November 2017 and also won Top of K-Pop Record in November 2019 due to their prominent contributions in Korean Wave, leading K-pop to its current state of global awareness.
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