Big Bang (South Korean Band) Life Story

2012-2014: International recognition, first world tour, and hiatus

In January 2012, began releasing teasers for Big Bang's fifth Korean EP , which was released in both digital and physical formats in February. Preorders for Alive amounted to 260,000 copies in two weeks. The album was generally well received and praised for showcasing the group's "progress, musical variety, [and] non-conformity" while "still maintaining Big Bang's unique identity" by Mithun Divakaran. Three singles were released to promote the album: "," the lead single, was released a week prior to the album and reached the number one position on all major domestic charts;the second single "" peaked at number two and was the only K-Pop song to be included in 's best songs of 2012 list; while the last, "," rounded at number three. The music video for the latter is currently the band's most popular, having received more than 310 million views on YouTube, the most watched video by a Korean group. Buoyed by the singles, the EP was a commercial success, selling in excess of 200,000 copies after one month. Internationally, Big Bang obtained five spots out of the top-ten on Billboard K-pop's Hot 100 and charted at no. 150 on Billboard 200, making them the first Korean artist with a Korean album to do so. Their popularity also boosted them onto the Billboard Social 50, entering at number twenty-four. They later received recognition from notable sites such as magazine, and a photo of the group was featured on the homepage.

The album release coincided with their annual concert, Big Show 2012, held at Seoul Olympic Park Stadium from March 2–4 to a sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans. This marked the official kick off of their first world tour, the , in partnership with . It was directed by renowned choreographer , with Big Bang performing at 21 cities in over 13 countries, with a total attendance of 800,000 people. Concert footage from Big Show was broadcast in 160 countries through MTV World Stage, which pushed the promotion for their world tour. The Alive Galaxy Tour marked the group's first ever concerts in the , and . Due to high demand, additional concerts were held in , and . The quintet also performed at three Japanese dome venues for the first time, becoming the first Korean artist to perform at all three of these venues during its tour. The group concluded the tour with concerts in Osaka in mid-January along with a three night stint at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul later that month.

The Japanese version of was released on March 28 both digitally and physically, with two additional Japanese tracks. Included with the physical copy of their album was a bonus Japanese version of their hit song "Day by Day." It sold over 23,000 copies on its first day of release and peaked at number two on the Oricon charts, eventually selling over 200,000 copies total and certified gold by the .Japanese promotions began with a performance at 2012's Springroove Festival alongside top American and Japanese hip hop artists. Big Bang was the first Korean act to be invited along with label-mates .Following the success of their comeback, Big Bang released a special edition album titled Still Alive on June 3. It featured four new tracks including two new Korean tracks of which their lead single was titled "," as well as Korean remakes of the two additional tracks in the Japanese version of Alive. The album sold over 100,000 copies in its first month of release. A special Monster edition of their Japanese Alive album was also released on June 20, following its Korean counterpart.

The success of their special edition album further boosted the group's global recognition, peaking at no. 11 on the Billboard Social 50. On November 30, 2012, Big Bang received a total of three awards at the , including Best Male Group and Artist of the Year. G-Dragon also took home Best Male Solo award at the event. They also received the Best Fan category award at the Italian . After promotional activities wrapped up, the members pursued individual activities for the majority of 2013 and 2014.

Big Bang reunited in November 2013 for their , holding concerts in six different dome arenas in Japan, being the first foreign act to do so. Gathering over 770,000 fans, the tour's total revenue, including tickets sold and merchandising sales, totalled $94 million. In October 2014, the group performed at the closing ceremony of the held in , South Korea, wrapping up the Congratulatory Performance. A month later, the quintet embarked on their , which was the first time that any overseas artist performed in five dome arenas of Japan for two consecutive years. By the end of 2014, Big Bang was the Korean artist that attracted the most concertgoers in Japan for the year and the second act overall.