Big Bang (South Korean Band) Life Story

2015-2016: Critical acclaim, second world tour and 10th anniversary

After a two-year hiatus, Big Bang made their comeback by releasing special project singles for their album : , , , and . The first single, M, released in May, included the two songs "" and "," which debuted at number one and number two, respectively, on 's , making the quintet the first K-Pop boy band to top the chart and the second Korean artist to occupy the top two slots simultaneously after labelmate . "Loser" won Song of the Year at the , while "Bae Bae" won Song of the Year at the . Both tracks were named by Billboard as one of the best K-pop songs of 2015, with "Loser" topping the list. The following month saw the release of A, which included "" (Korean:뱅뱅뱅) and "," that also went on to occupy the number one and two positions on Billboard's World Digital Chart. "Bang Bang Bang" won Song of the Year at the , and was the best-performing single of 2015 in South Korea according to the .D was released in July and included "" (Korean: 맨정신; Revised Romanization: Maenjeongsin) and "." "If You" landed on Billboard's World Digital Chart at number two and topped the , while "Sober" charted at number two in their home country. The consecutive monthly releases concluded with E in August, with the songs "," (Korean: 쩔어; Revised Romanization: jjeoreo) featuring the sub-unit of , and "" (Korean: 우리 사랑하지 말아요; Revised Romanization: Uri Saranghaji Marayo). The latter peaked at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart and on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart.

To promote their singles, Big Bang embarked on their which received critical acclaim and was commercially successful. Kicking off with two shows in Seoul on April 25 and 26, the tour gathered 1.5 million fans around the world, making it the largest tour by any Korean act. By the end of the year, Big Bang had earned over ₩150 billion (USD$120 million). Despite the commercial success of the singles, the release of the full album was postponed to add new songs to the album and for the group to rest after four months of promotions. Big Bang continued touring into 2016 for their , visiting China, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. The group was the highest earning artist of 2016 in Mainland China based on concert revenue, by earning $70.3 million USD, accounting for 70% of the entire total box office of South Korean artists in China for the year. In April and May, they toured Japan for their , meeting 280,000 fans.

Several projects were launched to commemorate the group's 10th anniversary. The first was the documentary film , which followed the group through their in 2015, released on June 30, 2016. The band held a 10th anniversary concert tour, , from July 2016 to January 2017, which included sold-out stadium shows at in , Japan and at in , South Korea. The tour drew 781,500 attendees from 16 concerts in Japan, and made Big Bang the act with the biggest concert mobilization power for the year in Japan, the first time a foreign act has topped the list. Overall, they gathered a 1.1 million attendance for the tour. The band also held an art exhibition, titled A TO Z, to showcase the history of the group as well as to celebrate a decade with their fans. The exhibition ran from August 5 to October 30 at the S-Factory in Seoul. The exhibition travelled to , from June 24 to August 22 in 2017.

After a year of delay, was released in December 2016. Two singles were announced for the release: "," (Korean: 에라 모르겠다; Revised Romanization: Era Moreugedda) and "" The two songs, along with "", took the three top places on the Gaon Digital Chart, selling over one million digital copies combined in five days. The same songs peaked at number 2, 3 and 4 on the World Digital Songs chart, selling 13,000 copies combined. The digital version of Made sold over 1 million digital copies on , , and Kuwo, China's three major music platforms in a day. The album debuted at No. 172 on the Billboard 200 with 6,000 equivalent album units, 4,000 of which were in traditional album sales, earning the band their second entry on the chart. They also debuted at no. 1 on the chart and the Heatseekers Albums chart.In their home country, South Korea, the physical version of the album topped the . Two final concerts were held at in January, 2017 to wrap up their 10th anniversary tour and Made's promotional activities.