Big Bang (Korean: 빅뱅; often stylized asBIGBANG) is a South Korean boy bandformed by YG Entertainment. Consisting of members G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang,Daesung, and Seungri, the group officially debuted on August 19, 2006. Predominantly a hip hop group, their debut was a moderate success, with their first self-titled Korean albumselling 48,000 copies. Their breakthrough came with the release of their first extended play, Always (2007), which included the number one song "Lies" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised Romanization: Geojitmal). The song went on to top major Korean music charts for a record-breaking seven consecutive weeks,[3] and won the group the Song of the Year award at the9th Mnet Korean Music Festival
Big Bang's followed-up releases furthered their success and popularity:Hot Issue (2007) spawned the chart-topping song "Last Farewell", (Korean:마지막 인사; Revised Romanization:Majimak Insa), while Stand Up (2008) produced "Day By Day" (Korean: 하루하루; Revised Romanization: Haru Haru). After receiving the Artist of the Yearaward from the 2008 Mnet Korean Music Festival, the group expanded their endeavors to Japan, releasing both their second Korean studio-albumRemember and their first Japanese album, Number 1, in the same year, and consequently winning three awards at the 9th MTV Video Music Awards Japan. They would go on to release three more Japanese studio albums:Big Bang (2009), Big Bang 2 (2011), and the Japanese studio album Alive (2012).Amidst their Japanese promotions, the members branched out to do solo activities: Taeyang and G-Dragon released solo albums, G-Dragon and T.O.P formed a sub-unit, Seungri and Daesung acted in musicals and hosted variety shows, and T.O.P went on to star in various films and television shows.
After a two-year hiatus in South Korea, Big Bang reunited in 2011 with their EPTonight (2011). Promotions were cut short when multiple members encountered legal issues. By the end of the year, Big Bang emerged as the inaugural Best Worldwide Act winner at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards.Three months after their win in Europe, Big Bang released their most successful physical album, the Korean EP Alive(2012), which won them their secondArtist of the Year Award at the 14th Mnet Asian Music Award. Alive became the first Korean album to chart onBillboard 200, with the group embarking on their first ever world tour that concluded in early 2013. In 2015, after a three-year hiatus, Big Bang made their highly anticipated comeback to their native country with the release of four singles, "M," "A," "D," and "E," to precede their third Korean studio album Made. Their singles were met with critical and commercial success, netting in sales of over 415,000 copies in South Korea and winning the group their third Artist of the Year Award at the 17th Mnet Asian Music Awards.
Labeled as the "Kings of K-pop" and "Nation's Boy Band," the members' involvement in composing and producing their own music, most notably G-Dragon, has earned the group respect and praises from the music industry. Since the release of the Gaon Chart, Big Bang, including their solo releases, has sold over 75 million records. With the previous releases including sales from Music Industry Association of Korea (MIAK) and The Korea Music Content Industry Association (KMCIA), they have sold over 93 million records, with over 77 million digital singles, selling an averaged 4.3 million downloads per title track and 1.5 million downloads per non-title track, and over 5 million albums in Korea, Japan, and the rest of Asian continent.They have wonnumerous awards and set several records, including the all-time best-selling artist in Cyworld and most Artist of the Year Award wins at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. Citing their global popularity and contribution to K-pop, the Hollywood Reporter have described them as "the biggest boy band in the world."
2000-2007: Formation and debut
Prior to the group's debut, a few of the members were already exposed to the entertainment industry. G-Dragon and Taeyang were the first ones to receive training under YG Entertainment at the age of eleven. T.O.P was an underground rapper under the stage name "Tempo." One of his most popular track was "Buckwild" with NBK Gray.After G-Dragon was approached by YG-Entertainment for possible candidates to start a boy group, G-Dragon contacted T.O.P, with whom he was a childhood friend with, leading to the latter to audition in. Seungri first appeared on the reality television seriesLet's Cokeplay: Mnet Battle Shinhwa, a show in which idol group Shinhwasearch for members to make up the "second-generation Shinhwa." The original lineup consisted of 6 members: the aforementioned ones along with Daesung and So-1, who were both auditioned in. Their formation was documented on television; prior to their official debut, So-1 was dropped.
