The group has gained enormous popularity in South Korea, Japan, China and other Asian countries and have cemented this by becoming a household name throughout these regions. In 2009 the band set a record for being the first non-japanese artist to have six number-one singles on the Japanese Chart. In Korea, they are better known as 동방신기 (Dong Bang Shin Ki often abbreviated as DBSG or DBSK) while the Japanese equivalent of the group’s name is 東方神起(Tōhōshinki abbreviated as THSK). Although their origin is Korean, their name on all official non-Japanese advertisements and merchandise is scripted as “TVXQ”, the Chinese counterpart of their name. It is roughly translated as “Gods Rising from the East” in all three languages. 東方神起 made their debut on December 26, 2003 during a BoA and Britney Spears Showcase. They performed their debut pop song Hug as well as an a cappella rendition of O Holy Night alongside label-mate BoA. After much promotion of Hug (which reached the top 5 on Korean charts), they released their second single The Way U Are a dance/r&b number. This song was promoted on various music shows accompanied by stylized outfits and choreographed dances. After the release of their first two successful singles 東方神起 released their first album Tri-Angle along with their third single from the album 믿어요 (I Believe). This was accompanied by photo books and merchandise. An official fan club was created, named after the Cassiopeia constellation near the Big Dipper. 東方神起’s fans chose the name “Cassiopeia” for their fan club because the constellation has 5 stars in its galaxy, and 東方神起 has 5 members. When traced on a computer keyboard, “TvVfXQ” makes the constellation Cassiopeia. 東方神起 concluded the year with a Christmas album that also had an a cappella version of “Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring”. With their releases in 2004, the group showed a versatility in style and has managed not to be permanently typecast as a certain “genre style” (as opposed to other Korean artist this earn the group many “Best New Group” awards at the end of the year Korean Music Award shows. During 2005, 東方神起 expanded its career to Japan. The group released its first Japanese single entitled Stay With Me Tonight on April 27, 2005, The marking the group’s official debut of in Japan. 東方神起 continued to release additional singles such as Somebody To Love and My Destiny. While in Korea, the group released its second Korean album Rising Sun which was a huge success in Korea with it’s title song also entitled Rising Sun dominating the Korean charts for weeks. 東方神起 soon produced a joint single album with label-mate Super Junior, Show Me Your Love and at the end the year music awards ceremonies, 東方神起 received the Best Music Video award for the song Rising Sun and a KM M.Net Music Festival DaeSung award which known to be one of the most prestigious awards in the Korean music industry. 東方神起 then endeavored to spread their sphere of influence further in other East Asian countries. They held their first Asian tour which were featured on various commercials, and made guest appearances in Malaysia, Thailand, China and Japan. 東方神起 members were the first Korean performers to ever stage a concert in Malaysia for their Rising Sun 1st Asia Tour in Bukit Jalil (Putra Indoor Stadium). The tour, which was in promotion for their 2nd Korean album Rising Sun released in 2005, continued to Bangkok in Thailand at the Impact Arena. The tour soon held its first concerts in South Korea. Soon after, they were kept busy in preparation for the first tour in Japan in promotion of their first Japanese album Heart, Mind and Soul. The members focused on increasing their fluency in Japanese for their activities in Japan, as fellow label-mate BoA had in her early years in Japan. Then for the first time, 東方神起 performed at a-nation, an annual Japanese live summer concert organized by Avex Trax that features j-pop artists in the record label. Moreover, they also released as many as five Japanese singles in total that year. 東方神起 then went on to be the first Asian group to win two Thailand Music Awards for both Best Music Video (Rising Sun) and Favorite Asian Artist. They also won the Popular Vote Asia Artist award at the Virgin Hits Awards 2006 in Thailand. Then their seventh Japanese single Sky hit #6 on the Oricon Weekly Chart, with their eighth single Miss You reaching #3 in Japan. They now had topped both the Japanese and Korean charts on the Malaysian radio show 988 twice with their singles “Begin” and “The Fighting Spirit Of The East”. The show has an audience of about 4.2 million listeners, reaching as far as Singapore. The group returned to Korea in late August in order to prepare for their third album titled ”O”-正.反.合. (‘O’ - Thesis), released on September 29, 2006 with two editions. (”O”-正.反.合 was re-released on November 11, 2006 to coincide with the group’s image change for the promotion of their second title song “Balloons.”) The release contained two further editions with new versions of Balloons and Get me some, along with a new track named White Lie written and composed by 東方神起 member Xiah. Balloons, in contrast to their lead single ”O”-正.反.合 and its heavy techno beats, is a lighter pop song about the innocence of childhood. It is a remake of an old hit by Five Fingers, re-written with a “modern feel” to try and appeal to kids of the new generation while relating to adults familiar with the original in an attempt to broaden their fan-base further. In the first month of its release, the third album surpassed the 100,000 mark in South Korea, and to date has sold over 330,000 copies, the highest selling album for 2006 in Korea. 東方神起 then released a DVD entitled All About TVXQ which became the best-selling DVD for 2006 in South Korea, with sales of 47,186 copies. With the success of the DVD, SBS and SM Entertainment, the co-producer of the 東方神起 DVD, are planning to release All About TVXQ Season 2 in late 2007. 東方神起 were special guests at the 51st Asia Pacific Film Festival, held in Taipei. They presented an award together with Taiwanese famous actress Ariel Lin and performed ”O”-正.反.合. At the 2006 MKMF Music Festival, the group won four awards, including Best Group and Artist of the Year. They also won the Daesang at the 21st Golden Disk Awards 2006, held on December 14th, in addition to a Bonsang. At the SBS Gayo Awards 2006, held on 29th December, the group won another Daesang in addition to a Bonsang. Then finally at the 16th Music Seoul Festival, which was held on the 1st December, the group won a total of three awards which included Daesang. Winning a remarkable four Daesangs in four major Korean music awards in total. The following year in March the group released their tenth Japanese single, Choosey Lover and seven days later released their second Japanese album entitled, Five in the Black. From early April, 東方神起 members began hosting a weekly radio program called TVXQ Bigeastation on Japan FM Network channel, which is currently being aired on seven local FM stations. In May, 東方神起 represented Korea on MTV’s Video Music Awards Japan Best Buzz Asia in Korea. They performed ”O”-正.反.合 live, combining both the Japanese and Korean versions of the song. They then won the Best Buzz Asia in Korea award. Their 11th Japanese single, titled LOVIN’ YOU, debuted as #2 on the Oricon charts on June 13, 2007. SUMMER ~Summer Dream/Song for you/Love in the Ice~ became the group’s first #1 single. The single took an overall #2 place in the first week on the Oricon weekly charts by selling 112,771 copies in that week alone.Love in the Ice then became the ending theme for the Japanese on air version of the Korean drama Snow Queen. Member Hero then went on to sing a duet called Just For One Day with label-mate 天上智喜 for their new Japanese single, Piranha, which was released on the same day as 東方神起’s summer single. 東方神起 then released their first digital single soon 여행기 featured in a Korean drama and a few days later released their 13th Japanese double A-side single SHINE / Ride On on September 19, which debuted as #2 on the Oricon charts, one spot behind Empress of J-pop and label-mate 浜崎あゆみ. 東方神起 will be collaborating with Queen of R&B and fellow label-mate 倖田來未 for her 38th single, LAST ANGEL which is stated to be released on November 7. A week later, 東方神起 will release their 14th Japanese single, FOREVER LOVE which will be featured with the Japanese version of 하루달, the theme song for k- drama Air City. The Japanese title will be Day Moon, which is once again the theme song for Air City Japanese on air version. TVXQ’s activities, however, are put on a hold as of now due to law suits and other conflicts causing the three members (Hero, Xiah and Mickey) and the remaining two (U-Know and Max) to ‘split.’ The group has not performed together since late 2009. They have released one single during the conflicts titled “BREAK OUT!” which have sold over 255,917 just in its first week. The group has recently released a “best of” album consisting of their many Japanese hits. The compilation album was released on on February 17th and has sold 228,542 a few moments after its release. Members :|Junsu|Yuchun|Jaejoong|Changmin|Yunho |
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