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List of South Korean boy bands

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South Korean boy bands refer to South Korea's all-male idol groups who account for a large portion of the K-pop industry. Korean boy bands have aided in the global spread and promotion of Korean culture through their demonstrated prominence and popularity. The emergence of hip-hop music act Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 shifted the focus of the Korean music industry to teen-centred pop music. Idol bands of young boys or girls were formed to cater to a growing teenage audience. In 1995, Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment, brought the idol trainee system to South Korea, which further solidified the format for idol bands and modern Korean pop culture.[1]

Boy bands from the late 90s and early 2000s, such as H.O.T., Sechs Kies, Shinhwa, and g.o.d, who were trained with the idol system, are cited to help build the foundations as the first successful all-male groups in Korea and as pioneers of the first Hallyu Wave.[2] From 2007 onward, second generation groups, such as BigBang, TVXQ, Super Junior, 2PM, Shinee, Beast, and Infinite, continued to grow the popularity of boy bands domestically in Korea, as well as globally through the second phase of Hallyu.[2] The rise of groups such as Exo and BTS in 2012 and 2013 launched the third generation of boy bands and introduced K-pop to mass global appeal.[2] BTS, in particular, has attained mainstream Western appeal with number-one hits on the Billboard charts and multiple collaborations with several global artists, including Coldplay, Nicki Minaj, and Halsey. Other major boy bands that debuted from 2012 onward include Seventeen, NCT, Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, Ateez, and Enhypen, all of whom continue to garner widespread attention and build K-pop's global appeal.[2]

Generation 1[edit]

South Korean boy bands that debuted in the 90s to 2002, arranged in alphabetical order.

Best selling boy bands[edit]

Best-selling generation 1 South Korean boy bands
Group and years active Notable singles
g.o.d (1995–2005, since 2014)
H.O.T. (1996–2001, 2018-19)
  • "Warrior's Descendant" (1996)
  • "Candy" (1996)
  • "We Are the Future" (1997)
  • "Hope" (1998)
  • "I Yah!" (1999)
  • "Outside Castle" (2000)
Sechs Kies (1997–2000, 2016-21)
  • "School Anthem" (1997)
  • "The Way This Guy Lives" (1997)
  • "Road Fighter" (1998)
  • "Couple" (1998)
  • "Three Words" (2016)[a]
  • "Be Well" (2017)[a]
  • "Something Special" (2017)[a]
  • "Don't Look Back" (2021)[b]
Shinhwa (since 1998)
  • "T.O.P (Twinkling of Paradise)" (1999)
  • "Only One" (2000)
  • "Wild Eyes" (2001)
  • "Perfect Man" (2002)
  • "Your Wedding" (2002)
  • "Brand New" (2004)
  • "Crazy" (2004)
  • "Once in a Lifetime" (2006)
  • "Venus" (2012)[b]
  • "This Love" (2013)[b]
  • "Memory" (2015)[b]
  • "Sniper" (2015)[b]
  • "Touch" (2017)[b]

Other notable groups[edit]

Generation 2[edit]

South Korean boy bands that debuted in 2003 to 2011, arranged in alphabetical order.

Best selling boy bands[edit]

Best-selling generation 2 South Korean boy bands
Group and years active Notable singles
2AM (2008–14, since 2021)
2PM (2008–2017, since 2021)
B1A4 (since 2011)
Beast / Highlight (since 2009)
  • "Bad Girl" (2009)[c]
  • "Shock" (2010)[b][c]
  • "Breath" (2010)[b]
  • "Beautiful" (2010)[b]
  • "On Rainy Days" (2010)[b]
  • "Fiction" (2011)[b]
  • "I Knew It" (2012)[a]
  • "Midnight" (2012)[b][c]
  • "Beautiful Night" (2012)[b]
  • "Will You Be Alright?" (2013)[a]
  • "I'm Sorry" (2013)[b]
  • "Shadow" (2013)[b]
  • "Sad Movie / Kurisumasu Kyaroru no Koro ni wa" (2013)[b]
  • "No More" (2014)[a]
  • "Good Luck" (2014)[a]
  • "12:30" (2014)[b]
  • "Adrenaline" (2015)[c]
  • "Kimi wa Dou?" (2015)[c]
  • "Gotta Go to Work" (2015)[b]
  • "YeY" (2015)[b]
  • "One" (2015)[c]
  • "Hands Up" (2015)[c]
  • "Can't Wait to Love You" (2015)[c]
  • "This Is My Life" (2015)[c]
  • "Last Word" (2015)[c]
  • "Saigo no Hitokoto" (2015)[d]
  • "Stay Forever Young" (2015)[c]
  • "Butterfly" (2016)[b]
  • "Ribbon" (2016)[b]
  • "Guess Who?" (2016)[d]
  • "Freaking Cute" (2016)[c]
  • "Whole Lotta Lovin'" (2016)[c]
  • "It's Still Beautiful" (2017)[b]
  • "Plz Don't Be Sad" (2017)[a]
  • "Calling You" (2017)[b]
  • "Can Be Better" (2017)[b]
BigBang (2006–2018, 2022)
Block B (2011–18)[A]
  • "I'll Close My Eyes" (2012)[b]
  • "Nillili Mambo" (2012)[b]
  • "Very Good" (2013)[b]
  • "Jackpot" (2014)[b]
  • "H.E.R" (2014)[b]
  • "A Few Years Later" (2016)[b]
  • "Toy" (2016)[b]
  • "Yesterday" (2017)[a]
CNBLUE (since 2009)
F.T. Island (since 2007)
  • "Lovesick" (2007)[a]
  • "Thunder" (2007)[a]
  • "Until You Come Back" (2007)[a]
  • "After Love (2007)[b]
  • "Love Love Love" (2010)[a]
  • "Hello Hello" (2010)[b]
  • "Severely" (2012)[b]
  • "I Wish" (2012)[b]
Infinite (2010–2019, since 2023)
MBLAQ (2009-15)[A]
  • "Ah Yeah" (2009)
  • "Y" (2010)[b]
  • "Mona Lisa" (2011)[b]
  • "Your Luv" (2011)[c]
  • "Baby U! " (2011)[c]
  • "Scribble" (2012)[b]
  • "This Is War" (2012)[b]
Shinee (since 2008)
SS501 (2005-10)
  • "Warning" (2005)
  • "Never Again" (2005)
  • "Snow Prince" (2005)
  • "4Chance" (2006)
  • "Kokoro" (2007)[c]
  • "Distance" (2007)[c]
  • "Deja Vu" (2008)
  • "U R Man" (2008)
  • "Lucky Days" (2008)[c]
  • "Love Like This" (2009)
  • "Love Ya" (2010)[b]
Super Junior (since 2005)
Teen Top (since 2010)
  • "Clap" (2010)
  • "Going Crazy" (2012)[b]
  • "Be Ma Girl" (2012)[b]
  • "Miss Right" (2013)[b]
  • "Rocking" (2013)[b]
  • "Missing" (2014)[b]
TVXQ (since 2003)

Other notable groups[edit]

Generation 3[edit]

South Korean boy bands that debuted in 2012 to 2017, arranged in alphabetical order.

Best selling boy bands[edit]

Best-selling generation 3 South Korean boy bands
Group and years active Notable singles Platinum-certified albums[4]
Astro (since 2016)
  • "Baby" (2017)[h]
  • "After Midnight" (2021)[b]
  • "Candy Sugar Pop" (2022)[b]
B.A.P. (2012–19)
  • "No Mercy" (2012)[c]
  • "Warrior" (2013)[c]
  • "One Shot" (2013)[c]
  • "1004 (Angel)" (2014)[b]
  • "Excuse Me" (2014)[c]
  • "Feel So Good" (2016)[c]
  • "Fly High" (2016)[c]
  • "Wake Me Up" (2017)[c]
  • "Honey Moon" (2017)[c]
  • "Hands Up" (2017)[c]
 —
BtoB (since 2012)
—
BTS (since 2013)
Exo (since 2012)
Got7 (2014)
iKon (since 2015)
—
Monsta X (since 2015)
  • "Hero" (2015)[c]
  • "Beautiful" (2017)[c]
  • "Spotlight" (2018)[c]
  • "Livin' It Up" (2018)[c]
  • "Shoot Out" (2018)[c]
  • "Alligator" (2019)[c]
  • "Love Killa" (2020)[c]
  • "Wish on the Sky" (2020)[c]
  • "Wanted" (2021)[c]
NCT[B] (since 2016)
NU'EST (2012-22)
  • "Nanananamida" (2017)[c]
  • "I'm in Trouble" (2020)[b]
  • "Inside Out" (2021)[b]
Seventeen (since 2015)
The Boyz (since 2017)
  • "Maverick" (2021)[b]
  • "Roar" (2023)[b]
  • Chase (2020)
  • Thrill-ing (2021)
  • Be Aware (2022)
  • Phantasy Pt.1: Christmas in August (2023)
  • Phantasy Pt.2: Sixth Sense (2023)
  • Phantasy Pt.3: Love Letter (2024)
VIXX (since 2012)
  • "Voodoo Doll" (2013)[b]
  • "Eternity" (2014)[b]
  • "Error" (2014)[b][c]
  • "Love Equation" (2015)[b]
  • "Chained Up" (2015)[b]
  • "Can't Say" (2015)[c]
  • "The Closer" (2016)[b]
  • "Hana-Kaze" (2016)[c]
 —
Wanna One (2017-19)
Winner (since 2013)
  • "Empty" (2014)[a]
  • "Color Ring" (2014)[b]
  • "Sentimental" (2016)[b]
  • "Baby Baby" (2016)[b]
  • "Really Really" (2017)[a]
  • "Fool" (2017)[b]
  • "Love Me Love Me" (2017)[b]
  • "Everyday" (2018)[b]
  • "Millions" (2018)[b]
  • "Ah Yeah" (2019)[b]
 —

Other notable groups[edit]

Generation 4[edit]

South Korean boy bands that debuted since 2018, arranged in alphabetical order.

Best selling boy bands[edit]

Best-selling generation 4 South Korean boy bands[C]
Group and years active Notable singles Platinum-certified albums[4]
Ateez (since 2018)
  • "Dreamers" (2019)[c]
  • "Limitless" (2023)[c]
  • "Not Okay" (2024)[c]
BoyNextDoor (since 2023) —
Cravity (since 2020)
Enhypen (since 2020)
  • "Given-Taken" (2020)[d]
  • "Drunk-Dazed" (2021)[d]
  • "Tamed-Dashed" (2021)[d]
  • "Bite Me" (2023)[c]
  • "Blossom" (2023)[c]
  • "Bills" (2023)[c]
Plave (since 2023)
  • "Merry PLLIstmas" (2023)[b]
  • "Way 4 Luv" (2024)[b]
  • Asterum: The Shape of Things to Come (2023)
  • Asterum: 134-1 (2024)
Riize (since 2023)
  • "Love 119" (2024)[b]
Stray Kids (since 2018)
Tomorrow X Together (since 2019)
  • "9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)" (2019)[c]
  • "Drama" (2020)[c]
  • "Good Boy Gone Bad" (2022)[c]
Treasure (since 2020) —
Zerobaseone (since 2023)

Other notable groups[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Indefinite hiatus.
  2. ^ The group consists of 26 members divided into six different sub-units: NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV, NCT DoJaeJung, and NCT Wish.
  3. ^ Boy bands that have multiple platinum-certified albums from Korea Music Content Association.
  4. ^ The album is certified Million by Korea Music Content Association.
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi Number-one song on South Korea's Circle Digital Chart.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp fq fr fs ft fu fv fw fx fy fz ga gb gc Top-ten song on South Korea's Circle Digital Chart.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp fq fr fs ft fu fv Top-ten song on Japan's Oricon Singles Chart.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap Number-one song on Japan's Oricon Singles Chart.
  5. ^ Circle Chart did not exist at that time. However, the song received 3,000,000 sales.[3]
  6. ^ Circle Chart did not exist at that time. However, the song peaked at #4 on the MIAK charts for the month of January 2004. It entered the Circle Album Chart in 2014 and peaked at #12 for the week of January 12–18, 2014.
  7. ^ Circle Chart did not exist at that time. However, the song received 4,173,225 sales.[3]
  8. ^ Top-ten song on K-pop Hot 100.
  9. ^ The song is certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
  10. ^ a b c d e Top-ten song on Billboard Japan Hot 100.
  11. ^ The song is certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "한국 최초 연습생 출신 가수 김완선 보아가 벤치마킹.(in korean)". chosunilbo. April 5, 2016. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021. [Lee Soo-man training system benchmarked Korean trainee singer Kim Wan-sun in the 1980s, and then the trainee system was introduced.]
  2. ^ a b c d Bell, Crystal (September 12, 2023). "K-Pop's Fifth Generation Is Coming. What Does That Mean?". Nylon. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "What are the top-selling singles for these K-pop groups?". SBS PopAsia. February 28, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Circle Chart Album Certifications". Retrieved June 9, 2024.
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