SUPER JUNIOR
Super Junior is a popular South Korean idol group. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak. Super Junior originally debuted with twelve members, consisting of leader Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook and Kibum. Kyuhyun joined the group in 2006. Known as the "Kings of the Hallyu Wave", Super Junior launched into international recognition following the release of their best-selling single "Sorry, Sorry" in 2009, the title song of their most critically successful album Sorry, Sorry and was the best-selling K-pop artist for three years in a row. Over the years, they have been divided into smaller subgroups, simultaneously targeting different music industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior's success as entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and hosting. In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has earned fourteen music awards from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, sixteen from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003. In 2012 they were nominated for "Best Asian Act" in MTV Europe Music Awards showing one more time their popularity around world.
In December 2009, Hankyung departed from the group after filing a lawsuit against their agency SM Entertainment. Hankyung subsequently won the lawsuit in December 2010, though his departure from Super Junior was not made official until September 27, 2011, when S.M. Entertainment finally released a statement to that effect. Heechul enlisted for his mandatory military service on September 1, 2011. Kangin was absent from the group for their fourth and fifth album promotions, but completed his service in April 2012, and rejoined the group for their sixth album in mid 2012, however, the absent three members are considered as part of the group regardless. Leeteuk enlisted for his mandatory military service on October 30, 2012. As of 2012, Super Junior has nine active members: Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. In 2000, SM Entertainment held their first overseas casting auditions in Beijing, China and recruited Hankyung, who auditioned against three thousand applicants. That same year, Leeteuk, Yesung, and Eunhyuk were recruited after auditioning for the company's annual casting system in Seoul. Sungmin and Donghae became trainees after jointly winning first place in an SM-sponsored contest in 2001.
In 2002, Heechul and Kangin were recruited along with Kibum, who was discovered in Los Angeles, California by a casting agent. Siwon became a trainee after being scouted in 2003 and Ryeowook in 2004, who was recruited into the company after winning the 2004 Chin Chin Youth Festival singing competition. Shindong and Kyuhyun, the latter winning third place at the 2005 Chin Chin Youth Festival, were cast in 2005. In early 2005, Lee Soo-man announced that he had been preparing for an all-boy project group of twelve members to debut at the end of the year. He called this singing group to be "The Gateway to Stardom of Asia," as most of the members in this group were chosen for their experiences as actors, MCs, models, and radio hosts prior debut. Heechul and Kibum were already established actors at the time, and most of the other members had already made various kinds of appearances in television and media. Inspired by the rotational concept of Japan's girl group Morning Musume, Lee said that his new group would also experience line-up changes, with new members replacing selected members every year to keep the group constantly young and all-rounded. This concept was then newly introduced to the K-pop market.
For a while the group was rumored to be called O.V.E.R, the acronym for "Obey the Voice for Each Rhythm". However, before the group settled with their current name, the company simply referred to them as juniors, a representation of the members' young ages when they first became SM trainees. After the members' showcased their different talents to the company at a picnic, the company finalized their group name to Super Junior, and officially became Super Junior'05, the first generation of Super Junior. Super Junior 05 made their pre-debut performance on the Korean channel Mnet on September 11, 2005. At the showcase, they performed various styles of hip-hop dancing, where they danced to B2K's "Take It to the Floor". Hankyung, Eunhyuk, and Donghae also performed a separate dance together, dancing to Usher's "Caught Up."However, the performance did not air on television until May 16, 2006 as a segment in the Super Junior Show, the group's first television documentary. The group officially debuted on SBS's music program Popular Song on November 6, 2005, performing their first single "Twins (Knock Out)". A digital single with "Twins (Knock Out)", "You Are the One", and three additional tracks were released online on November 8, followed by the release of their debut album SuperJunior05 (Twins) on December 6, 2005. The album sold 28,536 copies in the first month of release and debuted at number three in the monthly chart of December 2005.
This is the discography of South Korean boy band Super Junior, produced and managed by SM Entertainment. Super Junior has formed several sub-groups, which target different markets. While their subgroups are not as commercially successful as the main group, they provide a new degree of critical appraisal. Super Junior-T, for example, brought influence to the younger generation on trot-styled music and Super Junior-M is credited as an influential group in the Chinese music industry. The band has released six studio albums, six CD singles, and four live DVDs. The band also contributed in a total of seven compilations and soundtracks. The releases below are music records officially released by Super Junior, although the group has also unofficially-released productions, such as opening themes for radio shows and television shows. Their fourth album Bonamana is listed as the best-selling album of 2010 with 200,193 copies sold, and the repackaged version at ninth at 99,355 copies. On 12 April 2012, Gaon Chart announced that, up till the end of March 2012, their fifth studio album, Mr. Simple has sold a cumulative total of 502,830 copies in South Korea, the first to exceed half a million in four years, hence making it the highest-selling album of their career.
Studio Albums
- SuperJunior05 (Twins) Released: December 5, 2005 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: Cassette, CD, DL
- Don't Don Released: September 20, 2007 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: Cassette, CD, DVD, DL
- Sorry, Sorry Released: March 12, 2009 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD, DVD, D
- Bonamana Released: May 13, 2010 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD, DVD, DL
- Mr. Simple Released: August 3, 2011 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD, DVD, DL
- Sexy, Free & Single Released: July 4, 2012 Label: SM Entertainment Formats: CD, DVD, DL