Biography
TVXQ debuted in Korea on December 26th, 2003 during a BoA and Britney Spears Christmas special performance. They quickly found themselves at #1 on the Korean Charts with the single "HUG" after which they released their first album TRI-ANGLE. Their fanclub "Cassiopeia" was born, named after the constellation of five stars, matching the letters "TVfXQ" when typed on keyboard.
Since debut, the band has performed all over Asia, specifically China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan and has gained much recognition. In South Korea, their albums have consistently sold well with their last 3rd album ("O" Union) being the highest selling Korean album in 2006 and winning the group many awards. Due to the familiarity of the group in other East Asian countries, they have also been invited to do several commericals outside of Korea. TVXQ released singles in China, with parts of the songs redone in Chinese.
After sweeping major awards in South Korea, TVXQ worked in Japan for a year to gain a stronger foothold in the Japanese music industry. They released their 2nd Japanese album, Five in the Black and had consecutive monthly releases of singles from March till December. Many of their singles placed on Oricon's top three on their debut.
"Summer Dream" became TVXQ's most successful Japanese summer single in 2007, debuting as #1 and with sales of 112,771 copies in a week. Their single "SHINE / Ride On" debuted at #2 on the Oricon daily charts in October. Japanese singer Koda Kumi collaborated with TVXQ for her upbeat 38th single "Last Angel" in November, which ranked #3 on debut. In the same month, their 14th Japanese single "FOREVER LOVE" also debuted at #3. In December, the title song single "Together" for the "Cinnamon" animation movie debuted at #2.
In early April, the members began hosting a weekly radio program called "TVXQ Bigeastation" on Japan FM Network channel, aired on seven local FM stations. The group represented Korea on MTV's Video Music Awards Japan and won the 'Best Buzz Asia in Korea' award on May 26th, 2007. They were also invited to many prominent Japanese talk and music shows such as Hey!Hey!Hey! and Utaban during their stay.
Despite the prolonged absence from South Korea, TVXQ has been able to maintain their popularity in their homeland. During a virtual presidential election by MTV Korea, the group was voted as the "President of the Republic of Korean Music" among thirty other candidates by netizens. They were also appointed as the Korea's e-government ambassadors by the South Korean government. In Thailand, TVXQ had the highest foreign artists sales of 114,027 for 2007, while their single " SHINE" was #1 of the Top 10 of No.1 on Year Chart 2007 charts by Channel V Thailand.
TVXQ started off 2008 year with their 16th single "Purple Line", by the Korean composer of TVXQ's hits "Rising Sun" and ""O"-Jung.Ban.Hap.", being released both in Japan and South Korea. "Purple Line" topped the Oricon Weekly Chart becoming the group's first #1 on the weekly charts in Japan. The group released their third Japanese album, entitled T which contained songs from their past singles. As an exclusive extra, TVXQ added "Kiss Shita Mama, Sayonara" which was composed and written by the members Micky Yoochun and Hero Jaejoong, and their own version of "LAST ANGEL". T debuted in Oricon charts as #2 and entered the Top 20 of the United World Chart at #19.
Rhythm Zone, a side label of Avex, created a new marketing strategy for TVXQ by releasing five additional singles in February and March 2008 in consecutive weeks after the release of the album T. Each single contained a member's solo and a song that was part of "TRICK" included in the T album.
On March 28th, TVXQ was appointed the "Goodwill Ambassador for Asia" by Universal Studios Japan to promote the attractions of USJ.
The group released its 22nd single, Beautiful You / Sennen Koi Uta (千年恋うた) on April 23, 2008. The single debuted at number one on the Oricon daily and weekly chart, becoming TVXQ's third single to reach that position on the daily charts and second single to reach that position in the weekly chart. The group thus became the second non-Japanese Asian artist to do so, the first being Taiwanese artist Ouyang Feifei (歐陽菲菲), 24 years and 5 months ago.
On May 17, 2008, TVXQ performed "Rising Sun," "Tonight," and "Purple Line" at the 6th Korean Music Festival in Los Angeles, California. They also took part in ensemble encore performances of "Balloons" and SMTown's "Let's Go on a Trip." In addition, the group performed as the closing act at the 14th Annual Dream Concert at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul on June 7, 2008.
On June 12th, TVXQ ended their 2nd Asia Tour in Beijing with a performance for over 200,000 fans; the tour had begun on February 23, 2007 in Seoul, and spanned 13 performances covering Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Beijing. On top of that, their two separate live tours in Japan during 2007 and 2008 drew crowds of 55,000 and 150,000, respectively, for a total of 390,000 audience members attending the concerts.
On July 22, 2008, TVXQ became the first non-Japanese Asian artist to have three number one hits on the weekly Oricon singles chart, when their single Why Did I Fall In Love With You? (どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう?) attained the number one position with weekly sales of 68,000 copies.
On June 22, 2008, TVXQ was invited to perform at Avex's 20th anniversary general meeting of stockholders at the Saitama Super Arena. About 8,910 stockholders and their families attended the general meeting to congratulate Avex on their 20th founding anniversary; the number of Avex stockholders had increased by 2,800 compared to previous year.
TVXQ, which established itself as the face of Avex, was among the performers at the event.
Other performers included singer and songwriter Noriyuki Makihira, TRF, and seven-member dance vocal group Exile.[34] In Japan, TVXQ was also listed at #16 in the Most Searched Male Artist when Yahoo! Japan released its 2008 Search Word Ranking for the first half of the year.
TVXQ was also chosen as the new faces of the Lotte Duty Free Shops (DFS). A Lotte DFS representative explained that TVXQ was a well-known group all across Asia, so they believed that TVXQ was the most suitable choice as spokespeople for the Lotte Duty Free Shops. At the beginning of September, TVXQ shot the advertisements for Lotte at a studio in Seoul with photographer Kwon Young-ho. These ads will be released in November, which is also when TVXQ begins participating in various events sponsored by Lotte DFS.
On September 21, 2008, TVXQ performed a showcase event for the release of their fourth studio album entitled TVXQ’s "Giving Young Adults Hopes and Dreams-Fall Mini Concert". It was located in front of City Hall, Seoul Plaza. This was TVXQ's first public performance for their fourth album as they performed the title song, 주문 (Mirotic). This concert will be broadcast on October 10th on SBS.
The group's 4th Korean album entitled "MIROTIC" was released on September 26th, 2008; it was originally scheduled for release on September 24th, but was delayed due to the high amount of pre-orders of 300,000 albums. Over 350,000 copies of the album were sold on the first day of release, including the pre-order sales. The title song, 주문 (Mirotic), was composed by Remee,Troelsen and Lucas Secon, who also wrote BoA's U.S. debut single "Eat You Up".
SM Entertainment stated that when it first heard the song earlier in January, it knew it would be the perfect song to revamp the image of the group.
The group finished recording the song in June. Kenny Wormald, who has worked with Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Christina Aguilera, was put in charge of choreography of the title track, Mirotic which was unveiled online on September 19 through major music portals including Melon, Dosirak and Soribada.
Two days after its launch in music stores, Mirotic rose on music sale charts. According to Hanteo charts, the CD-only version of Mirotic has sold 90,000 copies as of September 30. It has risen to #1 on the weekly and monthly charts. The album has also topped Hot Tracks, Yes24, and other music sale charts. Mirotic is currently the best selling album of 2008 in Korea. It sold around 500,000 copies until the end of December 2008.
