F.T. Island ( ko, 에프티 아일랜드, or FT아일랜드, short for Five Treasure Island), is a South Korean
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band formed by
FNC Entertainment
FNC Entertainment (; stands for "fish and cake") is a South Korean entertainment company established in 2006 by South Korean singer and record producer Han Seong-ho. The label operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, ev ...
in 2007. The band currently consists of main vocalist
Lee Hong-gi
Lee Hong-gi (; born March 2, 1990), also known mononymously as Hongki, is a South Korean singer, actor, and media personality. He is best known as the front man of rock band F.T. Island. In 2015, Lee debuted as a solo artist with the rel ...
, bassist
Lee Jae-jin, and drummer
Choi Min-hwan.
Guitarist Oh Won-bin left the band in 2009 and was replaced by
Song Seung-hyun. Former leader
Choi Jong-hoon
Choi Jong-hoon (, ; born March 7, 1990) is a South Korean former musician and actor. He served as the leader, guitarist, and keyboardist of rock band F.T. Island from its debut in 2007 until his retirement from the entertainment industry in 2019. ...
left the band and retired from the entertainment industry on March 14, 2019, while Seung-hyun left the group on December 31, 2019, to pursue his acting career.
F.T. Island debuted on the music television program
M! Countdown
''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul.
B ...
on June 7, 2007, with the single "Love Sick". Their debut studio album, ''
Cheerful Sensibility'', was the sixth best-selling of the year and "Love Sick" topped the
K-pop charts for eight consecutive weeks.
Later that year, the band won the
Best New Male Group at the
Mnet Asian Music Awards and the Popularity and Rookie of the Year awards at the
Golden Disk Awards
The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to promo ...
.
F.T. Island made their Japanese debut on June 8, 2008, with the extended play ''
Prologue of F.T. Island: Soyogi''. The band started getting recognition in the country following the release of their third Japanese studio album, ''
Five Treasure Island
''Five Treasure Island'' is the first major label Japanese-language studio album by South Korean rock band F.T. Island, released by Warner Music Japan on 18 May 2011. The album placed first on the Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding c ...
'', in 2011, which topped the
Oricon Albums Chart and spawned the single "Flower Rock". Additionally, F.T. Island is the first foreign male band and the first band in 42 years to top the Oricon Daily Charts.
F.T. Island's most well-known songs include "After Love", "Bad Woman", "I Hope", "Hello Hello", "
Severely", "I Wish", and the chart-toppers "Love Sick", "Thunder", "Until You Come Back", and "Love Love Love". Considered to be South Korea's first
idol
Idol or Idols may refer to:
Religion and philosophy
* Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents
* Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
band, F.T. Island paved the way for such acts, including label mate
N.Flying.
History
2007–2008: Debut with ''Cheerful Sensibility'' and Japanese debut with ''Prologue of F.T. Island: Soyogi''
F.T. Island's first album, ''
Cheerful Sensibility'', was released on June 7, 2007. Prior to that, the members appeared on the Korean television show "Wanna be my girlfriend?" ( ko, 두근두근 여친만들기) on
Mnet
M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...
. The band also performed live on stage at Rolling Hall and held their first official showcase at Live House Melon-AX,
Gwangjang-dong
Gwangjang-dong is a '' dong'', neighbourhood of Gwangjin-gu in Seoul, South Korea.
Attractions
* AX Hall
* Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel
* Achasan
* Hangang
* Gwangjin Library
See also
*Administrative divisions of South Korea
South Korea is m ...
in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
on May 27, 2007.
The album combined 13 songs that were loosely divided into two parts, "''Emotional Chapter''" and "''F.T. Island Chapter''", according to the genre of the songs.
The "Emotional Chapter" consists of rock ballads, while the "F.T. Island Chapter" consists of a variety of pop rock sons produced by Japanese composers who worked with the Japanese band ''
SMAP
SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six- ...
''. Selling over 79,000 copies in 2007, it was the sixth best-selling album of the year.
The album was later re-packaged on December 3, 2007, titled ''The Refreshment (Vol. 1.5)'' with three extra songs, a photo book, a stack of photo cards and a mixing program called Music 2.0, which allows one to adjust the levels of the instruments and vocals. The edition sold 25,724 copies in December 2007.
![FT Island from acrofan (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/FT_Island_from_acrofan_%282%29.jpg)
After debuting in Korea, FNC Entertainment (formerly ''FNC Music'') moved F.T. Island's activities overseas. On March 31, 2008, an autograph session in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
at the Damansara Cineleisure was held, which was to be followed by the group's first concert at the Sunway Lagoon Amphitheater the next day. However, the performance was canceled and subsequently held in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
instead, at the
Royal Paragon Hall on April 14, 2008.
F.T. Island's first Japanese debut album, titled ''
Prologue of F.T. Island: Soyogi'', was then released on June 7, 2008. The album consists of eight songs, two of which were newer versions of the original songs "F.T. Island" and "Primadonna". The last track, "Always Be Mine", is an English version of "First Kiss" from their debut album (though the lyrics are original). Music videos were also released for "Soyogi" and "Friendship", displaying the band's professionalism and playful sides.
After their promotional activities in Japan, the band then returned to Korea, releasing their second Korean album ''
Colorful Sensibility
''Colorful Sensibility'' is the second studio album by South Korean band F.T. Island
F.T. Island ( ko, 에프티 아일랜드, or FT아일랜드, short for Five Treasure Island), is a South Korean rock band formed by FNC Entertainment in 2007 ...
'' on August 27, 2008. A follow-up epilogue, ''Colorful Sensibility Part 2'', was later released on October 17.
Later that year, F.T. Island also released "The One", their first Japanese commercial single under indie label AI Entertainment. The single charted at ninth on the
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
daily charts.
The single was also the last official release with member Oh Won Bin before his departure.
2009–2010: Lineup changes, F.T. Triple and breakthrough in Japan
On January 28, 2009, it was announced that member Oh Won Bin would be leaving the group, with FNC trainee Song Seung-hyun replacing him as a guitarist and backup vocalist. With the new change in lineup, F.T. Island then released the music video for their mini-album with the title song "Bad Woman". They promoted it on
SBS Inkigayo, and released their first Korean mini-album ''
Jump Up'' two days later.
On April 22, F.T. Island later released their second Japanese single, "I Believe Myself". For the first time, members participated in lyrics composition. For the song "Moonlight Angel", Jae-jin co-wrote the lyrics and Jong-hoon co-composed the song. "I Believe Myself" was the first Japanese single with member Seung-hyun. They held their 2009 F.T. Island Tour-I Believe Myself in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo during the summer of 2009. F.T. Island also toured parts of Asia which included Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and others to promote themselves in the summer of 2009. The showcase kicked off in Singapore during June 25 to 27.
While preparing for overseas promotions, the members were in the midst of recording their third album. On July 9, FNC Entertainment released jacket photos for the upcoming third album called ''
Cross & Change''. On the following day, a music video teaser for "I Hope" was released online, featuring kids watching their idols (played by the members themselves) on TV. The title song, called “I Hope/Barae”, was released on July 16. F.T. Island tried out a variety of music styles for ''Cross & Change''; it included a total of 12 songs, ranging from moving ballads to addictive songs with a bright melody. F.T. Island adopted a new fashion style and concept for the album using a "retro" and the “Bokgo” approach, which was inspired during the “jeans jeans look” from the 80s in Korea.
F.T. Island released their 3rd Japanese single, "Raining", on October 21. A music video of the single was released. Jong-hoon played the piano for the single for the first time instead of the guitar.
After celebrating their 1000th day in the music industry, they travelled to Japan and they stayed until the end of August to prepare for their major debut under their new Japanese label,
Warner Music
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...
Japan. They also began a new Japanese television show which aired on April 7, 2010. On May 19, F.T. Island released their new Japanese single "Flower Rock". It entered the
oricon daily charts in third position on May 19, 2010, on the day of its release, and held the fourth position of that week. On July 14, F.T. Island released another single named "Brand-new days", which was written and composed by Seung-hyun and Jong-hoon. F.T. Island performed a five-city concert tour in Japan after releasing both singles. They also performed at the international rock festival ''Summer Sonic 2010'' in
Maishima Arena,
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
,
Japan.
After promotions in Japan, F.T. Island focused on their comeback in Korea in mid-August.
Their new mini album ''
Beautiful Journey'' and the music video for their main title song "Love Love Love" were released on August 25. They held their comeback performance in Korea on August 27. The title song topped many popular music charts in South Korea and also gained international notice, especially in Taiwan. Jong-hoon co-wrote and co-composed the song, "Don Quixote's Song", making it their first Korean song that includes the composition of a member. In November and December, F.T. Island held performances such as the ''Beautiful Journey Concert'' and ''So Today... Concert'' tour, in both Korea and Japan.
Whilst promoting their second Korean mini-album, F.T. Island recorded another Japanese single titled "
So Today..." that was released in November. The song, "Boom Boom Boom", was composed by Jong-hoon. The single ranked sixth on the Oricon Daily Charts. With F.T. Island's 3rd single taking the sixth position, they then had a record of all their singles ranking in the top ten of the Oricon charts. About 10,000 fans turned up at their promotional events in Osaka and Tokyo on 20 and 21 November.
The band then held a concert in Taiwan on December 25, celebrating Christmas together with 9000 fans. Former vocalist and guitarist Oh Wonbin, appeared as a special guest and performed his first single as a solo artist and a brand new song, which had not been released at the concert. F.T. Island performed songs in three languages, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
With an album sales record of over 100,000, F.T. Island won favorable comments in the Taiwanese media. The revenue for concert tickets and merchandises alone and F.T. Island's ''Beautiful Journey'' concert had exceeded a total of NT$20Million. They have been named the Korean artists who earned the most money in the end of 2010. Four main news agencies namely, China Times, Yonhap News, Apple Daily and Liberty Times wrote news on the concerts, showing the band's high popularity. F.T. Island also broke several records in Taiwan with 500,000 hits on mobile downloads and 10,000,000 hits on music downloads.
2011–2012: Continued Japanese popularity, ''Return'' to Korea and rising popularity
![F](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/F.T._Island_Stand_Up_concert_20120309.jpg)
On April 20, 2011, F.T. Island released their seventh Japanese single "
Satisfaction". The single debuted at number two on the
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
weekly singles charts, becoming the band's highest-charting single in the country.
Their title song "Satisfaction" was also selected to be the ending theme song of
Fuji Television
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
's anime
Toriko
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro. It follows the adventures of Toriko, a Gourmet Hunter, as he searches for rare, diverse foods to complete a full-course meal. On his journey, he is accompanied b ...
.
On May 18, F.T. Island released their first major debut album in Japan, entitled ''
Five Treasure Island
''Five Treasure Island'' is the first major label Japanese-language studio album by South Korean rock band F.T. Island, released by Warner Music Japan on 18 May 2011. The album placed first on the Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding c ...
''. The album features songs from their previous singles such as "Flower Rock", "Brand New Days", "So Today...", and "Satisfaction"; it also contains several new tracks, including the soundtracks for Japanese drama ''
Muscle Girl!
is a Japanese drama.
Synopsis
Azusa Shiratori (Yui Ichikawa) is the only child of the president of "Shiratori Girls Pro Wrestling" - a small female professional wrestling league. After the death of her father from an illness, Azusa struggles ...
'', in which member Hong-gi played the lead male role. The album ranked first at the Oricon album daily chart.
In late May, F.T. Island returned to the South Korean music scene after almost a year, with a mini-album titled ''
Return''. The album was released on May 24. Title track was "Hello Hello", a fast-paced rock song. The album featured five songs in total. "I Confess" featured all of the members' vocals.
![CN Blue and F](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/CN_Blue_and_F.T._Island_20120309.jpg)
After releasing a tragic music video for their title track "
Severely", F.T. Island released their fourth mini-album, entitled
Grown-Up. Featuring five songs, it is composed of slow-tempo rock ballads. The album was released on January 31, 2012, and secured the No. 1 position on the Hanteo album chart for total album sales on both the daily and weekly charts, with title track "Severely" topping various online music charts. The album was completely sold out ten days after its release, recording some 50,000 copies sold. F.T. Island also achieved the "Triple Crown" recognition for "Severely" on
JTBC
JTBC (shortened from ''Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company'' (; stylized as jtbc) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on 1 December 2011. JTB ...
's ''
Music On Top
Music on Top (Korean: 뮤직온탑) is a South Korean music program broadcast on pay television network JTBC between 2011 and 2012. Hosted by Yoon Doo-joon of B2ST and actor Lee Hyun-woo, it aired live every Wednesday from Hoam Art Hall in Ju ...
''. "Triple Crown" is a recognition for any artist who have won a music programme three times consecutively and the song would be removed from further trophies.
On March 9, F.T. Island and fellow labelmate
CNBLUE
CNBLUE ( ko, 씨엔블루) is a South Korean pop rock band formed in 2009. The band consists of Jung Yong-hwa (leader, main vocals, guitar, keyboard, rap), Kang Min-hyuk ( drums), and Lee Jung-shin ( bass). First bassist Kwon Kwang-jin left t ...
performed in America for the first time at Los Angeles
Nokia Theater.
In April, the band returned to Japan to promote their 7th Japanese single "
Neverland
Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live.
Altho ...
", which was released on the 18th. “Neverland”, a fast tempo rock song, was chosen as the opening theme song of the animation Ozuma, a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Japanese broadcasting system WOWOW.
F.T. Island released their second studio Japanese album ''
20 ">wenty' on May 16, 2012. It debuted at number four on the weekly
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
albums chart, selling 41,726 copies in its first week,
earning the band their best first-week sales in Japan.
The same year, F.T. Island released their fourth Korean studio album ''
Five Treasure Box
''Five Treasure Box'' is the fourth studio album by South Korean rock music, rock band F.T. Island. It was released in South Korea on September 10, 2012, under FNC Entertainment and distributed by Mnet Media. Being the band's first studio album in ...
'' and its single "I Wish" on September 10. Within the first week of its release, the album sold over 30,000 copies in South Korea.
2013–2014: Japanese album, overseas activities, comeback in Korea, individual promotions
The band continued their TAKE FTISLAND tour which started the year before in Seoul, Korea and went to Taiwan in December 2012 and continued the tour in Shanghai and Beijing, China.
On March 27, 2013, F.T. Island released their single, "You Are My Life" with 2 tracks, "Beat It" and "Come Into My Dream". All three songs ended up in the top 5 of Japanese music site Dwango's K-Pop weekly ringtone chart. Also, their M/V for "You Are My Life" took first on Chinese video site
YinYueTai
YinYueTai (), is one of the major music video sharing sites in China. YinYueTai is the counterpart of Billboard and Gaon Charts in China and it hosts the annual V Chart Awards.
Summary
The website started when the founder could not easily find ...
's Korea chart.
Later on April 9, the band's 2009 album ''Jump Up'' topped Taiwanese music charts for Korean and Japanese releases, with "Bad Woman" ranking first on the songs chart, as well.
The group released their Japanese album ''
Rated-FT'' in June 2013, where members composed tracks such as "Time To", "Hold My Hand", "Black Chocolate" and "Orange Sky". The album charted at third on Japan's
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
Daily Album Chart on the day it is released.
F.T. Island released their 11th Japanese single "Theory of Happiness" on July 24, 2013. It included two tracks composed by the members which were "Eyes On Me" and "Rainy Day" which both topped the Oricon Daily Chart.
The band became the first Korean band to perform three years in a row on
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
's "Mezamashi Live!" on July 28, 2013. F.T. Island also performed live at rock festival, Summer Sonic 2013 in Tokyo on August 10 and in Osaka on August 11 which was their second appearance at the festival, after 2010. The band also completed their first Japan arena tour of seven cities, titled ''F.T. Island Arena Tour 2013 ~Freedom~'', drawing an audience of 100,000.
F.T. Island returned to Korea in late September 2013, and released their self-composed mini-album ''
Thanks To'', dedicated to their fans and supporters. "Memory" and "Always With You" was composed by main singer Hong-gi, "Try Again" by Jong-hoon, and "Falling Star" by Jae-jin. They held a two-day concert in Seoul on 28 and 29 September, in front of 6000 fans. The concert was called "FTHX", combining the first initials of the band FT with THX (thanks). 'Memory' by Hong-gi ranked No.1 on the Taiwanese Omusic chart. "According to the Taiwanese G-Music Chart, F.T. Island’s 6th anniversary album ‘Thanks To’ ranked the weekly chart No. 1 recording 28.84% sales among Asian album sales."
Their Japanese Zepp Tour started on October 1, 2013, in Tokyo, and later performed in Sapporo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Shizuoka and Nagoya, as well.
The band made their official Korean comeback with their fifth mini album ''
The Mood'' on November 18, 2013. It topped the weekly Hanteo chart and Gaon chart; and ranked first on the online HMV chart in Japan for pre-released sales.
![FTISLAND in Paris, La Cigale 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/FTISLAND_in_Paris%2C_La_Cigale_3.JPG)
F.T. Island started 2014 with a concert in Shanghai which was part of their FTIsland’s 6th-anniversary tour. The band released multiple albums and singles in Japan. ''
New Page'' was released on May 2014,
it sold an estimated 22,000 copies worldwide and charted at 3rd on the
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...
Daily Charts and 6th on the Oricon Weekly Charts.
A few months later, F.T. Island then released a second album, titled ''Japan Best – All About'' in October with the title track "Be Free".
It topped the Gaon physical album chart during October 5 and 11 periods, Tower Records Daily Pre-Order Charts and HMV Korean-Asia Daily Charts. It also achieved 8th position on the Gaon album chart for that month.
The band then released a new single, "To The Light" in October, which consists of three fully composed tracks. "Mitaiken Future" was released on March 16 and "Beautiful" on January 15. "Mitaken Future" was later included in the album ''New Page''. "Beautiful" charted at 4th position in Oricon's Daily Singles chart on the day same day when the album was released.
F.T. Island also held several tours and announced partnership with Taiwanese clothing brand, STAYREAL. They were invited and performed in one of China's most biggest music festival - Zebra Music Festival; where the band sang songs such as "Flower Rock" and "Freedom". Its ticket sales were also long sold out before the festival even started proving F.T. Island's immense popularity in China. Moreover, the band were also invited to perform in the Japanese MTV - Unplugged segment that only top artists could perform. Also, Hong-gi was also chosen to be the MC for M Countdown's 10th-anniversary special which proves the member's talent.
The members also promoted themselves individually throughout 2014. Min-hwan was cast in a musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat'', Seung-hyun collaborated with comedian
Song Eun-i
Song Eun-i (; born January 4, 1973) is a South Korean singer, actress and comedian. She made her debut as a theater actress in 1993. In the same year, she made her debut as a comedian in KBS. She is currently signed under her own management co ...
for ''Two Song Place'' and starred in the film, ''No One to Trust in the World''. Hong-gi resumed filming ''
Bride of the Century'' after his fall on an icy road. He also starred in the drama, ''
Modern Farmer''. and released his new accessory brand Skullhong. ''Hongstargram'' was also released as a travel book where he took pictures in his first solo tour in different countries. Jong-hoon was later announced in a new upcoming drama “Heroes”, said to premiere in 2015. He also launched his first Art Expedition In Japan where he showcased his artworks to the public. Jae-jin starred in Fashion Killa alongside Hong-gi as a special guest and also sang the title song for Bride of the Century, where member Hong-gi was starring in the drama.
2015–present: Continued releases, members departure and military enlistment
F.T. Island started 2015 with concerts in France, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the US. ''
I Will
"I Will" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles (album), The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and featur ...
'' was released on March 23. The album peaked at 7th on the
Billboard World Albums Chart in the second week of April. ''I Will'' also performed well on the
Gaon Chart, peaking 1st in physical album ranking and 3rd on the Gaon Social Charts in the third week of March. F.T. Island sold 31,000 copies of the album peaking in 7th position for the highest number of album copies sold in the entire month of March. For "Pray", they were awarded the ''Most Popular Band in Asia''. F.T. Island then toured China, Japan, Taiwan and more.
On the Japanese market, ''
5.....Go'' was released on May 13. The title song of the album, "Primavera" is a collaboration with Japanese rock singer
Takahiro Moriuchi
, known professionally as Taka, is a Japanese singer and musician who is the lead vocalist of the Japanese rock band One Ok Rock. Moriuchi is the band's main lyricist and composer. In 2017, ''Kerrang!'' magazine placed him at number 27 on their l ...
. "Puppy", a Japanese single, was released three months later and reached sixth position in Billboard's Japan Hot 100. F.T. Island then released the Korean version of the song. The band then held an autumn tour in 13 countries within 32 days.
In 2016, a Japanese studio album, ''
N.W.U'', was released on April 6. The album ranked first on the Japanese's Tower Record, which is the largest record store in Japan, and second on the Oricon daily album chart. It also topped the HMV Asia daily charts and K-pop charts for famous Japanese sound sources such as Dwango. The band performed in Osaka, Tokyo, and Aichi.
Their sixth Korean studio album, ''
Where's the Truth?'', was released on July 18. ''Where's the Truth?'' ranked 5th position on Billboard's World Album Charts. The album also charted at 1st in the Gaon Album Chart for the week of July 23.
"Just Do It" was released in July and topped HMV's Asian album chart, Amazon Japan's Asian pop chart, and landed in the top 3 on Tower Records' world music chart and hit No.5 on the Oricon Singles Chart. The song also came atop in Tower Records Japan for the top 10 K-pop singles and albums for the second week of September.
On March 14, 2019, Jong-hoon left the band and retired from the entertainment industry after being involved in the
Burning Sun scandal
The Burning Sun scandal, also known as Burning Sun gate, was a 2019 entertainment and sex scandal in Seoul, South Korea, which involved several celebrities, including Korean idols of popular K-pop groups, and police officials. It was the largest ...
, where he was part of a group chat in which some members shared videos of sexual activities recorded without the consent of the other party. Hong-gi began his mandatory military service on September 30, 2019, becoming the first F.T. Island member to enlist. On December 24, 2019, it was announced that Seung-hyun would leave the group and FNC following the end of his contract on December 31 in order to focus primarily on his acting career, while Hong-gi, Jae-jin, and Min-hwan renewed their contracts with their label. Jae-jin enlisted as an active duty soldier on January 21, 2020, while Min-hwan enlisted on February 24 as a reserve soldier. Hong-gi was discharged on April 18, 2021. Jae-jin was discharged on August 1, 2021. Min-hwan was discharged on September 2, 2021.
On April 25, 2022, FT Island will hold 'THE CON 2022: FT Island' at 6 PM on May 15, 2022 at the Jangchung Gymnasium in Jung-gu, Seoul. The show will be held after the 2019 concert held by FT Island before military service.
On July 16, 2022, it was announced that F.T. Island will hold another concert on August 20-21.
Sub-unit
In 2009, Jong-hoon, Min-hwan, and Jae-jin formed a sub-group called F.T. Triple. Some of the reasons behind this lineup were to showcase more of the members' skills and to prevent main singer, Lee Hong-gi, from overstraining his voice again. Another reason was to continue promoting F.T. Island while Hong-gi was filming ''
You're Beautiful
"You're Beautiful" is a song by English singer-songwriter James Blunt. It was written by Blunt, Sacha Skarbek and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album, ''Back to Bedlam'' (2004). It was released as the third single of the album in 2005.
In th ...
'' while Seung-hyun was having a break.
At first, the trio was unofficially announced at the Dream Concert in Japan as "A3". They almost named themselves A3 because they all are of blood type 'A'. They also wanted to keep the F.T. name hence adding Triple at the end of it to represent a trio.
In F.T. Triple, Jae-jin originally in charge of bass for F.T. Island becomes a guitarist and the main vocalist; Jong-hoon plays the piano and Min-hwan continues to play the drums. Their first single was titled "Love Letter" and was released with F.T. Island's 2CD Repackaged Album ''Double Date'' and a second CD named ''Two Date'' that features all of F.T. Triple's songs.
Members
Current members
*
Lee Hong-gi
Lee Hong-gi (; born March 2, 1990), also known mononymously as Hongki, is a South Korean singer, actor, and media personality. He is best known as the front man of rock band F.T. Island. In 2015, Lee debuted as a solo artist with the rel ...
– main vocals
(2007–present)
*
Lee Jae-jin – bass, lead vocals
(2007–present)
*
Choi Min-hwan – drums, percussion, vocals
(2007–present)
Former members
* Oh Won-bin – guitars, vocals
(2007–2009)
*
Choi Jong-hoon
Choi Jong-hoon (, ; born March 7, 1990) is a South Korean former musician and actor. He served as the leader, guitarist, and keyboardist of rock band F.T. Island from its debut in 2007 until his retirement from the entertainment industry in 2019. ...
– leader, guitars, keyboards, bass
(2007–2019)
*
Song Seung-hyun – guitars, vocals
(2009–2019)
Timeline
Discography
Korean albums
* ''
Cheerful Sensibility'' (2007)
* ''
Colorful Sensibility
''Colorful Sensibility'' is the second studio album by South Korean band F.T. Island
F.T. Island ( ko, 에프티 아일랜드, or FT아일랜드, short for Five Treasure Island), is a South Korean rock band formed by FNC Entertainment in 2007 ...
'' (2008)
* ''
Cross & Change'' (2009)
* ''
Five Treasure Box
''Five Treasure Box'' is the fourth studio album by South Korean rock music, rock band F.T. Island. It was released in South Korea on September 10, 2012, under FNC Entertainment and distributed by Mnet Media. Being the band's first studio album in ...
'' (2012)
* ''
I Will
"I Will" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles (album), The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and featur ...
'' (2015)
* ''
Where's the Truth?'' (2016)
* ''
Over 10 Years'' (2017)
Japanese albums
* ''
So Long, Au Revoir'' (2009)
* ''
Five Treasure Island
''Five Treasure Island'' is the first major label Japanese-language studio album by South Korean rock band F.T. Island, released by Warner Music Japan on 18 May 2011. The album placed first on the Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding c ...
'' (2011)
* ''
20 ">wenty' (2012)
* ''
Rated-FT'' (2013)
* ''
New Page'' (2014)
* ''
5.....Go'' (2015)
* ''
N.W.U'' (2016)
* ''United Shadows'' (2017)
* ''Planet Bonds'' (2018)
* ''Everlasting'' (2019)
Filmography
*''
Cheongdam-dong 111'' (2013–14)
*''Coming Out FTIsland'' (2015)
Awards and nominations
F.T. Island have won several major industry awards in South Korea, including several
Golden Disk Awards
The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to promo ...
,
Mnet Asian Music Awards and
Seoul Music Awards
The Seoul Music Awards (; SMA) is a major South Korean music awards show presented by the newspaper ''Sports Seoul''. The award winners are selected based on a combination of criteria, including music sales, popular votes, and expert judges' op ...
. They have also topped popular television music program charts like ''
Inkigayo'', ''
M! Countdown
''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul.
B ...
'' and ''
Music Bank
Music Bank may refer to:
* ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS
**''Music Bank World Tour
The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...
''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:F.T. Island
Japanese-language singers
K-pop music groups
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical quintets
South Korean pop rock music groups
Warner Music Japan artists
MAMA Award winners
FNC Entertainment artists
South Korean boy bands