CNBLUE

South Korean pop-rock band CNBLUE, formed in 2009, comprises Jung Yong-hwa (leader, main vocals, guitar, keyboard, rap), Kang Min-hyuk (drums), and Lee Jung-shin (bass), (with long-term guitarist Lee Jong-hyun, exiting the group in 2019). The group had a slow start, making their official Japanese debut in August, 2009, with EP Now or Never failing to attain traction and second EP Voice scraping into the Oricon charts at 227. Not to be deterred, CNBLUE made their Korean debut in 2010 and Bluetory was released on January 14, gaining significant attention. The lead single, "I'm a Loner," became a commercial success, securing chart-topping wins on major music programs. Still attempting to break into the Japanese music scene, their full-length independent album Thank U landed at number 90 and the band returned to Korea, releasing their next single, "Love Light," followed by the EP Bluelove in May which both fared well on the Gaon Album Charts. Continuing to pursue the Japanese market, they finally cracked the Top 10 with second Japanese single "I Don't Know Why," announcing their major debut under Warner Music Japan seeing "In My Head" peak at number four. Their first full-length Korean album First Step, released in March 2011, landed at Number 1 with lead single “Intuition” also hitting the top position, and earning them multiple awards. The following year, the band finally hit the top of the Oricon charts with Code Name Blue which spawned several hit singles including the gold-certified “In My Head’ as well as Number 1 single “Where You Are.” Over the next few years, the band continued their successful streak, with a slew of top charting Korean EPs including Ear Fun (2012), Re:Blue (2013), Can’t Stop (2014) and Blueming (2015), as well as several Japanese albums, most notably Wave (2014) and Colors (2015), the latter skyrocketing them to the coveted Number 1 spot, with subsequent releases including 2016 mini-albums Blueming and Euphoria as well as Stay Gold (2017) keeping them in the top 3. The group experienced a major setback in 2019, however, after Jonghyun’s shock departure however the remaining trio released Re-Code in 2020, which still managed to reach the top 5, and Japanese single “Zoom” which remained in the top 10. In 2023, they made their comeback with PLEASURES, which was released on October 25.

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