Big Bang (Korean: 빅뱅) is a South Korean boy band formed
by YG Entertainment. Consisting of members G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung,
and Seungri, the group officially debuted on August 19, 2006. Debuting
with a predominantly hip hop sound, their debut was a moderate success, with
their first self-titled Korean album selling 48,000 copies. Their
breakthrough came with the release of their first extended play, Always (2007),
which included the number one song "Lies" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised
Romanization: Geojitmal). The song went on to top major Korean music
charts for a record-breaking seven consecutive weeks, and won the group
the Song of the Year award at the 9th Mnet Korean Music Festival.
Big Bang’s follow-up releases furthered their success and
popularity: Hot Issue (2007) spawned the chart-topping song
"Last Farewell," (Korean: 마지막 인사; Revised Romanization: Majimak Insa),
while Stand Up (2008) produced "Haru Haru" (Korean: 하루하루,
English: Day by Day). After receiving the Artist of the Year award
from the 2008 Mnet Korean Music Festival, the group expanded their
endeavors to Japan, releasing both their second Korean studio-album, Remember,
and their first Japanese album, Number 1, in the same year, and
consequently winning three awards at the 9th MTV Video Music Awards Japan. They
would go on to release three more Japanese studio albums: Big Bang (2009), Big
Bang 2 (2011), and the Japanese-language edition of Alive (2012). Amidst
their Japanese promotions, the members branched out to do solo activities:
Taeyang and G-Dragon released solo albums, G-Dragon and T.O.P formed a sub-unit,
Seungri and Daesung acted in musicals and hosted variety shows, and T.O.P went
on to star in various films and television shows.
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