2PM is a six-member boy band that debuted in 2008 and is still active, although it was quiet for a while because the members were doing their military service. The group recently released a new album, making it clear that we will continue to hear from them even after just over 13 years! A major achievement, as only a handful of idol groups have reached this age, including SHINee, Super Junior, Girls Generation and A-Pink.
In all these years, 2PM has of course experienced a lot and released quite a few albums. But don't worry, you don't have to wade through a page-long list of her works and lengthy explanations. We'll shorten the story a little and focus on the really interesting details.
One Day
In a documentary called “Hot Blood Men,” JYP Entertainment showed the group’s hard training before their debut and the creation of the boy band “One Day.” During the documentary, several trainees were eliminated, including Yoon Doo Joon, who then moved to Cube Entertainment and debuted in B2ST (now Highlight) in 2009. Ultimately, One Day consisted of eleven members. The band was then split into two groups: the seven-member hip-hop boy band 2PM and the four-member ballad group 2AM.
2PM debuted on September 4, 2008, almost two months after 2AM, with the single album “Hottest Time of the Day”. In the music video for the title song “ 10 out of 10 ”, the boys showed acrobatic dance moves and a mature image that made them stand out among the boy groups of the time. But it was the second single album “2:00PM Time For Change” with the song “Again & Again” that catapulted them to the top of the charts in April 2009!
Jaebom
In September 2009, articles about 2PM's leader Jaebom surfaced online because a private social media account surfaced in which Jaebom expressed his dislike of Korea before his debut. The singer was born in Seattle and moved to South Korea in 2005 after taking part in a JYP Entertainment talent casting in his homeland.
JYP Entertainment's founder Park Jin Young announced shortly after the articles surfaced that Jaebom would not be forced to leave 2PM as some fans demanded. But the very next day, Jaebom announced that he would return to the United States so that the situation could calm down.
2PM released the next album “01:59PM” in November 2009, thus with six members. But although Jaebom was not featured on the cover or in the music video for the title song “ Heartbeat ”, his voice could be heard in a few of the other songs. In addition, Park Jin Young said that Jaebom could return to 2PM at any time. By this time, it was also clear that the comments that had sparked the scandal had been poorly translated and taken out of context. Fans wished that the leader would rejoin the group, but in February 2010, JYP announced that his contract had been terminated. This announcement was followed by protests: 2PM fan sites were closed and products promoted by the group were boycotted. The situation soon calmed down, however, and the album “Don't Stop Can't Stop”, released in April, topped several charts!
Jabeom returned to Korea in 2010 and debuted as a solo artist. Today he is known by the stage name “Jay Park”.
Further successes
In October 2010, the new album "Still 2:00PM" reached number 13 on the Billboard World Album Charts. Since 2PM did not promote in the United States, this was an unexpected success! That same month, the boy band became the first Korean artist ever to win the “Most Popular Asian Singer” award at the “Annual Mandarin Music Honors” in China.
In May 2011, 2PM released their first Japanese single "Take Off" and subsequently held their first six-date Japanese concert tour. However, the boy band made their official Japanese debut in December 2010 with a show called "2PM 1st Contact in JAPAN LIVE".
With the album "Grown", 2PM landed in the Billboard World Album Charts for the second time in May 2013 and stayed there for three weeks! In addition, the song " ADTOY " from the album was later included in the Billboard list of the 20 best K-Pop songs of 2013! After Grown, the eighth Japanese single " Winter Games " was released in October and the Japanese album "Genesis of 2PM" in January 2014. Fans had to wait a relatively long time for a new Korean album, because the comeback announced for April was postponed because a fire broke out during the filming of the music video! Luckily, no one was injured and the fire had already been put out by the time the fire brigade arrived. The album was later postponed again due to the members' individual activities, but in September the time had finally come! 2PM released "Go Crazy" and a music video for the title song of the same name.
Two Japanese and one Korean albums later, “Gentlemen’s Game” was released in September 2016; the last album before the members of 2PM began mandatory military service. The boy band gave a few more concerts at the beginning of 2017, but then it was a matter of waiting.
Fans longing for the group's return at least got some good news in January 2018, as JYP Entertainment announced that five of the six members had extended their contracts with the agency while Taecyeon was still in negotiations. In July there was more news: Taecyeon had decided to change agencies and signed a contract with “51K”. If anyone's heart stopped, they were quickly put at ease as both JYP and Taecyeon himself announced that he would continue to be active as a member of 2PM!
The group proved this year that this really works, because just three months after Junho was the last of the six to be discharged from the military, the boy group released a new album called “ Must ”! As usual, they wow audiences with their mature image and laid-back choreography. The title song “Make It” was written by Wooyoung, among others.
The members were apparently just as happy about the reunion as their fans, because at the end of September they released a new Japanese album together (With Me Again) and at the end of October a new photo book will be released! Find out more about “ The Hottest Origin: Must Making Book ” here !
Now that we have given you an overview of the history of 2PM, we would like to briefly talk about the individual members. How old are you? Who is pursuing an acting career solo? Are there any confirmed projects for the future? You can find out all this and more here!
The members
| Artist name | Real name | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Jun.K | Kim Min Joon | 15.01.1988 |
| Nichkhun | Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul | 24.06.1988 |
| Taecyeon | Ok Taecyeon | 27.12.1988 |
| Wooyoung | Jang Woo Young | 30.04.1989 |
| Junho | Lee Junho | 25.01.1990 |
| Chansung | Hwang Chansung | 11.02.1990 |
Jun.K
On October 7, 2011, three years after his debut in 2PM, Jun.K released his first solo single “ Alive ”, which was later included on the best of album “2PM Best: 2008-2011 in Korea” released in March 2012. His first Japanese solo album “Love & Hate” was released in May 2014. Another Japanese album followed in November 2015, before Jun.K finally presented his fans with his first Korean album “Mr.No” in August 2016. To date, he has added six more solo albums to his discography, the last “This Is Not A Song” in March of this year!
| Love & Hate (Jap) | published on 14.05.2014 |
|---|---|
| Love Letter (Jap) | published on 25.11.2015 |
| Mr.No (Kor) | published on 09.09.2016 |
| No Shadow (Jap) | published on 14.12.2016 |
| 77-1X3-00 (Kor) | published on 12.01.2017 |
| My 20's (Kor) | published on 30.11.2017 |
| No Time (Jap) | published on 04.04.2018 |
| 20 Minutes (Kor) | published on 09.12.2020 |
| This Is Not A Song (Jap) | published on 10.03.2021 |
Nichkhun
Nichkhun was born in the United States and raised in Thailand by his Thai-Chinese parents. In 2006, he moved to Korea after being discovered by JYP Entertainment. The singer now speaks five languages - Thai, English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese - and has appeared in Japanese, Chinese and Thai films and series since 2011. In 2017, Nichkhun played a leading role in a Korean series (Magic School) for the first time.
After years of focusing on his acting career, Nichkhun released his first solo album “Me” in December 2018; first in Japanese and then in Korean in February 2019. The song "Umbrella", dedicated to his fans, was released in 2019 in three other languages: English, Thai and Chinese. So his music reflects his broad background! The second and so far last solo album "Story Of..." was released like "Me" in both Japan and Korea.
| Me (Japanese version) | published on 19.12.2018 |
|---|---|
| Story Of ... | published on 25.12.2019 |
Late last year, it was confirmed that Nickhun would star in a Hollywood film called “Hong Kong Love Story.” So hopefully we'll see it on the big screen soon!
Taecyeon
Taecyeon made his acting debut in the K-drama “Cinderella’s Sister” in 2010, but is best known for his starring role in “Dream High” in 2011.
In 2012, he produced a digital album called “Blue Bears with Taecyeon” together with other former students of “Dankook University”. In 2017 he released his first and last Japanese solo album “Taecyeon Special: Winter Hitori”. Even after returning from military service, Taecyeon continued to pursue his acting career, playing leading roles in “The Game: Toward Zero” (2020) and most recently in the very popular drama “Vincenzo” (2021). In November we will see him in a new series called “Royal Secret Inspector Joy”.
Wooyoung
Wooyoung made his acting debut in 2011 and released his first solo album “23, Male, Single” in Korea a year later. Like the other members, he didn’t stick to one language and released his Japanese single ROSE in 2015. Since then, fans have been able to add another Korean album and two Japanese albums to their collection.
| 23, Male, Single (Kor) | published on 08.07.2012 |
|---|---|
| Party Shots (Jap) | published on 19.04.2017 |
| It Is Still… (Jap) | published on 11.10.2017 |
| Bye (Kor) | published on 15.01.2018 |
So far, his role in “Dream High,” which Wooyoung co-starred with Taecyeon in 2011, is his only real acting activity. In an interview shortly before starting his military service, the singer stated that he has no interest in an acting career and Dream High will probably be his last drama. While some fans may be disappointed about this, we're even more hopeful that a new solo album will be released soon now that Wooyoung is back!
Junho
Junho made his solo debut in 2013 with the Japanese mini album “Kimi no Koe”, for which he wrote, composed and produced all the songs himself! Since then, he has released more solo albums than any other member of the group, although only two more than Jun.K.
| Kimi no Koe (Jap) | published on 24.07.2013 |
|---|---|
| Feel (Jap) | published on 09.07.2014 |
| So Good (Jap) | published on 15.07.2015 |
| One (Kor) | published on 14.09.2015 |
| One (Jap) | published on 30.09.2015 |
| DSMN (Japan) | published on 20.07.2016 |
| 2017 S/S (Jap) | published on 26.07.2017 |
| Canvas (Jap) | published on 11.09.2017 |
| Winter Sleep (Jap) | published on 25.01.2018 |
| Souzou (Jap) | published on 11.07.2018 |
| June The Best | published on 05.12.2018 |
| Two | published on 15.01.2019 |
Chansung
Chansung appeared in the series “Unstoppable High Kick” before his debut in 2008 and is still active as an actor today. He attracted attention with roles in “Whats Wrong with Secretary Kim”, “My Holo Love” and most recently “So I Married the Anti-fan”, among others. Like Junho, Taecyeon and Nichkhun, he has already confirmed his next role and will be seen in a new series titled “Show Window: Queen’s House” later this year!
In 2018 he released his first and only Japanese solo album “Complex”.
Bonus
Did you know that 2PM hasn't had an official leader since 2010? After Jaebom left the group, the members did not fill the position, making them one of the few K-pop groups that do not have a leader. Other groups without leaders include Blackpink and Oneus.
