All about the K-Pop sensation SF9!

K-Pop Blog > Artists > SF9

SF9 is the first dance boy group from FNC Entertainment, a label that previously produced mainly bands. The boy group has slowly but surely worked its way up and can now count on the support of fans all over the world!

In our store you can browse through albums and fan merchandise from SF9!

SF9 debuted in October 2016, but was introduced to the public months earlier.

NEOZ SCHOOL: Dance Team

In late 2015, FNC Entertainment featured several trainees preparing for their debut on a Youtube channel called " FNC NEOZ SCHOOL". NEOZ SCHOOL was a new training system of the label and the videos on the channel showed the trainees taking classes. In addition, dance covers were also uploaded, for example. In December 2015, 11 trainees performed under the name "NEOZ" at the "FNC Kingdom 2015" concert in Japan.

Shortly after, in 2016, FNC Entertainment eventually produced a survival show called "Dance or Band" (d.o.b for short). First, the now nine-member Dance Team was introduced, preparing to debut. The Dance Team was special because it was to be the label's first dance boy group! (FNC Entertainment at the time was best known for its bands F.T.Island, C.N.BLUE and N.Flying). Shortly after the first episode of d.o.b. began, however, the dance team discovered that they were not alone. The four-member band team, whose members had also been previously introduced by NEOZ SCHOOL, joined them as rivals. The show, as the name suggests, would decide whether the Dance Team or the Band Team would debut afterwards! In the finals, both teams performed a new original song. The Dance Team took the victory with the song "K.O.":

The Band Team debuted a few months after the Dance Team, in May 2017, under the name "Honeyst," but disbanded after only two years.

In 2016, the Dance Team was featured not only in the Survival Show, but also in its own web drama, "Click Your Heart." The series had an unusual format in that at the end of each episode, viewers got to decide what would happen next!

In August, the Dance Team was renamed and from then on known as SF9!

SF9 debuted on October 5, 2016 with the single album "Feeling Sensation."

It contains three songs including the title track "Fanfare" and "K.O.". SF9 got off to a good start with the album, as it reached No. 6 on the Korean Gaon album chart.

In December, as a gift to their fans, the boy group released a music video for the digital single "So Beautiful," which has already been used as the soundtrack for the web dream "Click Your Heart."

In early February 2017, just four months after their debut, SF9 already made their first comeback!

The new album "Burning Sensation" even made it to #3 on the Gaon charts and beyond that to #6 on Billboard's World Albums chart. Following this, there was no break in sight. In fact, just two months passed before the boy group unveiled their third album "Breaking Sensation" in April!

Then, in June, SF9 debuted in Japan with a Japanese version of "Fanfare." The single topped the Tower Records charts and reached #4 on the Oricon charts. Thus, the boy group had made a successful debut in both Korea and Japan within just 9 months!

Shortly after the first anniversary (October 5), the fourth Korean album "Knights of The Sun" was released, the first without "Sensation" in the name. Knights of the Sun coincidentally reached #6 on the Gaon Album Charts just like the debut album.

Even before the very busy year ended, SF9 released their first Japanese album "Sensational Feeling Nine".

Fans never had to wait long for news from the boy band in 2018 either:

SF9 released two more Korean albums that year - "Mamma Mia!" (February) & "Sensuous" (July) - and one single: the Japanese version of "Mamma Mia!" (May).

After a few concerts in 2017 - a showcase in Japan and a short tour of the U.S. - the guys were traveling even more frequently in 2018. A short tour of Japan took place in May, and throughout the year fans were able to meet the band in person at fan meetings in South America, Mexico, Brazil and Taiwan.

Then, on October 27, the boy band finally gave their first concert in Korea!

The year 2019 started for SF9 and their fans in February with the release of the seventh Korean album: "Narcissus".

Due to a back injury, Zu Ho unfortunately had to suspend activities such as performances. He is also absent from the dance scenes in the music video for the title track "Enough."

Zu Ho also had to hold back on the Japanese album "Illuminate" a month later. Again, only eight members were featured in the dance scenes of the music video - "Enough" Japanese version. Fortunately, however, Zu Ho was back in time for the SF9 2019 ZEPP TOUR "ILLUMINATE" in April! So in three cities in Japan, fans could admire the boy group on stage as usual with nine members! As soon as the short Japanese tour was over, SF9 traveled through the United States and across Europe as part of the "2019 SF9 USA - Europe Live Tour 'UNLIMITED'". In Europe, they visited six different countries: Russia, Poland, the Netherlands, France, England and Germany! The fans of the boy group are scattered all over the world and they are getting more and more!

In June they released another new album, "RPM", which was actually the last album of the year. But SF9 was still busy: The group was preparing for the "2019 SF9 LIVE FANTASY #2 UNIXERSE" tour, which took them across Asia from November to December. December also saw the first teasers for a January comeback uploaded to SF9's social media accounts.

2020 promised to be a successful year for the boy band very early on!

In January 2020, SF9 set several personal records with their new album "First Collection"! The title track "Good Guy" topped several charts and earned the boys their first-ever win in a music show! The trophy didn't stay lonely for long, as two more wins followed. In addition, 100,000 copies of the album were sold, "Good Guy" topped several charts and the music video has been viewed almost 45 million times to date!

After the success, there was a little break until the boy group released the tenth Korean album by now, "9loryUS", including the title track "Summer Breeze", in July. It didn't measure up to "First Collection," but with "Summer Breeze," SF9 at least won in a music show, showing that their recent breakthrough was no fluke!

On the occasion of the fourth anniversary, the single album "Special History Book" was released punctually on October 5. It is only the second single album since the debut album "Feeling Sensation" and also the first to be released exactly on the anniversary day. It was the third album presented by the boy group in 2020, but not the last. Two months later, on December 9, still followed the third Japanese album "Golden Echo".

At the end of the year, SF9 was nominated for an award at the Melon Music Awards for the very first time: With "Good Guy" for the category "Best Dance - Male". Even though the guys didn't get the award, the nomination once again showed what a groundbreaking year 2020 was!

In March 2021, FNC Entertainment announced that all nine members of SF9 had renewed their contracts! So it was business as usual!

Or not. Namely, in April, the boy group ventured into a new challenge. They competed in the music competition "Kingdom: Legendary War" against five other popular boy groups - BtoB, iKon, The Boyz, Stray Kids & Ateez - to determine the number one among them. In the finals, SF9 unfortunately finished in sixth place, but in the previous three rounds, the boy group had even made it to 2nd place once and 1st place once! So once again the boys were able to show the fans a new side of themselves. For the finals in June, all participants released a new original song. SF9 presented the song "Believer". It is also included on the next album "Turn Over", which was already released on July 5, a month after the final.

In November, "Rumination", the second album of the year, was released. Thanks to the support of fans, the title song "Trauma" won the music show "Music Bank". Before 2021 ended, the digital single "Savior" for the music platform "Universe" was released.

In 2022, fans had to adjust to changes.

After SF9 held several concerts in Seoul in January, FNC Entertainment announced in February that Inseong and Youngbin would begin their military service in March. Since military service is mandatory for all men in South Korea, it was only a matter of time before the members of SF9 would have to leave as well, but it was still sad news, of course: after all, fans will now have to wait almost two years before they can see Inseong and Youngbin on stage again.

As a small consolation, the Japanese best off album "The Best 〜Dear Fantasy〜" was released on June 29. The album had been prepared by all nine members together, so they can all be heard on it!

On July 13, however, the time had come. With "The Wave OF9" the first album with less than nine members was released. In fact, only six were involved: Rowoon had announced a few days earlier that he would not be part of the comeback. Presumably, the filming of the K-drama "Tomorrow," in which Rowoon starred, overlapped with preparations for the album. SF9, however, has been thrilling even as a six-piece! Almost 75 thousand copies of "The Wave OF9" were sold on the first day. This makes the album one of the best-selling of the boy band ever!

Here you can find a list of all SF9 albums in chronological order:

Often, the beginning of military service is a chance for members to focus on solo activities. We're excited to see what's in store for the next few years!

For example, no one from SF9 has released a solo album yet. Instead, several members have built acting careers for themselves over the years. In fact, all nine have appeared in series.

But best known for their success in the film industry are Rowoon and Chanhee. Chanhee started acting as a child. He became most famous for the drama "Signal" in 2016 and was last seen in 2021's "Imitation." The series revolves around idols who want to overcome the difficulties in the music industry to become successful.

Rowoon made his official acting debut with a small role in the series "School 2017" and worked his way up until he landed his first leading role in "Extraordinary You" in 2019! Since then, he has regularly played leading roles and most recently wowed viewers in the fantasy drama "Tomorrow," which aired from April to May!

Currently, fans can look forward to the series "Love in Black Hole", in which Jaeyoon will soon play his first leading role!