Biography

South Korean boy band Super Junior were at the forefront of the 2000s Korean Wave, making them household names across Asia and priming international audiences for K-pop's global breakthrough in the 2010s. Best known for their 2009 smash single "Sorry, Sorry," the award-winning, multi-member group followed the chart-topping album of the same name with an unbroken string of number one albums in Korea, breaking into the U.S. market with 2010's Bonamana and scoring their first U.S. World Albums number one with 2014's Mamacita. Expanding into the Japanese-language market and performing as various subgroups, Super Junior remained a reliable presence on the K-pop scene into the late 2010s. In 2021, they issued their tenth full-length Korean-language studio effort The Renaissance, followed a year later by the two-part album The Road. Formed under the production and management group S.M. Entertainment, Super Junior (aka SJ or SuJu) made their debut in 2005 and were instantly popular in their home country and other Asian pop music markets. The original idea was that Super Junior would feature a rotating cast of characters, with the band name changing to mark each year -- i.e., Super Junior 05 would become Super Junior 06 -- but once the first round of rotations was to be made, an addition to the band, rather than a switch, occurred and the group eventually expanded to include a whopping 13 members. Super Junior's first 12 members included Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng (the only Chinese member; he was chosen from a number of applicants to appeal to a broader Asian market), Yesung, Kang-In, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, and Kibum. They released a self-titled debut album in December of 2005. Their second single, "Miracle," was a number one hit on Asian charts, and shortly thereafter the decision was made to keep the group (plus one) and drop the year designator from the name. In 2006, 13th member Kyuhyun was added to the lineup, and Super Junior released their next single, "U." Again, the band scored a number one hit and collected a number of awards for their work. In 2007, the larger Super Junior broke into several subgroups, including Super Junior-K.R.Y., Super Junior-T, and Super Junior-M, their most successful side project. The main Super Junior's next full-length, Don't Don, was delayed due to an auto accident, but upon its release in September of 2007, Super Junior finally had an album debuting at number one. In 2008, Super Junior furthered their regional popularity with a multi-city Asian tour before the 2009 release of their third effort, Sorry, Sorry. The album spawned the international hit single of the same name and became a top seller in Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, China, and the Philippines. Following the success of Sorry, Sorry, Kibum, Han Geng, and Kang-In left the group for various reasons, reducing Super Junior to a ten-piece for the release of their fourth album, Bonamana. Mr. Simple (aka A-CHa) arrived the next year, topping the Korean charts and peaking at number three on the Billboard World Albums chart. Sexy, Free & Single (aka Spy) was released in the summer of 2012 and marked the return of Kang-In. After the release of Hero, their first Japanese LP, Super Junior set aside their typical synth-heavy sound and incorporated R&B and funk tones for Mamacita, even recruiting American producer Teddy Riley for the title track. Ninth album Devil was released in 2015, followed soon after by reissue Magic, which added tracks like "Magic" and "You Got It." Almost two years later in 2017, the group returned with PLAY, their fourth Top Three debut on the Billboard World Albums chart. The following April, PLAY was repackaged as REPLAY, spawning the trilingual (Korean, Spanish, and English) hit "Lo Siento," which made a strong showing on Billboard's Latin Digital Singles chart. Another Latin crossover followed in October of 2018 with the mini-album One More Time, which featured the Mexican band Reik performing a version of the title track. Their ninth set, Time_Slip, arrived in 2019, just months after the departure of Kang-In, who parted ways with Super Junior just days before they performed at a global music festival in Saudi Arabia. Peaking in the Top Ten on the U.S. World Albums chart, Time_Slip was supported by singles "Show," "Somebody New," "The Crown," and "I Think I." In March 2021, the group returned with their tenth full-length, the Lee Soo-man-produced The Renaissance. The record marked their seventh consecutive appearance at the top of the South Korean album chart. Super Junior's next album, The Road, was parsed out into two EP-length volumes over the next year. First to arrive was The Road: Keep on Going in July 2022, followed later that December by The Road: Celebration. ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Chris True, Rovi