SF9 is the first dance boy group from FNC Entertainment, a label that previously primarily produced bands. The boy band has slowly but surely worked their way up and can now count on the support of fans all over the world!
In our shop you can browse through SF9 albums and fan items!
SF9 debuted in October 2016, but was introduced to the public months before.
NEOZ SCHOOL: Dance Team
At the end of 2015, FNC Entertainment introduced several trainees preparing for their debut on a YouTube channel called “FNC NEOZ SCHOOL”. The NEOZ SCHOOL was a new training system from the label and the videos on the channel showed the trainees taking lessons. Dance covers, for example, were also uploaded. In December 2015, 11 trainees performed under the name “NEOZ” at the “FNC Kingdom 2015” concert in Japan.
A short time later, in 2016, FNC Entertainment finally produced a survival show called “Dance or Band” (d.o.b for short). First, the now nine-member dance team that was preparing for its debut was introduced. The Dance Team was special because it was supposed to be the label's first dance boy band! (At the time, FNC Entertainment was best known for its bands F.T.Island, C.N.BLUE and N.Flying.) Shortly after the start of the first episode of d.o.b., however, the dance team discovered that they were not alone. The four-member band team, whose members had also previously been introduced by NEOZ SCHOOL, joined them as rivals. The show, as the name suggests, was supposed to decide whether the dance team or the band team would debut afterwards! In the final, both teams perform a new original song. The dance team won 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.
The dance team was seen not only in the survival show in 2016, but also in their own web drama “Click Your Heart”. The series had an unusual format because at the end of each episode the viewers were allowed to decide what happened next!
In August the dance team was renamed and from then on was known as SF9!
| Artist name | Real name | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Youngbin | Kim Youngbin | 23.11.1993 |
| Inseong | Kim Inseong | 12.07.1993 |
| Jaeyoon | Lee Jaeyoon | 09.08.1994 |
| Dawon | Lee Sanghyuk | 24.07.1995 |
| Zuho | Baek Juho | 04.07.1996 |
| Rowoon | Kim Seokwoo | 07.08.1996 |
| Taeyang | Yoo Taeyang | 28.07.1997 |
| Hwiyoung | Kim Youngkyun | 11.05.1999 |
| Chani | Kim Chanhee | 17.01.2000 |
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, reaching number 6 on the Korean Gaon Album Charts.
In December, the boy band released a music video for the digital single “So Beautiful,” which was already used as the soundtrack for the Web Dream “Click Your Heart,” as a gift to their fans.
At the beginning of February 2017, just four months after its debut, SF9 already celebrated its first comeback!
The new album “Burning Sensation” even reached number 3 on the Gaon Charts and also reached number 6 on Billboard’s World Albums Chart. Afterwards there was no break in sight. In fact, just two months passed before the boy band presented their third album “Breaking Sensation” in April!
In June, SF9 debuted in Japan with a Japanese version of “Fanfare”. The single topped the Tower Records charts and reached number 4 on the Oricon charts. The boy band had a successful debut in both Korea and Japan within just 9 months!
Shortly after the first anniversary (October 5th), the fourth Korean album “Knights of The Sun” was released, the first without “Sensation” in the name. Coincidentally, Knights of the Sun reached number 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”.
Even in 2018, fans never had to wait long for news from the boy band:
SF9 released two more Korean albums that year - “Mamma Mia!” (February) & “Sensuous” (July) - and a single: The Japanese version of “Mamma Mia!” (May).
After a few concerts in 2017 - a showcase in Japan and a short tour of the USA - the boys traveled even more frequently in 2018. A short tour of Japan took place in May and over the course of the year fans were able to meet the band in person at fan meetings in South America, Mexico, Brazil and Taiwan.
On October 27th, the boy band finally gave their first concert in Korea!
The year 2019 began for SF9 and their fans in February with the release of their seventh Korean album: “Narcissus”.
Unfortunately, Zu Ho had to suspend activities such as performances due to a back injury. He is also missing from the dance scenes in the music video for the title song "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. Luckily, Zu Ho was fit again in time for the SF9 2019 ZEPP TOUR “ILLUMINATE” in April! In three cities in Japan, fans were able to admire the boy band on stage with nine of them as usual! 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 boy band's fans are scattered all over the world and are constantly growing!
In June a new album was released, “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. In December, the first teasers for a comeback in January were also 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 the new album “First Collection”! The title song “Good Guy” topped several charts and earned the boys their first-ever music show win! The trophy didn't remain lonely for long as two more victories followed. Additionally, the album has sold 100,000 copies, “Good Guy” topped multiple charts, and the music video has been viewed nearly 45 million times to date!
After the success, there was a short break until the boy band released their tenth Korean album “9loryUS” including the title song “Summer Breeze” in July. It wasn't up to "First Collection", but with "Summer Breeze" SF9 at least won a music show, showing that their recent breakthrough was no coincidence!
To mark the fourth anniversary, the single album “Special History Book” was released on time on October 5th. It is only the second single album since the debut album “Feeling Sensation” and also the first to be released on exactly the anniversary day. It was the third album the boy band presented in 2020, but not the last. Two months later, on December 9th, the third Japanese album “Golden Echo” followed.
At the end of the year, SF9 was nominated for an award at the Melon Music Awards for the first time ever. With “Good Guy” for the “Best Dance - Male” category. Even though the boys didn't win the award, the nomination showed once again what a groundbreaking year 2020 was!
In March 2021, FNC Entertainment announced that all nine members of SF9 have renewed their contracts! So it went on as usual!
Or not. In April, the boy band dared to take on a new challenge. She competed in the music competition “Kingdom: Legendary War” against five other popular boy bands - BtoB, iKon, The Boyz, Stray Kids & Ateez - to determine the number 1 among them. Unfortunately, SF9 took sixth place in the final, but in the previous three rounds the boy band had even made it to second place once and first place once! The boys were once again able to show the fans a new side of themselves. For the finale 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 released on July 5th, a month after the finale.
The second album of the year, “Rumination,” was released in November. Thanks to the support of fans, the title song “Trauma” won the music show “Music Bank”. Before 2021 ended, the digital single “Savior” was released for the music platform “Universe”.
In 2022, fans had to adapt 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 in South Korea is compulsory for all men, it was only a matter of time before the members of SF9 had to leave, but of course it was still sad news: After all, fans now have to wait almost two years until 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 29th. All nine members prepared the album together, so they can all be heard on it!
But on July 13th the time had come. “The Wave OF9” was the first album with fewer than nine members. In fact, only six were involved: Rowoon had announced a few days earlier that he would not be taking part in the comeback. Presumably, the filming of the K-drama “Tomorrow,” in which Rowoon starred, overlapped with the preparations for the album. But SF9 also impressed the six of them! “The Wave OF9” sold almost 75 thousand copies on the first day. This makes the album one of the boy band's best-selling albums ever!
Here you can find a list of all SF9 albums in chronological order:
| Album | Title song | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Feeling Sensation | Fanfare | 05.10.2016 |
| Burning Sensation | Roar | 06.02.2017 |
| Breaking Sensation | Easy Love | 18.04.2017 |
| Knights of The Sun | O Sole Mio | 12.10.2017 |
| Sensational Feeling Nine (jap.) | O Sole Mio (jap.) | 13.12.2017 |
| Mamma Mia! | Mamma Mia! | 26.02.2018 |
| Sensuous | Now or Never | 31.07.2018 |
| Narcissus | Enough | 20.02.2019 |
| Illuminate (jap.) | Enough (jap.) | 20.03.2019 |
| RPM | RPM | 17.06.2019 |
| First Collection | Good Guy | 07.01.2020 |
| 9loryUS | Summer Breeze | 06.07.2020 |
| Special History Book | Shine Together | 05.10.2020 |
| Golden Echo (jap.) | Summer Breeze (jap.) | 09.12.2020 |
| Turn Over | Tear Drop | 05.07.2021 |
| Rumination | Trauma | 22.11.2021 |
| The Best 〜Dear Fantasy〜 (jap.) | 29.06.2022 | |
| The Wave OF9 | Scream | 13.07.2022 |
Often, the start of military service is a chance for members to focus on solo activities. We're excited to see what's in store for us in the next few years!
For example, no one from SF9 has released a solo album yet. Several members have built acting careers over the years. In fact, all nine have already appeared in series.
But Rowoon and Chanhee are best known for their success in the film industry. Chanhee started acting as a child. He was best known for the drama “Signal” in 2016 and was last seen in “Imitation” in 2021. 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” in 2017 and worked his way up to landing his first leading role in “Extraordinary You” in 2019! Since then he has played regular leading roles and most recently thrilled viewers in the fantasy drama “Tomorrow”, which aired from April to May!
Fans can currently look forward to the series “Love in Black Hole”, in which Jaeyoon will soon play his first leading role!
