F.T. Island
Encyclopedia
F.T. Island short for Five Treasured Island, is a five-member South Korean band. The members are consist of Choi Jong Hun
(guitar and keyboard), Lee Hongki
(lead vocals) Lee Jae Jin (bass and vocals), Song Seung Hyun (guitar and vocals), and Choi Min Hwan (drums). Their debut album, titled "Cheerful Sensibility", was the sixth best-selling album in 2007. Their debut song "Lovesick" topped the K-Pop charts for eight consecutive weeks.
Oh Won Bin had been a member of the band up until the beginning of 2009.
in Seoul
on May 27, 2007.
On June 7, 2007 the group performed their debut song Love Sick on the music television program M!Countdown; their debut album, Cheerful Sensibility, was released on the same day.
Cheerful Sensibility combined 13 songs that were loosely divided into two parts, “Emotional Chapter” and “F.T. Island Chapter”, according to the genre of the songs. The “Emotional Chapter” consists of rock ballads. The "F.T. Island Chapter" was produced by the Japanese composers who worked with the Japanese band, SMAP
and is composed of a variety of pop rock songs.
Selling over 79,000 copies in 2007, it was the sixth best-selling album of the year. The album was re-released on December 3, 2007, titled The Refreshment, with three extra songs, a photobook, a stack of photocards, and a mixing program called Music 2.0 which allows one to adjust the levels of the instruments and vocals. This edition sold 25,724 copies in December 2007.
instead, at the Royal Paragon Hall
on April 12, 2008. The band performed songs from their album and showcased their individual talents in their solo performances.
F.T. Island's Japanese debut album, entitled Prologue of F.T. Island, was released on June 7, 2008, with the first single released being Soyogi . The album consists of 8 songs, 2 of which are newer versions of the original songs F.T. Island and Primadonna. The last track, Always Be Mine, is an English version of First Kiss from their debut album (though the lyrics are original). Music videos were also released for Soyogi and Friendship, displaying the band's professional and youthful sides, respectively.
After their promotional activities in Japan ended, the band returned to Korea to release their second Korean album Colorful Sensibility on August 27, 2008. A follow-up EP, Colorful Sensibility Part 2, was released on October 17, 2008.
Later that year, F.T. Island released The One, their first Japanese commercial single, under an indie label AI Entertainment. The single hit #9 on the Oricon
daily charts. F&C Music stated that although other Korean bands utilized the assistance of large Japanese record labels to gain popularity, F.T. Island was able to make it onto the charts without any true marketing efforts. The single also was the last official release with member Oh Won Bin before his departure.
On April 22, F.T. Island released their second Japanese single, I believe Myself. For the first time, members participated with lyrics and composition. For the song Moonlight Angel, member Lee Jae Jin co-wrote it and leader Choi Jong Hoon co-composed the song. I Believe Myself is the first Japanese single with member Song Seung Hyun. They held their 2009 F.T. Island Tour-I Believe Myself in cities all over Japan during the summer of 2009.
F.T. Island toured parts of Asia which include Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, etc. to promote themselves in the summer of 2009. The showcases kicked off in Singapore during June 25 to 27.
While preparing for overseas promotions, the members were in the midst of recording their third album. On July 9, FNC Music released a jacket photo for the upcoming third album called Cross & Change. On the following day, a musc video teaser was released online, featuring kids watching their idols (played by the members themselves) on TV. The title song, called “I Hope/Barae”, was released on July 16.
F.T. Island tried out a variety of music styles for Cross & Change; it includes a total of 12 songs, ranging from moving ballads to addictive songs with a bright melody. F.T. Island adopted a new fashion style and concept for the album, using a "retro" and the so-called “Bokgo” approach, which was inspired during the “jeans jeans look” from the 80s in Korea.
F.T. Island released their 3rd Japanese single, Raining, on October 21, 2009. A music video of the single's title track was released. Leader Choi Jong Hoon played the piano for the title song instead of the guitar.
F.T. Island's sub-group: F.T. Triple
The three members Choi Jong Hun, Choi Min Hwan, and Lee Jae Jin formed a sub-group called F.T. Triple. Some of the reasons behind this move were to showcase more of the members' skills and to prevent lead singer, Lee Hongki, from overstraining his voice again (refer to Gayo Daejun Incident under 'Headlines' below). Another reason was to continue promoting F.T. Island while Lee Hongki was busy filming the South Korean drama "You're Beautiful"
and while Song Seunghyun was busy with variety shows.
At first, this trio was unofficially announced at the Dream Concert in Japan as "A3". They almost named themselves A3 because they all are blood A type. They wanted to keep the F.T. name so they added Triple at the end of it to represent that it is a trio.
In F.T. triple, Lee Jaejin, originally in charge of bass for F.T. Island, becomes a guitarist and the lead vocalist; leader Choi Jonghun plays the piano and Choi Min Hwan continues to play the drums. Their first single was titled "Love Letter" and was released with F.T. Island's 2CD Repackaged Album Double Date as a second CD named Two Date that features all F.T. Triple songs.
F.T. Island held a national tour titled, "Men's Stories".The national tour began on November 14, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. Their hit single from the album, I Hope, was very well received by their fans and the five members planned on showing their life behind the stage along with strong visuals and sounds on a more personal level for the fans. For their concert, F.T. Island emphasized their growth as a band as they begin to shed their boyish charms for a more mature and masculine appeal.
After celebrating their 1000th day in the music industry, they flew to Japan and stayed there until the end of August for their major debut in Japan under the combination of new Japanese label company, Warner Music Japan and their official label company, FNC Music. They also began a new Japanese show which began airing starting 7 April 2010. On May 19, 2010, F.T. Island released their new single "Flower Rock" under Warner Music. "Flower Rock" entered the Oricon daily charts at 3rd position on May 19, 2010, the day of its release, and held the fourth position of that week. On July 14, 2010, F.T. Island released another single named "Brand-new days," which included songs written and composed by the F.T. Island members Song Seung Hyun and Choi Jong Hun. F.T. Island performed a five-city concert tour in Japan after releasing both singles. They also performed at the international rock festival "Summer Sonic 2010" in Maishima Arena
, Osaka
, Japan
.
After promotions in Japan, F.T. Island focused on their comeback in Korea in mid-August 2010.
Their new mini album "Beautiful Journey" and the music video for their main title song "Love Love Love" were released on August 25, 2010. F.T. Island held their comeback performance in Korean on August 27, 2010. The title song topped many popular music charts in South Korea and also gained international notice, especially in Taiwan. Choi Jong Hoon co-wrote and co-composed one of the songs, titled Don Quixote's Song, making it the first Korean song that includes the composition from F.T. Island itself. During November and December, F.T. Island balanced two separate concerts, the Beautiful Journey Concert and So Today... Concert, in both Korea and Japan.
While promoting their second Korean mini-album, F.T. Island recorded another Japanese single titled So today... to be released in November. All three songs were co-written by Lee Jae Jin; the song, Boom Boom Boom, was composed by Choi Jong Hoon. The single ranked 6th on the Oricon Daily Chart.
With F.T. Island’s 3rd single taking the 6th position, they now have a record of all their singles ranking top 10 in the Oricon charts. About 10,000 fans turned up at their promotional events in Osaka and Tokyo on 20 and 21 November.
Due to their immense popularity in Taiwan, F.T. Island held a concert on December 25, celebrating Christmas together with 9000 fans. F.T. Island is Korea’s first rock band to hold a big scale concert in Taiwan and they had no other special request besides asking for the best sound systems and hardware. Former vocalist and guitarist, honoured guest Oh Wonbin, performed his first single as a solo artist and a brand new song, which has yet not been released, at the concert. F.T. Island performed songs in three languages, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
Though they have only entered the Taiwan music industry for a short period of 10 months, with an album sales record over 100,000, FT Island won favorable comments in the Chinese media. Just for the concert tickets and merchandises alone, the revenue for FTIsland’s [Beautiful Journey] concert have exceeded a total of NT$20Million. They have been named the Korean artistes who earned the most money for the end of 2010 and FTIsland also wished to visit Taiwan again soon. Four main news agencies namely, China Times, Yonhap News, Apple Daily and Liberty Times, covered news on the concert, showing the band’s high popularity. FT Island also broke several records in Taiwan with 500,000 hits on mobile downloads and 10,000,000 hits on music downloads.
On May 18, FTIsland released their first major debut album in Japan, titled Five Treasure Island. The album features songs from singles, Flower Rock, Brand New Days, So Today..., and Satisfaction; it also contains several new tracks, including the OSTs for Japanese drama, "Muscle Girl", in which member Lee Hongki plays lead male role. FTIsland set a record by being the first Korean band to top the Oricon album daily chart at 1st position. Their first Japanese regular album sold 20,410 copies on the first day, attaining the 1st position on the Oricon album daily chart. FTIsland held an album release commemorative event yesterday at Yomiuri Land and shared the joy of their result together with some 5,000 fans. FTIsland started their performance with songs from their past singles and also new album songs like “mirai”, “yume”, “Rock’n'roll”, as well as theme songs “itsuka” and “haruka” from Lee Hongki’s drama, TBS “Muscle Girl”. FTIsland expressed their happiness of attaining the 1st position on the Oricon chart, “It’s unbelievable that we’ve got the 1st position. We will work harder in future to bring even better music. Please give us lots of love and support.”
FTIsland returns to South Korea with mini-album Return. The album was released on May 24 with title track, Hello Hello. The album features five songs, one being I Confess, which leader Choi Jonghun said he wrote with their fans in mind.
in the Philippines
to film the music video for their Japanese single, "Raining". Due to a sudden typhoon (Typhoon Ketsana), the members were left stranded in the province. Their record company, FNC Music, attempted to communicate with the members, but were unable to reach the band. The typhoon knocked out radio contact and cut off any connection with the crew. The record company was eventually able contact with the crew later in the afternoon and confirmed that F.T. Island was safe. The filming was shortened by a few days and the band flew back to Korea two days later.
(Hangul
: 미남이시네요), in which Lee Hongki costarred in. Along with Miss $, Oh Won Bin sung the cheerful second track titled "하늘에서 내려와 (Coming Down from the Sky)". Even before the album was released, this particular song has received lots of attention. Won Bin's participation created many speculations among netizens: he might return to the band, he has projects together with F.T. Island members, a new start of his solo career, or he just wants to support his old band mate. No official comment has been made yet, but Wonbin has been referenced to in FTI's members' tweets and photos.
. The members evacuated immediately and no one was injured. The members had finished their new album recording works and returned home to take a rest when the fire broke out. Representatives of their agency explained, "The members were able to escape to a safe location and call for help. It was not anything major or severe. Rest assured, the members are not injured and do not require a visit to the hospital." Despite it being a scary situation, the agency thought positively of the fire by calling it a sign of good luck. "The members were up late preparing for their new mini-album's music video and album jacket photoshoot before returning to their dorms to sleep. As they’ve just released their new album, Satisfaction, we consider this 'fire' a sign of good luck."
Former members
Japanese studio albums
on Korea cable channel M.net
and Music Bank
on KBS.
M! Countdown
Choi Jong Hun
Choi Jong Hun is the leader, lead guitarist, keyboardist, occasional lyricist and composer of F.T. Island, a popular South Korean rock band.-Biography:...
(guitar and keyboard), Lee Hongki
Lee Hongki
Lee Hong Ki/Lee Hong Gi , is a South Korean idol singer, actor and MC. He is the lead singer of popular Korean band F.T. Island, a South Korean rock band, is well known for his powerful and versatile voice. He is the elder sibling in his family, and has a younger sister who currently still lives...
(lead vocals) Lee Jae Jin (bass and vocals), Song Seung Hyun (guitar and vocals), and Choi Min Hwan (drums). Their debut album, titled "Cheerful Sensibility", was the sixth best-selling album in 2007. Their debut song "Lovesick" topped the K-Pop charts for eight consecutive weeks.
Oh Won Bin had been a member of the band up until the beginning of 2009.
2007: Debut and Cheerful Sensibility
Although F.T. Island's first album, Cheerful Sensibility, was scheduled to be released commercially in May 2007, the members appeared on the show "Wanna be my girlfriend?" on the Korean television channel MNet. The band also performed on stage live at Rolling Hall and held their first official showcase at Live House Melon-AX, Gwangjang-dongGwangjang-dong
Gwangjang-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Gwangjin-gu in Seoul, South Korea.-External links:* at the Gwangjin-gu official website...
in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
on May 27, 2007.
On June 7, 2007 the group performed their debut song Love Sick on the music television program M!Countdown; their debut album, Cheerful Sensibility, was released on the same day.
Cheerful Sensibility combined 13 songs that were loosely divided into two parts, “Emotional Chapter” and “F.T. Island Chapter”, according to the genre of the songs. The “Emotional Chapter” consists of rock ballads. The "F.T. Island Chapter" was produced by the Japanese composers who worked with the Japanese band, SMAP
SMAP
SMAP is a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. While originally consisting of six members, the current group members are Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori...
and is composed of a variety of pop rock songs.
Selling over 79,000 copies in 2007, it was the sixth best-selling album of the year. The album was re-released on December 3, 2007, titled The Refreshment, with three extra songs, a photobook, a stack of photocards, and a mixing program called Music 2.0 which allows one to adjust the levels of the instruments and vocals. This edition sold 25,724 copies in December 2007.
2008: Japanese Debut, Colorful Sensibility, and other activities
After debuting in Korea, FNC Music moved F.T. Island's activities overseas. On March 31, 2008, an autograph session in Malaysia at the Damansara Cineleisure was held, which was to be follow the next day by the group's first concert at the Sunway Lagoon Amphitheater. The performance was cancelled, and their first concert was held in ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
instead, at the Royal Paragon Hall
Siam Paragon
Siam Paragon is a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of the biggest shopping centers in Asia. Opened on December 9, 2005, it includes a wide range of specialty stores and restaurants as well as a multiplex movie theater and the Siam Ocean World...
on April 12, 2008. The band performed songs from their album and showcased their individual talents in their solo performances.
F.T. Island's Japanese debut album, entitled Prologue of F.T. Island, was released on June 7, 2008, with the first single released being Soyogi . The album consists of 8 songs, 2 of which are newer versions of the original songs F.T. Island and Primadonna. The last track, Always Be Mine, is an English version of First Kiss from their debut album (though the lyrics are original). Music videos were also released for Soyogi and Friendship, displaying the band's professional and youthful sides, respectively.
After their promotional activities in Japan ended, the band returned to Korea to release their second Korean album Colorful Sensibility on August 27, 2008. A follow-up EP, Colorful Sensibility Part 2, was released on October 17, 2008.
Later that year, F.T. Island released The One, their first Japanese commercial single, under an indie label AI Entertainment. The single hit #9 on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
daily charts. F&C Music stated that although other Korean bands utilized the assistance of large Japanese record labels to gain popularity, F.T. Island was able to make it onto the charts without any true marketing efforts. The single also was the last official release with member Oh Won Bin before his departure.
2009: New lineup, Jump Up, Cross & Change, and Japanese singles
On January 28, 2009, it was announced that Oh Won Bin would indeed be leaving the group, with FNC trainee Song Seung Hyun joining as a guitarist and backup vocalist. With the new lineup change, F.T. Island released the music video for their mini-album title song "Bad Woman." They also promoted it on SBS Inkigayo, and two days later, released the band's first Korean mini-album Jump Up.On April 22, F.T. Island released their second Japanese single, I believe Myself. For the first time, members participated with lyrics and composition. For the song Moonlight Angel, member Lee Jae Jin co-wrote it and leader Choi Jong Hoon co-composed the song. I Believe Myself is the first Japanese single with member Song Seung Hyun. They held their 2009 F.T. Island Tour-I Believe Myself in cities all over Japan during the summer of 2009.
F.T. Island toured parts of Asia which include Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, etc. to promote themselves in the summer of 2009. The showcases kicked off in Singapore during June 25 to 27.
While preparing for overseas promotions, the members were in the midst of recording their third album. On July 9, FNC Music released a jacket photo for the upcoming third album called Cross & Change. On the following day, a musc video teaser was released online, featuring kids watching their idols (played by the members themselves) on TV. The title song, called “I Hope/Barae”, was released on July 16.
F.T. Island tried out a variety of music styles for Cross & Change; it includes a total of 12 songs, ranging from moving ballads to addictive songs with a bright melody. F.T. Island adopted a new fashion style and concept for the album, using a "retro" and the so-called “Bokgo” approach, which was inspired during the “jeans jeans look” from the 80s in Korea.
F.T. Island released their 3rd Japanese single, Raining, on October 21, 2009. A music video of the single's title track was released. Leader Choi Jong Hoon played the piano for the title song instead of the guitar.
F.T. Island's sub-group: F.T. Triple
The three members Choi Jong Hun, Choi Min Hwan, and Lee Jae Jin formed a sub-group called F.T. Triple. Some of the reasons behind this move were to showcase more of the members' skills and to prevent lead singer, Lee Hongki, from overstraining his voice again (refer to Gayo Daejun Incident under 'Headlines' below). Another reason was to continue promoting F.T. Island while Lee Hongki was busy filming the South Korean drama "You're Beautiful"
You're Beautiful (TV series)
He's Beautiful is a South Korean drama about a fictional boy band A.N.Jell and the relationship between its members when a female, posing as her twin brother, joins the group...
and while Song Seunghyun was busy with variety shows.
At first, this trio was unofficially announced at the Dream Concert in Japan as "A3". They almost named themselves A3 because they all are blood A type. They wanted to keep the F.T. name so they added Triple at the end of it to represent that it is a trio.
In F.T. triple, Lee Jaejin, originally in charge of bass for F.T. Island, becomes a guitarist and the lead vocalist; leader Choi Jonghun plays the piano and Choi Min Hwan continues to play the drums. Their first single was titled "Love Letter" and was released with F.T. Island's 2CD Repackaged Album Double Date as a second CD named Two Date that features all F.T. Triple songs.
F.T. Island held a national tour titled, "Men's Stories".The national tour began on November 14, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. Their hit single from the album, I Hope, was very well received by their fans and the five members planned on showing their life behind the stage along with strong visuals and sounds on a more personal level for the fans. For their concert, F.T. Island emphasized their growth as a band as they begin to shed their boyish charms for a more mature and masculine appeal.
2010: Major Debut in Japan, Beautiful Journey, and Success in Taiwan
In the months January and February, the boys started touring in Asia. The tour visited Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, and Singapore. Tickets were sold out quickly; representatives of the band believe it was due to the popularity of Lee Hong Ki starring in the drama, "You're Beautiful".After celebrating their 1000th day in the music industry, they flew to Japan and stayed there until the end of August for their major debut in Japan under the combination of new Japanese label company, Warner Music Japan and their official label company, FNC Music. They also began a new Japanese show which began airing starting 7 April 2010. On May 19, 2010, F.T. Island released their new single "Flower Rock" under Warner Music. "Flower Rock" entered the Oricon daily charts at 3rd position on May 19, 2010, the day of its release, and held the fourth position of that week. On July 14, 2010, F.T. Island released another single named "Brand-new days," which included songs written and composed by the F.T. Island members Song Seung Hyun and Choi Jong Hun. F.T. Island performed a five-city concert tour in Japan after releasing both singles. They also performed at the international rock festival "Summer Sonic 2010" in Maishima Arena
Maishima Arena
Maishima Arena is an indoor sporting arena located in Osaka, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 7,000 people.Since 2004, it has been the home arena for the Osaka Evessa, a professional basketball team of the bj league....
, Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
After promotions in Japan, F.T. Island focused on their comeback in Korea in mid-August 2010.
Their new mini album "Beautiful Journey" and the music video for their main title song "Love Love Love" were released on August 25, 2010. F.T. Island held their comeback performance in Korean on August 27, 2010. The title song topped many popular music charts in South Korea and also gained international notice, especially in Taiwan. Choi Jong Hoon co-wrote and co-composed one of the songs, titled Don Quixote's Song, making it the first Korean song that includes the composition from F.T. Island itself. During November and December, F.T. Island balanced two separate concerts, the Beautiful Journey Concert and So Today... Concert, in both Korea and Japan.
While promoting their second Korean mini-album, F.T. Island recorded another Japanese single titled So today... to be released in November. All three songs were co-written by Lee Jae Jin; the song, Boom Boom Boom, was composed by Choi Jong Hoon. The single ranked 6th on the Oricon Daily Chart.
With F.T. Island’s 3rd single taking the 6th position, they now have a record of all their singles ranking top 10 in the Oricon charts. About 10,000 fans turned up at their promotional events in Osaka and Tokyo on 20 and 21 November.
Due to their immense popularity in Taiwan, F.T. Island held a concert on December 25, celebrating Christmas together with 9000 fans. F.T. Island is Korea’s first rock band to hold a big scale concert in Taiwan and they had no other special request besides asking for the best sound systems and hardware. Former vocalist and guitarist, honoured guest Oh Wonbin, performed his first single as a solo artist and a brand new song, which has yet not been released, at the concert. F.T. Island performed songs in three languages, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
Though they have only entered the Taiwan music industry for a short period of 10 months, with an album sales record over 100,000, FT Island won favorable comments in the Chinese media. Just for the concert tickets and merchandises alone, the revenue for FTIsland’s [Beautiful Journey] concert have exceeded a total of NT$20Million. They have been named the Korean artistes who earned the most money for the end of 2010 and FTIsland also wished to visit Taiwan again soon. Four main news agencies namely, China Times, Yonhap News, Apple Daily and Liberty Times, covered news on the concert, showing the band’s high popularity. FT Island also broke several records in Taiwan with 500,000 hits on mobile downloads and 10,000,000 hits on music downloads.
2011–present: Five Treasure Island and Return
On April 20, FTIsland released their 4th major Japanese single Satisfaction with accompanying tracks, I want and Friends, in which Choi Jonghun participated in the composition of both songs. The single topped the Oricon Weekly Charts at 2nd place. They were positioned right after Johnny’s Kanjani8. Their title song “Satisfaction” was also selected to be the ending theme song of the current airing anime “Toriko”, generating high expectation from the public.On May 18, FTIsland released their first major debut album in Japan, titled Five Treasure Island. The album features songs from singles, Flower Rock, Brand New Days, So Today..., and Satisfaction; it also contains several new tracks, including the OSTs for Japanese drama, "Muscle Girl", in which member Lee Hongki plays lead male role. FTIsland set a record by being the first Korean band to top the Oricon album daily chart at 1st position. Their first Japanese regular album sold 20,410 copies on the first day, attaining the 1st position on the Oricon album daily chart. FTIsland held an album release commemorative event yesterday at Yomiuri Land and shared the joy of their result together with some 5,000 fans. FTIsland started their performance with songs from their past singles and also new album songs like “mirai”, “yume”, “Rock’n'roll”, as well as theme songs “itsuka” and “haruka” from Lee Hongki’s drama, TBS “Muscle Girl”. FTIsland expressed their happiness of attaining the 1st position on the Oricon chart, “It’s unbelievable that we’ve got the 1st position. We will work harder in future to bring even better music. Please give us lots of love and support.”
FTIsland returns to South Korea with mini-album Return. The album was released on May 24 with title track, Hello Hello. The album features five songs, one being I Confess, which leader Choi Jonghun said he wrote with their fans in mind.
F.T. Island stranded in Cebu
On September 25, 2009, F.T. Island was in CebuCebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to film the music video for their Japanese single, "Raining". Due to a sudden typhoon (Typhoon Ketsana), the members were left stranded in the province. Their record company, FNC Music, attempted to communicate with the members, but were unable to reach the band. The typhoon knocked out radio contact and cut off any connection with the crew. The record company was eventually able contact with the crew later in the afternoon and confirmed that F.T. Island was safe. The filming was shortened by a few days and the band flew back to Korea two days later.
Oh Won Bin's project with Lee Hongki
Former member Oh Won Bin took part in the soundtrack of drama You're BeautifulYou're Beautiful (TV series)
He's Beautiful is a South Korean drama about a fictional boy band A.N.Jell and the relationship between its members when a female, posing as her twin brother, joins the group...
(Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 미남이시네요), in which Lee Hongki costarred in. Along with Miss $, Oh Won Bin sung the cheerful second track titled "하늘에서 내려와 (Coming Down from the Sky)". Even before the album was released, this particular song has received lots of attention. Won Bin's participation created many speculations among netizens: he might return to the band, he has projects together with F.T. Island members, a new start of his solo career, or he just wants to support his old band mate. No official comment has been made yet, but Wonbin has been referenced to in FTI's members' tweets and photos.
Dorm fire
On the May 3, 2011, a fire broke out at F.T. Island's dorm near Munrae-dong, Youngdeungpo-gu, SeoulSeoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. The members evacuated immediately and no one was injured. The members had finished their new album recording works and returned home to take a rest when the fire broke out. Representatives of their agency explained, "The members were able to escape to a safe location and call for help. It was not anything major or severe. Rest assured, the members are not injured and do not require a visit to the hospital." Despite it being a scary situation, the agency thought positively of the fire by calling it a sign of good luck. "The members were up late preparing for their new mini-album's music video and album jacket photoshoot before returning to their dorms to sleep. As they’ve just released their new album, Satisfaction, we consider this 'fire' a sign of good luck."
Minhwan fainted
On March 23, 2009, second youngest member Minhwan fainted from overwork while waiting to film his drama, "The Way Home." He was rushed to the hospital and treated. His company said that he had become increasingly tired due to band activities and his drama. Minhwan had also caught a severe cold, and had been overworking himself. Luckily, it wasn't serious and he was discharged on the 24th.Members
Current- Choi Jong Hoon (최종훈), born 7 March 1990 (age 21), is the leader, as well as the lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
ist, pianistPianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and vocalist of the band. - Lee HongkiLee HongkiLee Hong Ki/Lee Hong Gi , is a South Korean idol singer, actor and MC. He is the lead singer of popular Korean band F.T. Island, a South Korean rock band, is well known for his powerful and versatile voice. He is the elder sibling in his family, and has a younger sister who currently still lives...
(이홍기), born 2 March 1990 (age 21), is the main vocalist and visual of the band. - Lee Jae Jin (이재진), born 17 December 1991 (age 20), is the bassistBassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
and vocalist of the band. - Choi Min Hwan (최민환), born 11 November 1992 (age 19), is the drummerDrummerA drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, and vocalist of the band. - Song Seung Hyun (송승현), born 21 August 1992 (age 19), is the rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist and the rapper of the band.
Former members
- Oh Won Bin (오원빈), born 26 March 1990 (age 21), was the rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the band.
Discography
Korean studio albums- Cheerful Sensibility (2007)
- The Refreshment (2007)
- The One (2008)
- Colorful Sensibility Part 1 (2008)
- Colorful Sensibility Part 2 (2008)
- Jump Up (2009), EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
- Cross & Change vol.3 (2009)
- Double Date (2009)
- Beautiful Journey (2010) – EP
- Return (2011) – EP
- Memory in F.T. Island (2011) – EP
Japanese studio albums
- Prologue of F.T. Island: Soyogi (2008) – EP
- So Long, Au Revoir (2009)
- I Believe Myself (2009)
- Raining (2009)
- Flower Rock (2010) – EP
- Brand New Days (2010) – EP
- So Today (2010) – EP
- Satisfaction (2011) – EP
- Five Treasure Island (2011)
- Let It Go (2011) – EP
Awards
| Years | Awards |
|---|---|
| 2007 |
|
| 2008 |
Seoul Music Awards The Seoul Music Awards is an awards show founded in 1990 that is presented annually by the Sports Seoul for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea.- Categories :... : Newcomer Award (Love Sick) Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disk Awards is an awards show founded in 1986 that is presented annually by the Music Industry Association of Korea for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea... : YEPP Popularity Award |
| 2010 |
Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disk Awards is an awards show founded in 1986 that is presented annually by the Music Industry Association of Korea for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea... : Cosmopolitan Rock Music Award |
| 2011 |
Seoul Music Awards The Seoul Music Awards is an awards show founded in 1990 that is presented annually by the Sports Seoul for outstanding achievements in the music industry in South Korea.- Categories :... : Bonsang Award |
Music Programs
These are collection of FT Island wins on Korea's televised music shows. Inkigayo is aired on SBS, M! CountdownM! Countdown
M! Countdown is a South Korean music television program broadcast by M.net. It airs live every Thursday at 6:00PM KST. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. It is hosted by Tony An and Girls' Generation's Sooyoung...
on Korea cable channel M.net
M.net
M.net refers to:* M.net - a South Korean cable channel of M.net Media dedicated to broadcasting and producing music-related entertainment programming 24 hours a day....
and Music Bank
Music Bank (TV series)
Music Bank is a South Korean music television program broadcast by Korean Broadcasting System, KBS. It airs live every Friday at 6:10 PM KST. It is currently hosted by guest MCs...
on KBS.
Music Bank
| Year | Date | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | September 14 | 사랑앓이 (Love Sick) |
| October 12 | 천둥 (Thunder) | |
| 2010 | September 10 | 사랑사랑사랑 (Love Love Love) |
Inkigayo
| Year | Date | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | July 29 | 사랑앓이 (Love Sick) |
| August 5 | ||
| August 12 | ||
| 2008 | January 6 | 너올때까지 (Until You Return) |
| 2010 | September 5 | 사랑 사랑 사랑 (Love Love Love) |
| September 12 |
M! CountdownM! CountdownM! Countdown is a South Korean music television program broadcast by M.net. It airs live every Thursday at 6:00PM KST. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. It is hosted by Tony An and Girls' Generation's Sooyoung...
| Year | Date | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | July 19 | 사랑앓이 ("Love Sick") |
| July 26 | ||
| 2008 | October 2 | 사랑후애 ("After Love") |
| 2010 | September 9 | 사랑 사랑 사랑 ("Love Love Love") |