FTISLAND: The dynamic and talented group that forever changed the face of K Pop

Any veteran or new K-Pop fans have heard of the longest running rock band in K-pop, FTISLAND, at least once in their lives and how can they not? They paved the way for other rock bands like Day6, The Rose, N.Flying, etc. But how did they come about? What is their story and where are they now? Let’s take a look at the 14 year long journey of the rock and ballad band of K-Pop, FTISLAND or ‘Five Treasure Island’. 

Formed by FNC Entertainment (CNBLUE, SF9), FTISLAND -- the "F.T." standing for "Five Treasure," referring to the group's original quintet -- was originally composed of vocalist Lee Hong Gi, bassist Lee Jaejin, rapper/guitarist Oh Won Bin, multi-instrumentalist Choi Jong Hoon, and drummer Choi Min Hwan. 

The five-piece released their first album, ‘Cheerful Sensibility’, in June of 2007; a re-release, 'The Refreshment', arrived that December and featured three new songs. As the band's presence spread to southeast Asia and Taiwan, they made moves into Japan with the introductory EP Prologue of F.T. Island: Soyogi. 

From there, they bounced back and forth between Korea and Japan, issuing 2008's ‘Colorful Sensibility’ and its sequel 'Colorful Sensibility, Pt. 2' before unveiling the Japanese-language debut ‘So Long’, ‘Au Revoir’ and a third Korean full-length, ‘Cross & Change’, in 2009. That year -- in addition to the brief formation of sub-group FT Triple -- Won-bin parted ways with the group, replaced by rapper/guitarist Song Seunghyun. 

By 2011, their popularity finally reached critical mass on the charts, scoring the group their first of many consecutive chart-toppers with Japanese-language best-seller ‘Five Treasure Island’. Korea's ‘Five Treasure Box’ was released the year after, their second best-selling LP to date. Taking a break from their home market, FTISLAND shifted efforts to Japan, issuing a Top 10 album per year with 2012's ‘20 (Twenty)’, 2013's ‘Rated-FT', and 2014's ‘New Page’. By the time they made their official Korean comeback in 2015 with album number five, they had expanded their audience to Europe and the Americas. 

‘I Will’ debuted at number seven on the Billboard World albums chart while topping the Korean charts. While promoting that LP, they released a Japanese set, ‘5.....Go’. They adopted a similar strategy in the years that followed, releasing albums on both sides of the strait in 2016 (the hard-charting ‘Where's the Truth?’ and ‘N.W.U.’) and 2017 (‘Over 10 Years’ and United Shadows). Another shift to Japan carried FTISLAND toward the close of the decade with 2018's ‘Planet Bonds’ and 2019's ‘Everlasting’. 

On March 14, 2019, Jong-hoon left the band and retired from the entertainment industry after being involved in the Burning Sun scandal, where he was part of a group chat in which some members shared videos of sexual activities recorded without the consent of the other party. Hong-gi began his mandatory military service on September 30, 2019, becoming the first F.T. Island member to enlist. 

On December 24, 2019, it was announced that Seunghyun would leave the group and FNC following the end of his contract on December 31 in order to focus primarily on his acting career, while Hong Gi, Jaejin, and Min Hwan renewed their contracts with their label. Jaejin enlisted as an active-duty soldier on January 21, 2020, while Minhwan enlisted on February 24 as a reserve soldier. Hong Gi was discharged on April 18, 2021. Jaejin was discharged on August 1, 2021. Min Hwan was discharged on September 2, 2021.

While few of the members are currently not present, the group still has its impact, 14 years later. Their Korean and Japanese tracks became huge successes and their message of love continues to spread to this day. All the Primadonnas around the world will always love their decorated discography. 

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Which track of FTISLAND is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.