History

History

2005-2006: Debut

SS501 debuted on June 8, 2005 with their first single "Kyeonggo" (Korean: "경고", "Warning"), with a second single "Snow Prince" released in late 2005. The group was inactive in Korea for most of 2006, although they had a fan meeting in Japan in April of that you. The reason was due to Heo Young Saeng's throat condition which required a surgery, thus resulting in a need for time to fully recover. In mid-2006, they held their first successful concert, "Step Up Concert" in Osaka, Japan. In late 2006, they returned to Korea in order to promote their first full album, which was released on November 10 and titled S.T.01 Now. Singles from the album included "Unlock" and "Four Chance". As well as promoting the album on various variety and music shows, they also filmed a show on MNet called SOS. The group also lent their voices for the 2006 animated movie Pi's Story.

2007-2008: Japanese activities, 'Boys Over Flowers', and Sub-unit

Later in 2007, the group debuted in the Japanese market. A Japanese fan club has been established with the name of "Triple S Japan"; it officially debuted on March 25, 2007, when SS501 had their first official meeting with the group. The group released their Japanese single "Kokoro", alongside multiple versions, including one with all members and five others featuring the members individually. The single debuted at #5 on the Oricon chart, and move to #3 the next day. A full album was released later that year.

In 2008, SS501 returned to Korea with their single Deja Vu released on March 8, 2008. The title track was the first song to be promoted, and they began their comeback on music channel M.Net's M Countdown. After success with their single "Deja Vu", they began to promote their second single, "A Song Calling for You". They performed their Goodbye Stage on Music Bank on June 6, 2008, to return to Japanese activities.

On October 2, 2008, an official announcement confirmed that leader Kim Hyun Joong was part of the cast for the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango, officially named Boys Over Flowers. It was broadcast on KBS in the first half of 2009, with a total of 25 episodes and a few special episodes.

With both Park Jung Min (Danny Park on the musical Grease) and Kim Hyun Joong on solo activities, the next SS501 album was pushed back to July 2009. As such, the other three members formed a subunit with Heo Young Saeng as the leader and released a project album named U R Man in November 2008. The first single released was "U R Man". They also promoted their single for the Boys Over Flowers soundtrack, "Nae Meoriga Nabbaseo" (Korean: "내 머리가 나빠서", "Because I'm Stupid"). Due to the success of the drama, the song had a high number of downloads.

2009: Solo collection, second mini album and first Asian tour

They released their official second Japanese album on May 13, 2009 titled All My Love and had a promotional tour in Japan in support of the album. The group also released their Solo Collection, consisting of the individual members' songs.

After concentrating on their individual activities, the group made a comeback and released their second mini album titled Rebirth, with the limited edition being released on October 20, 2009 and the normal edition on 22 October. The limited special edition album included two posters and a 100 page photo diary. Their comeback song "Love Like This" was very popular and well received, winning two Music Bank awards and one Inkigayo Mutizen in November. The group ended promotions for the album on November 29, 2009.

On August 1, 2009, the group started their first Asia tour, visiting Seoul, Tokyo, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

2010: Third mini album

The group held a concert in Thailand, February 2010 before holding their final concert in Seoul to conclude the tour.

Although the release of their new mini album was planned to be on May 1, 2010 (a nod towards "501" in the group's name), the date was pushed back in order to "add finishing touches".

On May 22, SS501 was one of many popular groups that performed at the 2010 Dream Concert. Due to the fact that Kim Hyun Joong was still recovering from a previous injury, they sang two ballads instead of the rumored come back track.

A day after their performance at the Dream Concert, one of their mini-album tracks, "Let Me Be The One" was leaked on the internet. Not long afterwards, the teaser for the comeback track was unveiled. The third mini album, "Destination", was finally released on May 24, 2010.

Their first win for their title track "Love Ya" was during their second week of promotion in Music Bank, on June 11, 2010. They also took first place the following week. On June 18, 2010, Daesung Entertainment announced that SS501 would end their "Love Ya" promotions due to contract expiry with DSP on June 7, 2010.

Contract issues

On June 28, 2010, it was officially announced that the group's leader, Kim Hyun Joong, had signed a contract with KeyEast Entertainment. Even though he is no longer signed with DSP Entertainment, he is still a part of SS501.

On August 10, 2010, Park Jung Min, following Kim Hyun Joong's footsteps, officially left DSP Entertainment and joined a newly created company, CNR Media. However, like Kim Hyun Joong, he is still a part of SS501 and has never stated otherwise.

On August 28, 2010, it was officially announced that Kim Hyung Jun had left DSP Entertainment and joined another company, S-Plus Entertainment. But, like his fellow group members, he still is a part of SS501 even though he is no longer signed with DSP Entertainment.

The remaining members Heo Young Saeng and Kim Kyu Jong signed contracts with B2Ment, (Lee Hyori's company).

Despite the fact that the members work in different companies, SS501 will retain its name and will still produce songs. All of the members' companies have stated that SS501's activities will be top priority in their contracts. On October 2010, Kim Hyung Jun announced that SS501 will be back in early 2011 with a new album.

Solo activities 2010-2011

Kim Hyun Joong had filmed a drama Playful Kiss as Baek Seung Jo, the main male lead along with Jung So Min as Oh Ha Ni, the main female lead.

It had been confirmed that members, Heo Young Saeng and Kim Kyu Jong will be holding fanmeetings in countries across Asia.

Park Jung Min's comeback solo album 'Not Alone' was originally supposed to be released on 25th November 2010, but due to North Korea attacking South Korea, CNR Media decided that the release should be postponed. The company is now planning to release the 'Not Alone' on 20th January 2011 to allow Park Jung Min to add more songs to the album. The original price for the album will be changed because of this. Park Jung Min was also involved in a musical 'Bonds Of Boys' in Japan as an exchange student from 18th November - 23rd November.

Kim Hyung Jun is currently in musical 'Cafe-In' in Korea from 24th November 2010 - 23 January 2011 as two characters: Ji Min and Jeong Min.

Although most of their music is composed by various people, the members of SS501 have also contributed to their albums. Kim Hyung Jun and his brother, Kim Ki Bum (U-KISS) composed, under the name "H&B", the songs: "Want It", "The One", "I AM", "Hey G". Kim Hyung Jun also wrote the lyrics of the song "Obsess" in their Rebirth album. Heo Young Saeng composed his solo song "Is It Love?" and "Until Forever", one of the tracks in SS501's album Destination. Park Jung Min composed the song "Kiss" which is sung by Rainbow, he performed the song at their Persona concert.