CNBLUE (Korean: 씨엔블루 Japanese: シーエヌブルー ), stylized as CNBLUE, are a South Korean rock band formed in Seoul in 2009. The band consists of Jung Yong Hwa (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Lee Jong Hyun (lead guitar, vocals), Lee Jung Shin (bass guitar, vocals) and Kang Min Hyuk
(drums, vocals). "CN is an abbreviation of ‘Code Name’ while BLUE is an
abbreviation of the members’ individual images," said by one of the
members. ‘Burning’ represents Lee Jong Hyun, ‘Lovely’ represents Kang Min Hyuk, ‘Untouchable’ represents Lee Jung Shin, and ‘Emotional’ represents Jung Yong Hwa. Debuted on August 19, 2009 in Japan with the band's first mini album, Now or Never. The group released four teasers for their 1st mini album Bluetory,
starring one member per each of the videos in the sequence of Jonghyun,
Minhyuk, Jungshin and lastly, Yonghwa on the 6th, 8th, 11 and 13
January 2010 respectively. On January 14, 2010 CN Blue debuted their
first mini-album in Korea with the lead single "I'm a Loner" (Korean: 외톨이야).
History
2009: Indie band in Japan, Now or Never, and Voice
In mid-June 2009, CN Blue began to perform on the streets and in live clubs in Japan. They formally debuted as an indie band on August 19, 2009 with Now or Never. The mini-album was recorded completely in English, and failed to chart on the Oricon.
In late September, their original bassist Kwon Kwang Jin left the band
and was replaced by Lee Jung Shin later that year. Their second extended
play Voice was released in November. Recorded with both English and Japanese tracks, Voice peaked at No. 227 and stayed on the Oricon for two weeks.
2010: Korean debut, ThankU, and other activities
In January, FNC Music unveiled new teaser pictures for CN Blue's debut in South Korea. Bluetory was released on January 14, 2010, and stayed at the top of the Gaon Chart for two weeks. "I'm a Loner" (Korean: 외톨이야)
was promoted as the title track. The song peaked at No. 2, solidifying
their break into the industry. The group had their first televised live
stage on KBS Music Bank on January 15. Later, on January 29, the group made their first music show chart win on Music Bank. They won their first Inkigayo mutizen on January 31, 2010.CN Blue holds the record for achieving No. 1 on Korean music charts
program in the shortest time since debut, grabbing their first win only
15 days after debuting with "I'm A Loner." The group debuted their new reality show "CNBluetory" on the Korean music channel Mnet on March 10.
In March, the band started preparations for their first full-length album Thank U in Japan. It was released on March 20, 2010 with two new tracks. The album peaked at No. 90 on the Oricon
charts, their highest position thus far. In April, their official fan
club name was announced as BOICE, a combination of "blue" and "voice."
CN Blue headed back to Korea in May and released their next single,
"Love Light" (Korean: 사랑 빛),
on May 10, 2010. The song peaked at No. 10 on the Korean national chart
and foreshadowed their upcoming release. On May 19, their second
extended play Bluelove was released. CN Blue held their comeback stage on M! Countdown
the following day. It was promoted with the track "Love", which charted
at No. 2, matching the success the band found earlier with "I'm A
Loner." Bluelove peaked at No. 3, but stayed on the chart for many weeks and "Love" finally won first place on M! Countdown on June, 10, 2010 and Inkigayo on June 20, 2010.
After their success in Korea, the band headed back to Japan. They
released their first single "The Way" on June 23. For the first time,
they charted in the Oricon Top 40 at No. 26. The release was followed by
"I Don't Know Why" on September 16. The song reached No. 8 on the
Oricon Daily Chart, marking the first time the band made it inside the
Top 10. On the weekly chart, they peaked at No. 15. On the Japanese
indie top chart, the band reached No. 1. The band embarked on a small tour across Japan in order to promote the single.
CN Blue members Kang Min Hyuk and Lee Jong Hyun starred in the Korean
movie "Acoustic." They released a song from the OST on October 7
entitled "High Fly".
2011: Re-maintenance, First Step, 392, and In My Head
On January 9, CN Blue released their third Japanese single, Re-maintenance. They started off their 2011 Japanese promotions with a Zepp Tour in 4 cities: Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Tokyo from January 9–16.
FNC Music, their entertainment agency in South Korea, released teasers for a CN Blue comeback in February 2011. However, the release date was later changed to March 21. The teaser was noted for having "more of the same departure from their pop rock sound into a heavier concept." CN Blue released their first full-length album First Step with the title track "Intuition" (Korean: 직감
) on March 21. Despite the delay, fans couldn't seem to get enough of
the fabulous foursome - "Intuition" achieved an all-kill on Korea’s
major online music charts.
Their album also topped online and offline chart physical album sales
that week. They won K-Chart a week after their comeback on Mnet's M! Countdown, KBS Music Bank and a week later on SBS Inkigayo. This was the first time they won triple crown on Mnet's M! Countdown and KBS Music Bank. The promotions of the song ended on April 24 on Inkigayo. They followed up with promotions of the song "Love Girl" from their special EP First Step +1 Thank You, beginning April 29 on Music Bank. The promotions of the song and album ended on May 22.
After finishing promotions in Korea, CN Blue made a comeback in Japan
with the release of their second and last indie album "392" on
September 1, 2011. They also announced that they would make their major
debut in Japan on October 19, 2011 under the Warner Music Japan label. CN Blue's last indie album "392" placed 6th on the Oricon Weekly Album Chart.
The band released their major debut single "In My Head" on October 19,
2011 and peaked at 3rd on the Oricon Daily Chart and 4th on the Oricon
Weekly Chart with 70,000+ units sold in its first week. In November, "In My Head" claimed a gold record accreditation according to the RIAJ, meaning that the album sold over 100,000 copies within a month of going on sale.
2012: Where You Are,Overseas Activities, Ear Fun
The group released a new single in Japan on February 1st, titled "Where You Are". The single reached number 1 in both Oricon's Daily and Weekly chart, making the first #1 for the group in the country.
CN Blue and fellow label-mates F.T. Island performed in America for the first time at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater on March 9.
After finishing their overseas activities, CN Blue returned to Korea
to prepare their comeback. On March 26, the band released their third
Korean mini album, Ear Fun. The singles of the album, "Still in Love" (Korean: 아직 사랑한다)
released on March 16 ahead of the album release and the title track
"Hey You" got positive response from the fans which fastly topping
Korean major online music chart on the day the songs released. CNBlue
held their comeback stage on M! Countdown on March 29. They also
held their comeback stage on others music program on following day.
"Still in Love" peaked at No.10 on Korean national single weekly chart
on 1st week then climb up to No.3 on 2nd week while "Hey You" charted at
No.1 of the week the song released. The album Ear Fun peaked at
No.1 on online and offline chart physical album sales that week. CN Blue
finished the promotion of the album and the songs in four weeks and
despite facing hard competition, they ended the promotion successfully
with their K-chart and mutizen won on their goodbye stage at KBS Music Bank and SBS Inkigayo on April 20 and April 22 respectively, following their won on Mnet M! Countdown and new music program MBC Music Show Champion two weeks before that.
After completing their mini album promotion CN Blue continue their
Korean activities with individual works of the members in drama and also
held their first fan meeting in Seoul on May 5.
Members
Jung Yonghwa
- Full Name: Jung Yonghwa (Korean: 정용화) (Japan:ジョン・ヨンファ, 鄭容和 )
- Date of Birth: Seoul, South Korean, June 22 1989
- Position: Leader, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, main rapper
- Height / Weight: 180 cm / 63 kg
- Blood Type: A
Lee Jonghyun
- Full Name: Lee Jonghyun (Korean: 이종현) (Japan: イ・ジョンヒョン, 李宗泫)
- Date of Birth: Busan, South Korean, May 15 1990
- Position: Lead guitarist, vocalist
- Height / Weight: 182 cm / 64 kg
- Blood Type: B
- Other: former leader of CNBLUE
Kang Minhyuk
- Full Name: Kang Minhyuk (Korean: 강민혁) (Japan: カン・ミンヒョク, 姜敏赫)
- Date of Birth: June 28, 1991
- Position: Drummer
- Height / Weight: 184 cm / 60 kg
- Blood Type: A
Lee Jungshin
- Full Name: Lee Jungshin (Korean: 이정신) (Japan: イ・ジョンシン, 李正信)
- Date of Birth: September 15, 1991
- Position: Maknae (youngest member), Bassist, Rapper
- Height / Weight: 187 cm / 61 kg
- Blood Type: A
Kwon Kwang Jin
- Full Name: Kwon Kwang Jin (Korean: 권광진) (Japanese: グァンジン)
- Position: Bassist
- Date of Birth: 12 August 1992
Height / Weight: 180cm / 62 kg
Blood Type: AB
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