CN BLUE

CNBLUE are in many ways South Korea's answer to Busted - a pop group who, despite their their boy band status, play their own instruments and have attracted an adoring fan base drawn to them for their pop-rock stylings. The 'CN' in their name stands for 'Code Name' while 'BLUE' stands for their characters 'Burning'; 'Lovely'; 'Untouchable' and 'Emotional'. The group were formed in Seoul but really got their start in Korea's more rock-friendly neighbour Japan with their indie mini-album 'Now Or Never'. The release didn't manage to chart but did earn them a handful of fans, thanks in part to frontman Jung Yong-Hwa's visibility as an actor in the TV show 'You're Beautiful'. A second mini-album, 'Voice', also disappointed but when the group subsequently returned to South Korea it was to instant success, with the single 'I'm a Loner' debuting at number two. Two successful mini-albums back in Korea were enough to ensure that when they returned to Japan they cracked the charts and won a record deal with Warner Music. As they travelled back and forth the group's success in one territory would fuel the other. They would arrive with pre-packaged hits in need only of a new vocal track in the language of the second country, and the group has had multiple top ten and number one albums, EPs and singles across both territories. As international interest in K-pop bloomed in the early 2010s their success spread beyond East Asian markets and CNBLUE became the first Korean band to go on a world tour. In 2018 all four members of the group signed up for their mandatory military service, making 2019 a quiet year. It's expected that they will return in 2020.

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