Astro

  • I. Introduction

    Astro (아스트로) is a 6 member boy group under Fantagio Entertainment. They made their debut on February 23, 2016 with the single "Hide & Seek" from their debut EP Spring Up. Astro members are Jinjin, MJ, Cha Eunwoo, Moonbin, and Sanha. Astro currently has one subunit, Astro Moonbin & Sanha, which debuted on September 14, 2020 with the EP IN-OUT and lead single "Bad Idea".

    II. Career

    Prior to debut, the members of Astro were known as iTeen Boys while training under the rookie developmental program Fantagio iTeen. The group and it's members were officially announced in August 2015 and they starred in the web drama, To Be Continued, playing fictionalized versions of themselves. In January 2016, Astro starred in their own reality show, Astro OK! Ready!, on MBC to promote their debut.


    Astro's debut EP Spring Up, was released on Feburary 23, 2016 with the lead single "Hide & Seek". At their debut showcase, Astro introduced the name of their official fanclub, Aroha (Astro Hearts All Fans). Within it's first week, Spring Up charted at #6 on the Billboard World Album chart and #4 on the Gaon Music Chart. A MV for "Cat's Eye" containing clips from the To Be Continued web series was released on February 25.


    Their second EP Summer Vibes was released on July 1, 2016 with the lead single "Breatheless". The album once again peaked at #6 on the Billboard World Album charts and #4 on the Gaon Music Chart. On July 31, Astro preformed at KCON2016 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The group held their first solo concert on August 27-28 at the KEPCO Arts Center in Seoul. That fall, Astro held a showcase in Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia.


    The group's third EP Autumn Story was released on November 10 with the lead single "Confession". The album peaked at #6 on the Gaon Music Chart.


    On February 22, 2017, Astro released the final entry in their seasonal album concept, Winter Dream. The lead single "Should Have Held On (Again)" was not promoted on any music shows. On May 29 Astro released their fourth EP Dream Part 01 with lead single "Baby". That summer the group began their first tour, The 1st ASTROAD, with dates in Seoul, Osaka, and Tokyo. On November 15, Astro released their fifth extended play Dream Part 02 with the title track "Crazy, Sexy, Cool".


    Throughout February-March 2018, Astro embarked on a fan meeting world tour with stops in the US, Canada, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. Astro released Rise Up, their fifth EP with the title track "Always You", however due to issues within Fantagio Astro was not able to promote the single. Astro held their second tour "ASTROAD II in Japan" through the month of August.


    On January 16, 2019, Astro returned from an eight month hiatus to release their first full length album, All Light, with the title track "All Night". They also announced a new tour, "The 2nd ASTROAD Tour" which would include stops across Asia and North America. On January 29, Astro earned their first music win on SBS MTV's The Show.


    On April 9, Astro released their debut Japanese album, Venus, featuring three original Japanese tracks and Japanese versions of past singles "Baby", "Always You" and "All Night". The album debuted at #4 on the Oricon daily album charts. On November 12, Fantagio announced that Moonbin would be taking a hiatus due to health reasons ahead of promotions for their sixth EP, Blue Flame. Moonbin would not take part in promotions, but did particpate in the album and music video.


    On March 13, 2020 Astro released the special album One&Only to celebrate their foruth anniversary. On May 4, Astro released their seventh EP, Gateway, with the lead single "Knock". They took their second music show win with "Knock" on MBC's Show Champion on May 13 and on June 28 they held their very first ontact concert "2020 Astro Live on WWW" to meet with their fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A special single "No I Don't" was performed at the concert.


    On August 14, Fantagio confirmed that members Moonbin and Sanha would be forming Astro's first sub-unit and releasing an EP. On September 14, the duo released their debut EP IN-OUT with the title track "Bad Idea". On September 22, they earned their first music show win on SBS MTV's The Show setting a new record for fastest subunit to win a music show (8 days).


    On December 31, Astro released a special winter single for their fans "We Still (Be With U)", a remixed track from Gateway with a warmer atmosphere.


    On April 5, 2021, Astro is set to release their second full length album All Yours. In July 2021, they starred in the variety series Astro Zone which saw the members enjoy a relaxing overnight trip together. They released their eighth mini album, Switch On, on August 2, 2021. Switch On saw each member take part in the writing, composing, and arranging of tracks on the album.

    III. Members

    Jinjin (진진)
    Real Name: Park Jinwoo (박진우)
    Date of Birth: March 15, 1996
    Position: Leader, Main Rapper, Lead Dancer
    Official Color: Green
    Fan Emoji: 🐶
    Instagram, JSMR (Spotify Playlist)
    MJ (엠제이)
    Real Name: Kim Myungjun (김명준)
    Date of Birth: March 5, 1994
    Position: Main Vocalist
    Official Color: Orange
    Fan Emoji: 🦊
    Instagram
    Cha Eunwoo (차은우)
    Real Name: Lee Dongmin (이동민)
    Date of Birth: March 30, 1997
    Position: Vocalist, Visual, Face of the Group
    Official Color: Blue
    Fan Emoji: 🐮
    Instagram, TikTok
    Moonbin (문빈)
    Real Name: Moon Bin (문빈)
    Date of Birth: January 26, 1998
    Position: Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist
    Official Color: Red
    Fan Emoji: 🐱
    Instagram
    Rocky (라키)
    Real Name: Park Minhyuk (박민혁)
    Date of Birth: February 25, 1999
    Position: Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Vocalist
    Official Color: Indigo
    Fan Emoji: 🐺
    Instagram, Soundcloud
    Sanha (산하)
    Real Name: Yoon Sanha (윤산하)
    Date of Birth: March 21, 2000
    Position: Vocalist, Maknae
    Official Color: Yellow
    Fan Emoji: 🐥
    Instagram

    IV. Discography

    Group Releases

    Artwork Title Type Release Date Language
    Spring-Up-220.png Spring Up Mini Album February 23, 2016 Korean
    Summer-Vibes-220.png Summer Vibes Mini Album July 1, 2016 Korean
    Autumn-Story-220.png Autumn Story Mini Album November 10, 2016 Korean
    Winter-Dream-220.png Winter Dream Mini Album February 22, 2017 Korean
    Dream-Part-01-220.png Dream Part 01 Mini Album May 28, 2017 Korean
    Dream-Part-02-220.jpg Dream Part 02 Mini Album November 1, 2017 Korean
    Rise-Up-220.png Rise Up Mini Album July 28, 2018 Korean
    All-Light-220.png All Light Studio Album January 16, 2019 Korean
    Venus-220.jpg Venus (JP) Mini Album April 3, 2019 Japanese
    Blue-Flame-220.png Blue Flame Mini Album November 20, 2019 Korean
    One-Only-220.png One & Only Special Album March 13, 2020 Korean
    Gateway-220.png Gateway Mini Album May 4, 2020 Korean
    All-Yours-220.png All Yours Studio Album April 5, 2021 Korean
    ASTRO-Switch-On-digital-album-cover.png
    Switch On Mini Album August 2, 2021 Korean



    Astro Moonbin & Sanha Releases

    Artwork Title Type Release Date
    In-Out-220.png In-Out Extended Play September 14, 2020


    V. Filmography

    Dramas

    Year Title Network
    2015 To Be Continued Naver TV Cast
    2017 Sweet Revenge Oksusu
    2019 Soul Plate Naver TV Cast


    Variety Shows

    Year Title Network
    2016 Astro OK! Ready MBC Every1
    2016 Astro Project MBC Music
    2020 Thousand Days of ASTRO Seezn
    2021 Astro Zone YouTube

    VI. Trivia

    • Aroha comes from the phrase Astro Hearts All Fans, but is also the Maori word for "love".

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