WINNER

I. Introduction

WINNER is a 4 member boy group (previously 5) under YG Entertainment. Their members are Yoon, Jinu, Hoony, and Mino. Taehyun is the fifth member who left back in November, 2016. The group was formed through the survival TV show, WIN: Who Is Next. They debuted on August 17, 2014 with their singles, Empty and Color Ring, along with a performance on SBS' Inkigayo.

II. Career

On August 23, 2013, All five members competed as Team A on the show, WIN: Who Is Next, against Team B (who would later become the group, iKON). The show had three rounds of performances and public voting. On October 25, Team A was declared the winners (this also resulted in the group's name, WINNER).

While preparing for debut, they performed as the opening act for Big Bang's Japanese dome tour starting in November. On December 13, their reality show, Winner TV, was aired. The show gave a glimpse into how they were preparing for debut and gave a peek into their everyday lives.

They also guested in 2ne1's All or Nothing tour in Seoul from March 1 - 2, 2014. They performed as guests for 2ne1 once again in their second world tour in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Malaysia from March to May. Winner was also featured in the YG Family Power World Tour on April 12.

YG then teased their debut by releases teaser images and videos. They held a showcase via a launch party of 400 attendees. This party had a fashion show with models of YGKPlus, finishing with the members in their own special suits. This event was seen by the media as a new spectacle and it gave the group a refined taste.

The group finally debuted on August 17, with their singles Empty and color Ring alongside their first music show performance on SBS' Inkigayo. They have become the second fastest group to win on a music show via M! Countdown merely six days after their debut.

Their studio album, 2014 S/S, charted at number 1 on the Gaon Album Chart and the Billboard World Albums Chart. Empty and Color Ring were first and third on the Gaon Digital Chart. The success was very unusual for the time. And they really claimed the "Monster rookie" title.

WINNER made their Japanese debut with 2014 S?S: Japan Collection.

In 2015, WINNER was set in hiatus while the members did solo activities while doing their second Japan tour in September through October. They came back in 2016 with five project releases. Before their comeback, a few musical covers of their singles were revealed as promotional teasers which included such artists like Lee Hi, Dean, AKMU, Zion. T, E$pik High, Taeyang, and G-Dragon. They released EP Exit : E on February 1. This EP reached Number 2 on Billboard's World Albums Chart as well as Number 1 on Gaon Album chart. They launched their first south Korean concert tour on March 12.

They also aired their variety show, Half-Moon Friends, on JTBC on April 23. This gave them both a national and international fanbase with over 75 million views through Miaopai and 100 million views in other Chinese platforms. This success in China gave them the Overseas Popularity Award on MTV Asia Music Gala.

On October 12, YG revealed that Nam would not participate in group activities due to health issues. He later departed from the group on November 25.

WINNER made their first 4 member comeback on April 4th, 2017 with their single album, Fate Number For. The lead single, Really Really, reached number one on Gaon and number 3 on Billboard World Digital Song Sales.

Winner released their pre-release single, Hold, which charted number one on many South Korean music platforms such as Naver, Bugs, and Soribada. Winner also started a Ddeum Challenge on TikTok, which trended heavily in South Korea.

Jinu enlisted for mandatory military service on April 2, and is set to return on January 1, 2022. Hoony also enlisted on April 16.

On August 2021, all members chose to renew their contract with YG for five more years.

III. Members

	Yoon (formerly Seungyoon) Birth Name: Kang Seung Yoon Born on January 21, 1994 in Busan, South Korea Leader, Main Vocalist, Maknae
	Jinu Birth Name: Kim Jin Woo Born on September 26, 1991 in Imjado, South Korea Lead Vocalist, Visual
	Hoony (formerly Seunghoon) Birth Name: Lee Seung Hoon Born on January 11, 1992 Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Vocalist
	Mino Birth Name: Song Min Ho Born on March 30, 1993 Main Rapper, Vocalist, Face of the Group

Former Members

Taehyun Birth Name: Nam Tae Hyun Born on May 10, 1994 in Hanam, South Korea Main Vocalist, Maknae

IV. Discography

	Just Another Boy (released under TEAM A)	Single	October 28, 2013
	Go Up (released under TEAM A)	Single	November 9, 2013
	2014 S/S	Studio Album	August 12, 2014
	Exit : E	EP	February 1, 2016
	Fate Number For	Single Album	April 4, 2017
	Our Twenty For	Single Album	August 4, 2017
	Our Twenty For (Japanese)	Studio Album	February 7, 2018
	Everyday	Studio Album	April 4, 2018
	Millions	Single Album	December 19, 2018
	Oreo People (collaboration with Oreo Korea)	Promotional Single	2018
	We	EP	May 15, 2019
	Cross	EP	October 23, 2019
	Winner The Best Song 4 U	Compilation Album	February 12, 2020
	Remember	Studio Album	April 9, 2020

V. Videography

Music Videos

DVDs

Shows

VI. Videos

Empty MV

REALLY REALLY MV

Melon Music Awards - Love Me, Love Me & Really Really

VII. Trivia

• Jinwoo receives a lot of praise for his visuals on variety shows. Many comparing him to an SM Entertainment artist more than a YG artist
• Seunghoon is great at dancing to girl group songs. Check out his cover of Sunmi's Gashina!
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• Jinwoo takes the most time to learn lyrics
• Seunghoon is also a senior manager at YG Entertainment. He oversees and manages other employees at the workplace.
• Mino also does art, and sometimes uploads his pieces to his own personal Instagram
• Winner has donated 5.95 tonnes of rice and 100 kilograms of animal feed with Inner Circles, they donated 35.865 tonnes of rice, 2,840 packets of ramen, 48 cans of powdered milk, 1.604 tonnes of animal feed, 20 kilograms of cat foo, 1,290 eggs, and 180 briquettes on June 17, 2018 during their fan meeting, WWIC 2018. TAhe rice was given to single and unwed mothers and youth protection facilities
• WINNER became the models for Italian sport brand Ellesse. Ellesse made 14 billion won in 2017, which is a 160% increase from previous years
• Tag and Joochan of Golden Child called WINNER their role models
• The group worked with African-American choreographer Oththan Burnside for Really Really