when nct dream debut?

Composed of members Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung, NCT Dream debuted in 2016 with the song "Chewing Gum." The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard world digital songs sales chart.

NCT Dream continues to cement its spot as a top international act. From high-selling and chart-hitting music releases to various awards, the group has received consistent success since its debut in 2016.

With over 11.8 million followers on Instagram, 9.7 million followers on Twitter and 5.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, NCT Dream is making its mark across globe.

The group recently embarked on its first U.S. headlining tour with stops in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and more. USA TODAY chatted with NCT Dream before the U.S. leg's inaugural show at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on April 5.

Here's everything you need to know about the K-pop group NCT Dream, from its members to its milestones.

NCT Dream is a seven member K-pop boy group under SM Entertainment. Composed of members Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung, NCT Dream debuted in 2016 with the song "Chewing Gum." The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard world digital songs sales chart.

The group is the third sub-group of NCT, which is divided into four sub-groups – NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream and WayV; and one sub-unit – NCT DoJaeJung.

Initially, the group's concept was to be the rotational unit for the teenaged members of NCT. The members would go through a graduation-based system, leaving NCT Dream once they reached the age of adulthood in South Korea, or turned 20 years old (19 internationally). This was changed in 2020 after the group released "Reload."

The group's leader Mark had "graduated" in 2018 but after the reorganization, he returned for the release of "Hot Sauce" in 2021. Since then, NCT Dream has remained a fixed unit.

From debut, the group has grown and developed "in so many ways," said Mark.

"I think for us in the beginning, it was really about getting to know this whole K-pop system and within that, finding our own identity and being able to showcase that to everyone around," said Haechan. "Now that we are on our first world tour, it's about really showing to the fans and to the audience what we have prepared within that time."

There are seven members:

The group debuted nearly seven years ago, but the members have known each other for much longer, from their trainee days.

"NCT Dream kind of feels like a journal," said Haechan. "I would have to say that was our start, and since then, every day just feels like we're recording one day at a time."

Through those years, NCT Dream has been able to share many memories, creating a close bond.

"To me, NCT Dream feels like a second family; I've spent pretty much half my life with all the members," said Jisung. "It's just great to be able to experience all these great things together as a family."

Chenle shared similar sentiments, calling the members of NCT Dream his "real brothers."

"Whether we're working or just having fun, it's always a great time being with each other," he said. "There's a lot to learn from each of the individual members here, and I am also able to grow through all of that, so I feel like it's a very special relationship we have."

For Renjun, being a member of NCT Dream has been a very meaningful experience.

"It feels like the lottery," he said. "We've all come from different backgrounds. All of the individual members are all very special and shine in their own ways. To have been able to spend our youth together is an experience no one is able to have, except for me."

NCT Dream has been something each member is thankful for.

"For me, NCT Dream is a place that allows me to be able to achieve all the things I've desired to do," said Jeno.

For Jaemin, NCT Dream is his "hometown" and "family." "I can dedicate my everything to my members," he said.

"I'm with my teammates, but mostly with my friends," said Mark. "We're breaking the world as friends."

NCT is an acronym for "neo culture technology." It was coined by SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man.

The second half of the group's name, "Dream" reflects its commitment to releasing music that focuses on youth, adolescence and growth.

"We kind of represent, in a way, youth itself," said Mark. "NCT Dream has always been such a youthful team, and now we're just showing the world, and our fans, through our music the growth of who we were and how we're still growing."

The fandom name for NCT is "NCTzen" (pronounced N-Citizen). The members of NCT use the nickname "Czennie" ("Seasony") for their fans.

On April 5, NCT Dream embarked on its first U.S. headlining tour. "The Dream Show 2: In A Dream" tour began in September 2022 with two sold-out shows at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in South Korea. During the tour, the group will visit 22 cities across globe with more to come.

On the U.S. leg, NCT Dream includes stops in several cities:

"I am very excited and very much looking forward to it," said Chenle. "I am very curious to see what kind of stages we are able to create together with our U.S. fans."

On tour, those stages are full of high energy and fun. Whether it's through the show's start with "Glitch Mode" or the final bow with "Candy," the members showcase their energy and love toward NCTzens.

Through each stage, the members hope the fans can take away an optimistic outlook.

"I would want them to be able to learn to have a positive mindset in everything that they do; to just always be happy and be able to overcome any circumstances that they're in," said Renjun.

Throughout the years, NCT Dream has received various awards and accolades.

Most recently, the group won the grand award, or daesang, at the Seoul Music Awards in 2023. Additionally, they won Best Album at the 2022 Hanteo Music Awards and won Album of the Year for "Glitch Mode" and Singer of the Year at the 2022 Genie Music Awards.

Since their debut, NCT Dream has released two studio albums, two reissues, one live album, five EPs and many singles.

The group's second studio album "Glitch Mode" surpassed more than 2 million pre-orders on release day. The album's title track peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard 200 chart. Its first studio album "Hot Sauce" had 1.71 million preorders and was named Best Album at the 31st Seoul Music Awards. Most recently, the group released an English version of "Beatbox" on March 21.

For three consecutive years, NCT Dream was named on Billboard’s “21 Under 21: Music’s Next Generation” from 2018 to 2020. The group was also the only Asian artists on TIME Magazine’s “25 Most Influential Teens of 2018.”

As their seventh debut anniversary approaches in August, the group's momentum is not slowing down.

"NCT Dream is the future," Haechan said.

"This is just the beginning," Mark said.

NCT Dream (Korean: 엔시티 드림) is the third sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT, formed by SM Entertainment in 2016. They were initially intended to be the teenaged unit of NCT with an admission-and-graduation system, in which members would leave after reaching age of majority (20 in Korean age reckoning, 19 internationally), prior to re-branding in 2020. The sub-unit debuted on August 25, 2016, with the single "Chewing Gum" and a lineup of seven members—Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung—whose average age was 15.6 years old. In late 2018, the group's leader Mark graduated from NCT Dream but returned in 2020 when began promoting as a fixed seven-member group.

Commercial success of their 2019 extended play (EP) We Boom made NCT Dream into one of the year's top 10 physical sellers domestically and earned them Bonsang awards at the 34th Golden Disc Awards and 2020 Seoul Music Awards.[3][4][5] Their second and last record released as a sextet was their fourth Korean-language EP, Reload (2020), which accumulated over half a million pre-orders.[6][7] NCT Dream achieved major commercial success with the release of their first studio album, Hot Sauce (2021), whose pre-orders surpassed 1.71 million copies.[8] It became the best-selling album on the Gaon Chart in the first half of 2021 and was named Best Album at the 31st Seoul Music Awards.[9][10]

Since their debut, NCT Dream have released four EPs, six singles and two studio albums and headlined one tour in Asia. Known for music reflecting youth and adolescence, growth, and the transition from innocence to rebellion,[11] the sub-unit has been recognized internationally as one of the most notable teenaged artists of their time. They are the first and only Asian artist to appear three consecutive times on Billboard's "21 Under 21" list for their industry impact on sales, streaming and social media, placing at numbers 20, 13 and 19 from 2018 to 2020.[12][13] NCT Dream were also included on Time's list of the "25 Most Influential Teens" of 2018.[11]

Prior to the group's debut, some of the members were already involved in the entertainment industry. Jeno had filmed various commercials as a child. Jisung was also previously a child actor with roles in films such as Boys, Be Curious (2012), No Cave (2013), and Go, Stop, Murder (2013) and a member of Poppin' Hyun Joon Kids Crew. Chenle was active on the Chinese music scene as a child singer; he released three albums, headlined a solo concert in China, and participated in Chinese programs, including China's Got Talent.

Mark was the first member to join SM Entertainment in 2012, after passing SM Global Auditions in Canada. Haechan was cast through SM Saturday Open Casting Audition in 2013, Jisung and Jeno were cast through the company's casting system, and Jaemin was street-cast by staff while doing volunteer work and successfully passed auditions. In July 2015, Renjun was cast through SM Global Auditions in China. Chenle was the last member to be cast, in 2016, just three months before NCT Dream's debut.[14]

Mark, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, and Jisung were previously part of SM Rookies, a pre-debut team of trainees under SM Entertainment. As part of SMRookies, in October 2014, they appeared on the Mnet-produced Exo 90:2014, a show starring labelmates Exo, where they perform dances to K-pop songs from the 1990s. From July through December 2015, the five boys were Mouseketeers on Disney Channel Korea's The Mickey Mouse Club, where they performed music and dances, played games, and participated in skits. SM Rookies Boys eventually held their own concert, the SMRookies Show, which took place in Seoul in September 2015 and later expanded to Bangkok, Thailand in February 2016.

NCT was first announced in January 2016 by Lee Soo-man at a presentation outlining plans for a group that would debut different sub-units around the world.[15] Mark had previously debuted with the group's first unit, the rotational NCT U, on April 4, 2016.[16] On July 7 of the same year, both Mark and Haechan debuted in NCT's second sub-unit, the Seoul-based NCT 127.[17] They debuted again with five new members—Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung—as NCT Dream, the third sub-unit of NCT, announced on August 18, 2016.[18]

NCT Dream released their debut single "Chewing Gum" on August 24, 2016 and held their debut stage was on August 25 on M Countdown.[19] The song peaked at number two on the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales chart and at number 23 on the Spotify Viral 50 chart upon release.[20] The Korean and Mandarin versions of the song were later included in NCT Dream's first single album.

On February 1, 2017, SM Entertainment announced NCT Dream's first single album, although member Jaemin would not participate in order to recover from his herniated disc injury.[21] The group's single album The First was released on February 9 with lead single "My First and Last".[20] The album debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart.[22] The sub-unit had their comeback stage on M Countdown, performing "My First and Last" and the B-side track "Dunk Shot".[23] On February 14, NCT Dream won first place on the hundredth episode of The Show, marking the first music show win for any NCT unit.[24]

In the same month, NCT Dream was appointed the official ambassadors for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, hosted in South Korea in the summer of 2017. On March 15, NCT Dream released the official song for the tournament, "Trigger the Fever", and performed it at different promotional events and at the opening ceremony of the U-20 World Cup.[25][26]

NCT Dream released their first EP, We Young, on August 17, 2017.[27] The group's first promotional performance for the EP was held on M Countdown.[28] We Young peaked at number three on the Billboard World Albums chart in September.[29]

NCT Dream released a Christmas single, "Joy", as part of the SM Station project on December 15, 2017.[29]

NCT Dream promoted alongside NCT U and NCT 127 as NCT 2018 during the first quarter of 2018. On March 4, 2018, NCT Dream released the single "Go", which was included in NCT's first album NCT 2018 Empathy.[30] The song marked a transition in the narrative of NCT Dream's music from the portrayal of innocence to the "more defiant attitude" of teenagers.[30] It also marked the group's first comeback with Jaemin since their debut.

SM Entertainment announced in late August that NCT Dream would release an EP titled We Go Up in September.[31] On August 27, it was confirmed that the album would be Mark's last comeback with the group before graduating in 2019 upon turning 19 years old, the age of majority in South Korea.[32] The EP was released on September 3, 2018, alongside the lead single of the same name.[33] We Go Up entered Billboard's World Albums chart at number five and its Heatseekers Albums chart at number seven, NCT Dream's then best sales week in the U.S.[34] The album also topped iTunes Albums charts in 15 countries.[11] NCT Dream was featured on the "21 Under 21 2018: Music's Next Generation" list by Billboard as the only Asian artist that year.[12] All members were also listed on Time's 25 Most Influential Teens of 2018 list.[11]

On December 19, it was announced Haechan would be taking a hiatus from the group due to injury, but he returned soon afterwards.[35] On December 27, NCT Dream released their third single of the year, "Candle Light", for SM Station.[36][37] The song was a message of gratitude and love, with lyrics written by Mark, the last song featuring the original seven members of the group before Mark officially graduated from the unit on December 31.[38]

In March 2019, NCT Dream's Korean members Jeno, Jaemin and Jisung went to Malaysia to represent K-pop stars at the event "K-Wave & Halal Show", celebrating and meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the First Lady of South Korea.[39]

On June 6, NCT Dream released "Don't Need Your Love", a collaborative single with English singer HRVY. The song showed a more mature side for the group, and they were credited for highlighting their maturing vocals. Haechan did not partake in the single due to ongoing activities with NCT 127. The song was released as part of SM Station Season 3.[40]

In July, NCT Dream were named the first global ambassadors of the World Scout Foundation and released the English-language single "Fireflies", the proceeds of which were used to fund foundation activities in low-income countries. The group also performed at the 24th World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia, United States on July 23.[41]

On July 26, NCT Dream released their third EP We Boom and its title track "Boom".[42] The album sold more than 300,000 units after a month of release.[43] It also debuted at number seven on the Billboard World Albums chart, and NCT Dream ranked at number three on the Billboard Social 50 Chart.[44] NCT Dream received two wins for "Boom" on The Show on August 6 and August 20, respectively.[45][46] The EP earned them Bonsang Awards at the 34th Golden Disc Awards and 2020 Seoul Music Awards.[3][4]

In September, NCT Dream was included in Billboard's 21 Under 21 list for the second year in a row, being the first Asian artists to make the list for two consecutive years, this time rising to position thirteen.[13]

In November, the group featured on American-Canadian boy band PrettyMuch's INTL:EP with the song "Up To You", its lyrics praised for promoting consent.[47]

The group went on their first international concert tour, The Dream Show, starting with three dates in Seoul and two dates in Bangkok from November to December.[48][49]

On January 22, NCT Dream released a Japan-exclusive compilation album titled The Dream, consisting of all previously released singles in their original Korean language.[50][51] The album debuted atop the Oricon Albums Chart.[52]

In early 2020, NCT Dream continued with their international tour The Dream Show, with shows in multiple cities in Japan as well as in Southeast Asian countries. Shows from February 2020 onwards were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[53][54]

As the topic of member graduation became more pressing since the year prior,[55] SM Entertainment announced on April 14 that NCT Dream would release their fourth Korean EP, Reload, with the current six members Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung to mark a new change in concept. At the end of the album's promotion period, the graduation system would be abolished, and NCT Dream would continue with all seven members upon the return of Mark. NCT Dream would function as a fixed group and explore more diverse concepts with each release. The seven members would continue retain the name NCT Dream and possibly take part in other activities and NCT units in the future.[6][56][57]

By April 28, one day before the EP's release and two weeks after its announcement, Reload garnered over 500,000 pre-orders, making it NCT Dream's most pre-ordered release to date.[7] On April 29, NCT Dream released Reload with its lead single "Ridin'", an urban trap track with lyrics highlighting the aspirations of NCT Dream in their coming new path.[58] The music video for "Ridin" was released on the same day.[59] Upon release, the album topped the iTunes album chart in 49 countries, including the U.S., as well as topping the digital album sales chart of China's largest music site, QQ Music.[60][61] In South Korea, "Ridin'" reached number one on its largest music site, Melon, making it the first track released by an NCT unit to top the chart. All five songs from the EP peaked within the top 10 on Melon digital chart.[62] The following week, NCT Dream ranked number one on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart.[63]

After the release of their fourth Korean EP, NCT Dream was the third group from SM Entertainment to hold a live online concert, titled "Beyond the Dream Show", as part of the world's first online-dedicated live concert series Beyond LIVE. The live concert was held on May 10.[64]

NCT Dream joined the rest of NCT under the NCT 2020 moniker, promoting the group's second full-length album, the two-part NCT 2020 Resonance, which was released in October and November. By end of 2020, both parts of Resonance sold over 2.6 million copies, a new sales record for NCT. Included in the album is "Déjà Vu", performed by NCT Dream and Mark's first release with NCT Dream since its reorganization.[65] Metro praised "Déjà Vu" for blending the youthful sound of NCT Dream with more edge and ranked it among the top 20 K-pop comebacks of 2020.[66]

On May 10, 2021, the group released their first studio album Hot Sauce, featuring the original seven members of the unit. The album consists of ten tracks, including the title track of the same name.[67] Pre-orders for the album surpassed 1,716,571 copies, breaking their previous record for Reload with a 243% increase.[8][68] The album topped the Gaon Album Chart, and "Hot Sauce" became the sub-unit's first single to peak at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart.[69] On May 26, they earned the "double million sellers" title as the album sold more than two million copies.[70] On June 28, 2021, the group released the repackage of their first studio album Hello Future, which contained three new tracks, including the lead single of the same name.[71] Combined sales of Hot Sauce and Hello Future surpassed three million copies, earning the group their first "triple million seller" title.[72]

On February 28, 2022, it was announced that the group would release their second studio album, Glitch Mode, on March 28, which contained eleven new tracks, including the lead single of the same name.[73] Pre-orders for the album surpassed more than two million copies on the day of release, breaking their previous personal record of 1.71 million pre-orders for Hot Sauce.[74] Glitch Mode recorded sales of 2,100,339 copies within one week, breaking the group's previous personal record of two million copies sold in 16 days for Hot Sauce.[75] The album debuted at number 50 on the US Billboard 200 dated April 9, 2022, becoming NCT Dream's first entry on the chart.[76] On May 30, 2022, the group released the repackage of their second studio album Beatbox, which contained four new tracks, including the lead single of the same name.[77] In support of Glitch Mode, the group embarked on The Dream Show 2: In A Dream tour. A concert film, NCT Dream The Movie: In A Dream, will be available in theaters in South Korea on November 30 and in Japan on December 6.[78]

According to NCT's official Japanese website, NCT Dream will release their first Japanese-language original single on February 8, 2023.[79] The group released a "winter special" extended play, Candy, on December 19. The tracks on the EP, including the lead single of the same name originally released by H.O.T., were made available on streaming services on December 16.[80]

Notes

nctdream.smtown.com (2020 archive)