ATEEZ

ATEEZ’s story starts earlier than most fans realize. Back in 2016, a teenager named Kim Hongjoong wrote a heartfelt letter to KQ Entertainment – a Korean agency best known for managing Block B – and included a self-made mixtape. That letter got him through the door, making him the company’s very first official trainee. Over the next two years, other trainees joined one by one: Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, Jongho, and finally Seonghwa completing the eventual eight-member lineup.

In late 2017, the group – then called KQ Fellaz – traveled to Los Angeles to train at the Millennium Dance Complex, an experience that became the web series KQ Fellaz American Training. Four members (Hongjoong, Mingi, Wooyoung, Jongho) also appeared on the survival show Mix Nine, giving them their first brush with public visibility. On May 18, 2018, a YouTube performance video revealed all eight members performing together for the first time. That July, the group’s name was officially changed to ATEEZ, and a debut reality show, Code Name Is Ateez, premiered on Mnet.

October 24, 2018 – the date that changed everything. ATEEZ dropped their debut EP, TREASURE EP.1: All to Zero, with title tracks “Pirate King” and “Treasure” and launched a concept that felt fresh even in a saturated market: eight pirates searching for treasure. The concept wasn’t just aesthetic – it launched a multi-year narrative universe spanning three major series and continuing to this day.

Just four months after debut, ATEEZ embarked on The Expedition Tour in early 2019, their first world tour. It was a bold move for a rookie group, and it paid off. They built an international fanbase faster than almost any K-pop group before them, particularly in North America and Europe. That July, they inked a deal with RCA Records – a major American label – and also signed with Nippon Columbia in Japan, setting up their dual-market strategy.

The pandemic hit hard in 2020, canceling their scheduled world tour. But ATEEZ adapted. They kept releasing music – the ZERO: FEVER series (2020–2021) showcased emotional depth, dystopian storytelling, and some of their most beloved songs including “Inception,” “Fireworks (I’m the One),” and “Deja Vu.” These years also marked their first appearances on the Billboard 200, and they became million-sellers for the first time.

When concerts returned in 2022, ATEEZ came back swinging with two major world tours in the same year. The World EP.1: Movement and its title track “Guerrilla” kicked off the next chapter, and by late 2023, their second studio album THE WORLD EP.FIN: Will debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 – a landmark moment for any K-pop group, let alone one from a mid-sized agency.

In 2024, the milestones kept stacking. ATEEZ became the first K-pop boy group to perform at Coachella and the first K-pop group to headline the Mawazine music festival in Morocco. Their GOLDEN HOUR: Part.2 also topped the Billboard 200, and they hit #1 on the Billboard Artist 100 for the first time. The Grammy Museum featured them in its first-ever K-pop exhibit. In 2025, all eight members renewed their contracts with KQ Entertainment for seven more years – a strong statement of unity.

By 2026, ATEEZ are still accelerating. They swept the 35th Seoul Music Awards Daesang, performed at major European festivals like BST Hyde Park in London, and released GOLDEN HOUR: Part.4 and Part.5 to continued commercial success. They are, without question, one of the defining acts of fourth-generation K-pop.