For the longest time, we were wondering, “What in the world is Five Treasure Island?”. Five. Treasure. Choi Jong-hoon, Lee Hongki, Lee Jae-jin, Song Seung-hyun, and Choi Min-hwan. Five teenagers who were “branded” to be “five treasures”. Also known as F.T. Island!
In 2007, the South Korean pop/rock band released their debut album, “Cheerful Sensibility”. The title track off that album, “Lovesick”, topped the K-Pop charts for eight consecutive weeks. It took the Korean music industry by storm and shortly after its release, “Cheerful Sensibility” went on to sell 79,000 copies, making it the sixth best-selling album of 2007. In December 2007, the album was re-released with three extra songs, a photo book, photo cards, and a mixing program called “Music 2.0”. That month alone, the re-release sold 25,724 copies.
Immediately after their debut, the band kicked off their promotional activities overseas – starting with an autograph and a meet and greet session in Malaysia. A few months after that, F.T. Island released two albums – a Japanese debut album in June 2008 and their second Korean album in August 2008. In October 2008, a follow-up EP was released. The years to come saw their “F.T. Island Tour – I Believe Myself”, the introduction of their sub group “F.T. Triple”, their “Men’s Stories” national tour, the release of five more albums (two Korean, three Japanese) and six more EPs (five Korean, one Japanese).
One of the five Korean EPs is entitled, “Grown-Up”, comprising of slow-tempo rock ballads. It was released in 2012 and made immensely popular by its title track, “Severely”. “Severely” successfully achieved an all-kill on various online music charts and by nature of all things cause and effect, “Grown-Up” completely sold out in only 10 days after its release (50,000 in sales):
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On top of that, F.T. Island is also currently in the running to bag the “Disk Album Of the Year” award for “Grown-Up” at “Samsung GALAXY The 27th Golden Disk Awards in Kuala Lumpur”!
Other facts about F.T. Island as follows:
- F.T. Island doesn’t like to be labeled as a “K-Pop boy group” because they’re a band. An instrumental band.
- In 2008, the band was supposed to hold their first ever concert at Sunway Lagoon Amphitheater in Malaysia but unfortunately, it was cancelled.
- Lead vocal Lee Hongki has a pet Husky named “Elysia”, whom he calls his daughter.
- Song Seung-hyun was supposed to have debuted with F.T. Island’s “friendly rival” and labelmate band, “CN Blue”.
- Out of the five members, three have acted in dramas. Hongki in “You’re Beautiful”, Jae-jin in “Unstoppable Marriage”, and Min-hwan in “The Road Home”.
- F.T. Island once had a member named Oh Won-bin, who decided to leave the group shortly after their debut to go solo.
- F.T. Island’s sub group, “F.T. Triple”, consists of members Choi Jong-hoon, Choi Min-hwan, and Lee Jae-jin. It was formed to ease Lee Hongki’s burden from showcases and performances.
Here’s another fact: F.T. Island is slated to make an appearance at “Samsung GALAXY The 27th Golden Disk Awards in Kuala Lumpur” (GDA) whereas Lee Hongki will be MC for the gala event, as confirmed by the GDA committee
To purchase tickets, hit up TicketPro or any of their participating outlets right now! Tickets are priced at RM999 (Samsung GALAXY Zone) and RM688 (Rockpit). We hear that tickets are going to go fast so hurry!
For more information, visit their official website.
