WINNER

Winner (Korean: 위너), stylized as WINNER, is a South Korean boy group formed in 2013 by YGE through reality survival program WIN: Who Is Next. The group currently consists of four members, Jinwoo, Seunghoon, Mino and Seungyoon. Originally a five-piece group, Taehyun, departed from the group in November 2016 due to health and well-being. After several delays, the group officially debuted on August 17, 2014 with the release of studio album 2014 S/S ahead of official debut, claiming the number one spot on Gaon Album Chart and Billboard World Albums Chart upon release. The lead singles "Empty" and "Color Ring" instantly hit number one and three respectively on Gaon Digital Chart. The Korea Herald cited their success as "unprecedented" for a newly debuted group, thus claiming the title "Monster rookies". The same year on September 10, the group debuted in Japan. They won numerous awards for Best New Artist in 2014, including at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and the Melon Music Awards. Following the group's hiatus in 2015, Winner's first extended play Exit : E (2016) was also number one in South Korea, alongside lead singles "Sentimental" and "Baby Baby" both yielding spots within the Gaon top-six. Following the group's reformation, Winner's first single album Fate Number For (2017) peaked at number two on Gaon while lead singles "Really Really" and "Fool" became another chart-topper after placing number one and six respectively in South Korea. "Really Really" went on to selling over 2.5 million digital copies on Gaon. The same year, Winner released their second single album, Our Twenty For. Their second studio album, Everyday (2018) subsequently placed number one on Gaon along with second extended play, We (2019). Lead singles Everyday (2018), Millions (2018) peaked at number two in South Korea.