Seventeen – South Korean K-pop group
Even though the band’s name is Seventeen, the lineup includes just 13 members. They are divided into three subgroups. Hip-hopers are Vernon, Wonwoo, S.Coups, and Mingyu. Vocalists are Jeonghan, Seungkwan, Joshua, Woozi, and DK. The performers are Hoshi, Jun, Dino, and The8. Pledis Entertainment formed the group in 2015 in Seoul.
The group debuted in May 2015 with a live performance Big Debut Plan on MBC. Three days later, they released the first EP, 17 Carat in digital format. It consisted of 5 tracks, "Shining Diamond", "아낀다", "Jam Jam", "Ah Yeah", and "20", all of which became popular. In September 2015, the musicians recorded the second EP, Boys Be. Songs “Fronting", "Mansae", "When I Grow Up", "OMG", and "Rock" became hits. At that time, many fans tried to book Seventeen for private events.
A year later, the band released a debut LP, Love & Letter. It consisted of two parts, which appeared in April and June 2016 accordingly. The standard version featured 10 songs while the Repackage edition contained 15 tracks. The majority of songs were performed in Korean, except for "Say Yes", "Shining Diamond (Performance Team Ver.)", and "SIMPLE", which came out in Japanese. The album topped South Korean Gaon Albums Chart, came in 8th on Japanese Albums, and settled on the 5th spot of US Billboard World Albums Chart. The album also climbed to the 3rd position of US Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart.