Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key, Minho, and Taemin. Shinee was originally a five-member band; Jonghyun died on December 18, 2017. Their musical impact in their native country has earned them numerous accolades and the title "Princes of K-pop", and their music has been listed among the greatest boy band songs of all time.
Shinee debuted in May 2008 with their first extended play (EP), Replay, fronted by the single of the same name. They gained attention for starting a fashion trend amongst students, which the media dubbed the "Shinee Trend". In August 2008, they released their first Korean studio album, The Shinee World, which won Newcomer Album of the Year at the 23rd Golden Disc Awards. Shinee further consolidated their popularity on the South Korean music scene with follow-up singles "Ring Ding Dong" and "Lucifer". "Ring Ding Dong" charted on top of several Korean music charts and gained popularity all over Asia. "Lucifer" was nominated for the Best Dance Performance Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2010 for its outstanding choreography. In 2012, they released Sherlock, which became the fifth best-selling album of the year with over 180,000 copies sold. Subsequent albums included The Misconceptions of Us (2013), Odd (2015), 1 of 1 (2016), The Story of Light (2018), Don't Call Me (2021), and Hard (2023). Shinee has also been included in the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 twice (2014, 2016).
In mid-2011, Shinee signed with EMI Music Japan to venture into the Japanese music scene. Their Japanese version of their single "Replay" sold over 100,000 copies, the highest number of sales for a Japanese debut single recorded by Oricon for a South Korean group at the time. It was followed by their first Japanese studio album, The First, on December 7, 2011 – both were certified Gold by RIAJ for selling over 100,000 copies. In 2011, they also held their Japan Debut Premium Reception at Abbey Road Studios in London, making them the first Asian artists to perform there. Two years later, they released their second Japanese album Boys Meet U (2013), followed by I'm Your Boy (2014), D×D×D (2016), and Five (2017).
Shinee is considered to be one of the best live vocal groups in K-pop and is known for their highly synchronized and complex dance routines, having been awarded the Best Dance Performance Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards three times in total for their dance performances to "Sherlock (Clue + Note)", "Dream Girl" and "View". Shinee's signature musical style is contemporary R&B, but they are known for their experimental sound, incorporating various genres including funk rock, hip hop, and EDM.
History
2008: Debut and The Shinee World Prior to the group's debut, the label company, SM Entertainment, introduced an upcoming contemporary R&B boy group with its goal to be trendsetters in all areas of music, fashion and dance. The group's Korean name, Shinee, is a new coined word and is explained as a combination of shine, meaning light, and the suffix ee, therefore meaning "one who receives the light". On May 22, 2008, the group's first EP, Replay, was released, which debuted at number ten on the South Korean music charts and peaked at number eight, selling 17,957 copies in the first half of 2008. On May 25, 2008, Shinee had their first stage performance on SBS' Inkigayo with their single "Replay".
In June 2008, the group won their first award, Rookie of the Month, at the Cyworld Digital Music Awards, and were also awarded with the Hot New Star award at the Mnet 20's Choice Awards in August 2008. In the same month, Shinee subsequently released their first full-length album, The Shinee World, which debuted at number three, selling 30,000 copies. Its lead single "Love Like Oxygen" is a cover of "Show the World" by Martin Hoberg Hedegaard, originally written by the Danish songwriting and production team of Thomas Troelsen, Remee, and Lucas Secon. On September 18, 2008, the song won first place on M Countdown, making it the group's first win on a South Korean music show since debut.
Shinee participated in the 5th Asia Song Festival, where they received the Best New Artist award along with Japanese girl group Berryz Kobo. The group attended the Style Icon Awards on October 30, 2008, where they received the Best Style Icon Award. On the same day, a repackaged version of The Shinee World, titled Amigo, was released, which includes three new songs: "Forever or Never", a remix of "Love Should Go On", and the title track "Amigo". "Amigo" is a shortened version of the Korean phrase "areumdaun minyeoreul joahamyeon gosaenghanda", which can be translated to "The heart aches when you fall in love with a beauty".
In November 2008, Shinee won the Best New Male Group award at the 2008 Mnet KM Music Festival, beating fellow newcomers U-KISS, 2PM, 2AM and Mighty Mouth. In addition, the group also won the award for Newcomer Album of the Year at the 23rd Golden Disc Awards.
2009–2010: Rising popularity and Lucifer
In early February 2009, Shinee won the Best Newcomer award along with Davichi and Mighty Mouth at the 18th Seoul Music Awards. Shinee's second extended play, Romeo, was released on May 25. Its lead single, "Juliette", was released earlier on May 18. The song is an instrumental remake of Corbin Bleu's "Deal with It". Shinee had their first stage performance for the song on KBS' Music Bank in June 2009, where the group also received the award for the first place.
Shinee released the digital version of their third extended play, 2009, Year of Us, on October 19, 2009, with a physical release on October 22. The lead single, "Ring Ding Dong", was released digitally on October 14 and charted atop of several Korean music charts and gained popularity all over Asia. In early December 2009, the group won the Popularity Award along with Super Junior at the 24th Golden Disc Awards.
On July 19, 2010, the group released their second full-length studio album, Lucifer, which topped various physical and digital sales charts in South Korea. The songs on the album "were more carefully selected than ever", and the album is said to "[give] listeners a great chance to experience the diverse musical characters and more mature vocal skills of the members." The group made their comeback on July 23, 2010, at KBS' Music Bank. For its outstanding choreography, "Lucifer" was nominated for the Best Dance Performance Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. Lucifer became the sixth best-selling album of 2010 in South Korea, selling over 120,000 copies. In October 2010, the album was re-released under the title Hello. Amidst their promotional activities for the second studio album, the group also participated in the SM Town Live '10 World Tour on August 21, 2010. On December 26, 2010, Shinee commenced their first concert tour, Shinee World, at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo. The event was attended by approximately 24,000 people.
2011–2012: Japanese debut, The First and Sherlock
On January 1, 2011, Shinee performed at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul as a part of their tour, Shinee World, followed by various cities in Japan throughout 2011. On January 25 and 26, 2011, the group participated in the Japan leg of the SM Town Live '10 World Tour in Tokyo, which continued on to two concerts in Paris at Zénith Paris, three concerts in Tokyo at Tokyo Dome, and at Madison Square Garden in New York City. On June 22, 2011, the group made their debut in Japan with the Japanese version of "Replay", which sold more than 91,000 copies in the first week. It was subsequently certified Gold by RIAJ for selling over 100,000 copies. It was the highest sales recorded by Oricon for a South Korean group debut at the time.
On June 19, Shinee became the first Asian artists to perform at Abbey Road Studios in London, holding their Japan Debut Premium Reception there. On July 22, 2011, Shinee started their Japan Debut Premium Reception Tour and held several concerts in various cities across Japan. On August 28 and October 12, 2011, two Japanese remakes, "Juliette" and "Lucifer", were released, respectively. On August 9, 2011, Shinee took part in an effort to help African children. The groups were joined by the United Nations' Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, in the "Help African Children" project co-organized by the Korean Red Cross Society and the Korean UNICEF committee. In November 2011, Shinee were invited to be the opening act of the 6th London Korean Film Festival, which took place at the Odeon West End Theater. The group held an hour-long gala concert to open the festival with tickets selling out within minutes. This marked the first time that any Korean artist(s) had held an independent concert in London.
The group's first Japanese studio album, The First, was released in December 2011. It featured five new songs in addition to Japanese remakes of seven previously released Korean songs. The regular version of the album also featured the theme song of the drama Strangers 6, entitled "Stranger", as a bonus. The album was certified Gold by RIAJ for selling over 100,000 copies. On December 8, Taemin, Onew, and Key debuted as writers and released a travelogue, Children of the Sun, containing stories from their trip to Barcelona, Spain. The members shot the photos and wrote the commentaries themselves. Shinee also participated in the album 2011 Winter SM Town – The Warmest Gift with a cover of the song "Last Christmas". The compilation album by SM artists was released on December 13, 2011.
Shinee held a commemorative concert in honor of the successful release of their first Japanese album, The First, at the Tokyo International Forum Hall A on December 24, 2011. The live concert took place three times in order to accommodate the 15,000 fans that won a lottery to attend. They performed a total of six songs including their Japanese debut singles, "Replay (Kimi wa Boku no Everything)" and "Lucifer", and "To Your Heart". On December 28, 2011, Tower Records Japan announced that Shinee had won the Artist of the Year award at the 2011 K-Pop Lovers! Awards. Shinee's fourth Korean extended play, Sherlock, was released digitally on March 19 and physically on March 21. Sherlock became the fifth best-selling album of the year in South Korea with over 180,000 copies sold. On March 26, 2012, Shinee, alongside their labelmates, became stockholders of SM Entertainment. They received 340 shares each (value of around $13,600 for each member).
The Japanese remake of "Sherlock" was released in Japan on May 16. The group started their first Japan nationwide concert tour, Shinee World 2012, on April 25, 2012. The tour had a total of 20 concerts in Fukuoka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Tokyo and Hiroshima. Their tour set a record for the most people in attendance for a Korean act's first Japan tour with a total of 200,000 people. On May 20, 2012, Shinee participated in the SM Town Live World Tour III alongside their label-mates at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Shinee held their second solo concert, Shinee World II, beginning in Seoul on July 21 and 22 at Olympic Gymnastics Arena.